carm
100+ Head-Fier
- Joined
- May 6, 2009
- Posts
- 267
- Likes
- 11
Hi everyone,
The time has come to upgrade, or just try something different. At the moment, I have in my possession quite magnificent solid state Red Wine Audio HPA amplifier, which is rather good and I am quite happy with it. But as the majority of you know, when upgraditis strikes it is so hard to control it
Anyway, the first question which is bothering me: do tube amplifiers go well with electronic music ? I am talking about such genres as IDM (intelectual dance music, there is sample video at youtube), techno, electro, ambient, etc.
On head-fi there are split opinions regarding Leben CS300X(s) amplifier ( CS600 is bigger brother, so it should be considered too). In short - one is better off with dedicated headphone amp, than using integrated amp's headphone output. What I mean is, is it possible that headphones will not be able to reach their potential via headphone jack using such amps ? (CS300, CS600, SLI-80, 300 SEI)
Second question: are these amplifiers are as good with headphones as with speakers ?
I have read that various tubes have different characteristics, thus music will be reproduced differently. If we are talking about CS600 and SLI-80 there is quite a selection of NOS and other tubes, but if we look at 300 SEI... Well 300B NOS can cost one a fortune.
I am sorry if I may sound silly, but will there be any significant difference in sound if one changes input and/or driver tubes ?
Last question: is there a defined lifetime of a tube ?
Thank you for your answers and suggestions.
P. S. There is no possibility for me to audition any of these amplifiers.
The time has come to upgrade, or just try something different. At the moment, I have in my possession quite magnificent solid state Red Wine Audio HPA amplifier, which is rather good and I am quite happy with it. But as the majority of you know, when upgraditis strikes it is so hard to control it
Anyway, the first question which is bothering me: do tube amplifiers go well with electronic music ? I am talking about such genres as IDM (intelectual dance music, there is sample video at youtube), techno, electro, ambient, etc.
On head-fi there are split opinions regarding Leben CS300X(s) amplifier ( CS600 is bigger brother, so it should be considered too). In short - one is better off with dedicated headphone amp, than using integrated amp's headphone output. What I mean is, is it possible that headphones will not be able to reach their potential via headphone jack using such amps ? (CS300, CS600, SLI-80, 300 SEI)
Second question: are these amplifiers are as good with headphones as with speakers ?
I have read that various tubes have different characteristics, thus music will be reproduced differently. If we are talking about CS600 and SLI-80 there is quite a selection of NOS and other tubes, but if we look at 300 SEI... Well 300B NOS can cost one a fortune.
I am sorry if I may sound silly, but will there be any significant difference in sound if one changes input and/or driver tubes ?
Last question: is there a defined lifetime of a tube ?
Thank you for your answers and suggestions.
P. S. There is no possibility for me to audition any of these amplifiers.