Looking for a good multi-function tube amp.
December 23, 2014 8:50 AM   Subscribe

I've been looking to make the switch to a integrated tube amplifier for my music listening. My price range is around $1500-2000. I'm a bit lost on what are good brands are, or if there's anything that fulfills my plethora of requirements.

Needs
Good sound!
Three RCA inputs (turntable, cd, cassette).
Rec-level RCA output for the cassette recorder.
I'd like to have some way to use headphones with the amp (I understand this is pretty rare for speaker-driving amps- more on this in a bit).
Pre-built or requires little assembly (no wiring kits please)

Nice-to-haves
I plan to use a separate phono preamp for the turntable, but built-in phono would be nice.
Either bluetooth built-in or some way to attach digital coax for a bluetooth adapter I have.

Other notes
The system will be driving a pair of Klipsch Heresy IIIs along with a powered subwoofer. I have a NuForce Icon headphone amp which has RCA input- this could be used for my headphone needs if the tube amp had an additional RCA output.

So is there an integrated tube amp that covers these? Or is there a preamp / power amp combo that would work?
posted by Dr-Baa to Technology (4 answers total)
 
For that price, you could get a fully restored Fisher 500C. There are a number of modern amps out there as well that sound good. Do you have a preference of new vs old?
posted by Slinga at 11:40 AM on December 23, 2014


Response by poster: I don't have a preference of new or old.
I am partial to vintage looks along with silver colored equipment. I didn't mention this in the original question because it's really secondary to performance.
It seems the Fisher would be a good fit, however many of the units I've seen for sale are without cabinets. Is this common?
posted by Dr-Baa at 6:55 PM on December 23, 2014


Check out the used stuff on Audiogon for that price.
posted by persona au gratin at 1:24 AM on December 24, 2014


Best answer: Most vintage Fisher receivers do not have cabinets. Generally used cabinets sell for $100-150 each, and you can buy new ones for $300-400. I personally preferred mine without one, both for aesthetic reasons, ease of tube swapping/tinkering, and heat reasons. They're pretty easy to find with cabinets, though.

What I would do is get a fully restored 500C with cabinet. Look on eBay for someone who's sold a lot of that sort of thing and has a good reputation, OR get a nice-looking vintage one that needs work and send it off to be restored. I can recommend someone if you want.
posted by Slinga at 6:12 AM on December 27, 2014


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