Valve amp advice pleae!

[Furyblade_Lee]

Hi guys, been out of proper hi-fi for way too long ( 15 years! ), since moving to a small old cottage and space being at a premium.
Managed to convince wifey we need some hi-fi, on the proviso that it looks retro / funky and furniture rather than hi-fi!
Current thinking is a funky valve amp as the centrepiece, and wooden ( oak? ) bookshelf speakers ( front ported if possible to go flush to the wall ) . But basically I want to be able to walk in a stream my music from my iPhone to it? Nothing more really . Maybe a DAB receiver too if it looks retro, , but chiefly just streaming from my phone source.
There seems to be lots of Chinese valve amps on eBay, and dirt cheap with Bluetooth, but I suspect I will be disappointed....

Anyone able to point me in the right direction? Budget around £1,000 - £1,500

[anonymous-user]

Pretty sure you could do this with a chromecast audio.
costs buttons.

[telecat]

As a Valve User I can say there are options. Icon Audio or the Affordable Valve company are the new choices with Icon also doing some nice speakers to match. You might go a little over on budget though. Second hand is probably the way to go. Audio Innovations, Audio Note, Beard Audio and EAR are the current best ones to go for and can be picked up S/H at dealers. If the "look" is all then the FATMAN range could be where you want to be. They used to do some Amps that docked Ipods etc but seem to have grown up a bit since. As for speakers Valve amps prefer a easy load of 90db or better. Its usually getting those that sound good with the Amp. Valve amps prefer been warmed up and they do sound best when the valves are warm. The "classic" speakers paired with Valves at the low end are the Original Snell K, J/II and E's. The K is the smallest but you might think it a bit big. Again if you are looking for a visual impact the Klipsch R-14M might fit the bill. US reviews are positive and they are a bit different. The Horn loaded Tweeter and copper coloured Mid/bass driver helping that. Again though a listen with your chosen amp is a good idea.

[benz0]

Hifi shop near me has a marantz hd amp 1 in the window. Not a valve amp but it's very small and retro styled.

Would leave plenty of budget for some nice looking speakers and a chromecast

[TonyRPH]

As above, something from Icon audio would give you that retro look.

Then get a Chromecast and hide it away, feed the output to the valve amp.

Forget about DAB, it's a waste of time, you can get 1000's of internet radio stations on the Chromecast.

[telecat]

The trouble with "retro" styled is they don't "glow" like a Valve amp. Don't worry about Valve replacement either. A typical EL34 Power valve starts at under £10 and you should buy matched Valves. The "baby" Pre amp and Phase Inverter types are £6 upwards. Of course if the "sound" starts getting to you then "new old stock" valves from the 60's can go sky high. Somebody wants £500 for a matched quad set of Mullard EL34's on ebay at the moment.

[R66bby]

Could always go the sonos route, get the sonos connect to link the valve amp to the sonos system. This is what ill be doing soon.

[Crackie]

Teac's midi sized Reference range could be worth checking out. Retro looks housing fresh, contemporary electronics. USB input, co-axial & toslink inputs, line inputs to accept Chromecast. Might fit the bill ??

http://www.teac.com/product/ai-501da/

[Furyblade_Lee]

Thanks guys, loads to look into!!

[RobinSherwood]

Sonos with a high quality feed such as Deezer's CD quality feed sounds extremely good through valves.

The Sonos DAC isn't brilliant so I take my feed from the optical out into a higher quality DAC then into my pre amp.

Pre and Power amps are both valve. I use PMC speakers which sound brilliant powered by valve amps and they are beautifully finished too so may be worth a look.

[Digitalize]

If you want purely iPhone audio, and without the hassle of extra apps etc, then get something that uses AirPlay, Apple's Airport Express can be used to feed AirPlay audio to an amp, there might be cheaper options though. It works over wifi instead of Bluetooth, and is supported natively by iOS. Chromecast Audio's are great but you need to use a separate app to send music to them from an iPhone.

[C&C]

I recently bought my first valve amp - Ekco EV55SE. local HiFi shop had it at a really good price.

Looks like it's available from here ex display at just under £1000 (down from list of £1700).

It has quite a few good reviews - example here

I really love the sound, and although didn't have a lot of space for speakers it sounds great driving a pair of Neat Iotas with a Rel T7i sub to help the bass. The Neat Iotas can be had from here reduced from £735 to £435 as they are sold as slight cosmetic seconds. I bought a pair of white ones, phoned up and asked what the problem with them was, the guy looked and said he couldn't see an obvious issue. When they arrived, I couldn't tell them from a perfect pair, so total bargain. Only downside for you is they are not available in wood finish.

[telecat]

[quote=C&C]I recently bought my first valve amp - Ekco EV55SE. local HiFi shop had it at a really good price.

Looks like it's available from here ex display at just under £1000 (down from list of £1700).

It has quite a few good reviews - example here

I really love the sound, and although didn't have a lot of space for speakers it sounds great driving a pair of Neat Iotas with a Rel T7i sub to help the bass. The Neat Iotas can be had from here reduced from £735 to £435 as they are sold as slight cosmetic seconds. I bought a pair of white ones, phoned up and asked what the problem with them was, the guy looked and said he couldn't see an obvious issue. When they arrived, I couldn't tell them from a perfect pair, so total bargain. Only downside for you is they are not available in wood finish.




[/quote]

The Amplifier is an IAG Product so not sure if its made in the UK. Also the Price seems to be excessive for a Chinese Product and they do tend to manufacture in China. As such I have to say that the Audiolab Amps they make when made in the UK fetch a premium. The Neat Speakers are UK made however so the price is good and the performance should match it.

[Pupp]

Icon Audio (again)
Have 2 in different set ups and both have been super... if you get the chance, get them to demo :-)

[ian996]

I'd add another vote for Icon Audio - I've had two sets of MingDa/Meixing amps (which are the Chinese brand on which Icon products are based) and, while they are a little agricultural in appearance, the components and resulting sound quality are both excellent.

I imported one set direct from China (which still saves you a fair bit of money, but at a fair bit of inconvenience and risk) and had no issues, but buying from Icon gives you the piece of mind of buying from an established UK company.

[legzr1]

There's a fantastic used and upgraded Puresound 2a3 on hifiwigwam at the moment at the bottom end of your budget.

Well worth thinking about.

http://hifiwigwam.com/forum/topic/117285-upgraded-...

[900T-R]

legzr1 said:

There's a fantastic used and upgraded Puresound 2a3 on hifiwigwam at the moment at the bottom end of your budget.

Well worth thinking about.

http://hifiwigwam.com/forum/topic/117285-upgraded-...

That would do you once and for all. Fantastic amp, designed by someone who was instrumental in the valve renaissance of the '90s.

[David A]

I bought a yaqin mc 100b on impulse on eBay a few years back. It is svery very good through kef q900s.