Mies m50a Integrated Tube Amp

[Lmorin1960]

Hi,
Was looking for some feedback from anybody who might own one of these amps. I have the chance to buy one with upgraded Russian tubes and need to know if they are any good? No reviews that I can find? This was built for Planet of Sound exclusively and retailed for about $1500 CDN dollars.
Thanks,

LM

 

[TLS Guy]

Hi,
Was looking for some feedback from anybody who might own one of these amps. I have the chance to buy one with upgraded Russian tubes and need to know if they are any good? No reviews that I can find? This was built for Planet of Sound exclusively and retailed for about $1500 CDN dollars.
Thanks,

LM

I really have no idea why some one would want to buy a tube amp. It is not correct that they sound better then solid state amps. That is an Audiophool myth.

What they do have is a high source resistance, so that the frequency response tends to follow the impedance curve of the connected speaker. That is not a good attribute, since modern speakers especially often have complex impedance curves.

They make lots of heat, and the filaments of the tubes get closer to the end of their life after every minute of use, as the filament is expending itself just like the filament in an incandescent light bulb. No one in their right mind swaps an incandescent bulb for a LED bulb. The same applies to swapping a tube amp for a solid state one.

When you do have to replace the tubes, the grid bias should be adjusted, and that takes knowledge an instruments.

Now do you want a tube amp?

Yes: - psychiatric consult.

No: - Join us who count ourselves in the ranks of the happily mad, and therefor not in need of intervention.

 

[fmw]

You have read that modern amplifiers don't affect the sound of the system to any meaningful degree. However, tube amps are an exception. Most of them have harmonic distortion in excess of 5% and that is audible. I remember when solid state amps hit the market in the 1960's. I switched immediately and only went back one time with an expensive tube amp that I kept for less than 6 months. Solid state amps are just better in every way.

Tube amps are great for warming your hands or your room. They are great looking in the dark as the tubes cast an eerie light. But they don't reproduce recorded music as accurately as solid state. None of that menans you shouldn't buy one. They are COOL.

 

[Lmorin1960]

Thanks, I’ll pass on the tubes!

 

[highfigh]

When the US military used tube amps for communication, they didn't turn off the equipment and scheduled service tasks on an annual basis unless it was needed sooner. The equipment usually worked well when the scheduled work was performed. That means the tubes were powered for about 8800 hours, continuously.

Use definitely shortens the life of tubes, but it's the ON/OFF cycles that kill the filament when the device uses solid state rectification.

I'm not saying that tube amps attract unicorns or make the Sun rise, but a great tube amp will be good enough to make the listener not think about the equipment being used. I went to the Consumer Electronics Show in Chicago for several years and one time, I wandered into the Infinity Speakers room, where they were using their top of the line IRS system. These had six 12" woofers in one cabinet and the front of the other had twenty-four EMIT tweeters and twelve EMIM midrange drivers, with an additional twelve EMIT on the rear. They were using a Conrad-Johnson Precision One power amp/Premier Two preamp, fed by a Otari 1/2" open reel tape machine. When I walked in, they were playing the sounds from a steam engine going past the microphones and solid state or tubes, it sounded very realistic and amazing! I have been close to trains when they passed enough to know that, for recorded audio, it was very close to real life.

If you want a tube amp, understand what you're getting into and don't fall for the marketing hype.