Post by fabiete May 17, 2007 (1 of 5)
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I would like to upgrade to a vacuum-tube final amplifier possibly coupled with a solid-state AV processor but, as far as I can see, most amps are stereo and I don't want to give up multichannel SACD or home theatre, although the latter is far less important for me.....
Of course I could resort to five mono tube amps but that is enormously expensive and on top needs plenty of space.
Does anyone know about 5-channel final tube amplifiers available in Europe (The Netherlands, specifically) for not too outrageous a price?
Thanks.
Fabiete
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Interesting idea but I think it's a gap in the market yet to be addressed (and a much smaller niche than vacuum tube amplifiers in general because so many audiophiles are still stuck on stereo).
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There are multi-channel tube amps, but as far as I know, they are all high-end (both in quality and in price).
Your best bet is to get three or four stereo amps.
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Post by tommwi June 6, 2007 (4 of 5)
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fabiete said:
I would like to upgrade to a vacuum-tube final amplifier possibly coupled with a solid-state AV processor but, as far as I can see, most amps are stereo and I don't want to give up multichannel SACD or home theatre, although the latter is far less important for me.....
Processors are like fakes to me, at least from a sound perspective. Why such garbage?
If you can exclude the processor stage I think Copland has something of interest. Their pre-amplifier CVA 306 has a 6 channel valve configuration. It only takes analogue inputs. Buy their solid state CVA 535 amplifier and you have some great stuff created by truly dedicated music enthusiasts. And you can join company with the valve enthusiasts in their constant search for the best cables to match this configuration…:)
This is nothing for the DVD generation with a need to process sound. But it is a treatment for music enthusiasts! Perfect for serious SACD listening. I'm a former Copland owner and I have respect for this company.
http://www.copland.dk/products.htm
The price tag can be problematic of course.
/Tommy
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Dusty Chalk said:
Your best bet is to get three or four stereo amps.
Actually 2 stereo amps and a mono block would do it.
As an aside, a center channel can be fashioned from two speakers, each driven from its own side of a stereo amp fed by a Y connection from the center channel of your preamp. Magnepan suggested this on their website, naming it a "virtual" center channel. I have done this using Magnepan 2.6Rs, with superb results. These are speakers with an asymetric layout for the ribbon tweeters and planar magnetic mid/bass panels. The use of a pair for a "virtual" center channel gets around the obvious difficulties of both the asymentric loudspeaker and, for those who want home theater as well as home concert hall (I don't) of using large (6ft tall) speakers in a home theater situation. The path of the tweeters is crossed just in front of the listener and is supposed to yield an absolutely stable center image. (yes mine does, but they stand side by side with the tweeters on the inside).
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