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Valve Amplifiers (integrated) - Recommended Amps £3-4K

Mr Magoo

Hello. How are you?
After nearly 45 years of hi fi, I heard my first ever valve amp just a couple of weeks ago and it completely tipped my (hi fi) world on its head. I just couldn’t believe what I was hearing. The amp in question was a John Wood integrated, built just a few months ago. The tt was a Garrard 401 with a mm Audio Technica cart (don’t know which) and the speakers were ProAc 148.

I’m completely committed to making the jump to valves, but have no knowledge of which amps are worthy of consideration. John Wood amps are a possibility, but are there mainstream alternatives worth checking out. I often buy my amps second hand, but feel the relative security/support afforded by buying from a dealer may be the way to go, bearing in mind my lack of experience with valve amps. Am I right to be cautious?

My turntable (my only source) is the Well Tempered Versalex/17D3/P75 Mk3 and speakers are ProAc D28s. I plan to improve the phono stage too. Any recommendations?

My listening room is 14’ by 17’ with solid floors and walls. Quite a high ceiling. Speakers are about 3’ away from rear walls. I play mostly rock (Floyd, Zep, Beatles, Yes etc). My speaker cable and interconnects are Wich Hat.

Many thanks
 
I am not a valve expert at all, having mostly lived with Hybrid and SS amps, but a recent move to a Line Magnetic SET integrated amp (LM 518ia) has been very pleasant indeed - paired with DeVore Gibbon 9s which are probably similar in sensitivity to D28s (I used to have D28s).
The amp runs very hot but sounds lovely and enough dynamics and bass control for its stated 22w output
Definitely recommend trying it out if you get a chance.
When I had my D28s I also tried a Leben 600 integrated - sounded beautiful but left me pining in the bass department. I ended up with Croft hybrids which worked faulously well
 
Just to add to that, do try tube amps, but dont rule out a tube pre + SS power amp combo. D28s dont need too much power but a bit more certainly can wake them up. I tried lots of combos, and along with the Crofts, a vintage Conrad Johnson PV12 tube pre (with a damn good MM phono stage) with a Plinius SS power amps was great
 
The E.A.R. range. Exc. service in Cambridgeshire, reliable and neutral in valve terms. Go with ProAc, too (I had R4s with my monoblocs). Do come up s/h from time to time.
 
ProAc always used to design and demonstrate using Audio Research kit, so some of that might be a good option second hand (you don’t get a lot new for £4k!). I think they have since moved to Sugden, which is also great, but not valve!
 
Consider that a Croft pre / power would be the same size as a typical tube integrated. At this budget I’d be tempted to try. With rock music and normal sensitivity speakers you need power, at least 50W and push pull.
 
I LOVE my Graaf GM50 integrated valve amp. They are fairly rare, but if you get a chance to hear one, I seriously doubt you'd be anything other than amazed. I had years of the usual Naim multi-box stack. The Graaf replaced it & I've never looked back.
 
I feel valve amps are a fairly safe second hand buy , the lack of smt parts and ( usually ) uncomplicated circuits means they are easily repaired if anything goes wrong . I would add Luxman to your audition list .
 
Also worth considering Audio Note and McIntosh. The Border Patrols I've heard were rather special too, but I think you might struggle to find one in budget.

Other thoughts:
- As already mentioned, Valve kit tends to use well proven and in some cases, fairly old designs, mainly because there's not really been that much improvement in the technology. As such, s/h makes good sense
- Budget for your valves. If you're going s/h, even more so
- Avoid the cheap valve amps. Heard a few and frankly they were not worth the effort. Shouldn't be an issue with your budget
- Valve amps are awesome for their mid-range. However, for me, I found the ones I've tried to simply not be on par with low end control of a good solid state amp. Be careful to not be so impressed with one aspect of the sonic presentation that you ignore other elements. I did that a few years ago when I bought a Canary integrated valve amp. Lasted a week and I moved it on.
For me, I ended up wanting the valve mid-range and SS low end. My solution was a Quad current dumping unit, which runs in class A for something like 2-3 watts, but then has grunt beyond that as required. My suggestion is that if you're going to out there to dem some valve amps, that you might wish to also include something like a Quad unit for comparison purposes.
 
Jadis integrated amps are lovely. I've got an Orchestra and DA 30 which I use to drive Harbeth M30s,
HLP3s and Rogers LS3/5As. The bigger ones will be well over budget new. Although it is bottom of the range I particularly like the Orchestra and you do see them second hand more often than some of the others. Well worth a listen if you get the chance.
 
I have a Puresound 2a3 and the bass control is superb, strong and deep with real grunt into my Living voice Avatars, great value for money in my opinion.
 
Audion. Mate uses one with Studio 148 which is good,and I've heard their 300B monoblocks with Proac D38s (I think)and it was fantastic
 
The proac f/b group is a great place too 're amps. They recently did a survey of what members used . Some great suggestions here. One of the best I have heard is the unison research unico 50 which would be epic with d28 and vincent amps are available on home demo and well worth a try tubeline models
 
There's plenty more that could be added to the list. If you want an integrated a Leben CS600 springs to mind. A good valve design should be able to produce very decent bass, and sound across the frequency range, if properly matched to your speakers
 
The Primaluna DiaLogue Premium HP fits right in that price range at £3400 new. I’m currently researching a big amp upgrade from my Rega Brio-r and this is top of the list. I’ve not read a bad thing about it at all. 70 watts with the stock tubes.
 


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