Tube Amp for Altec 604 8H

C

Cambo5150

Active Member
IMG_5228.jpegHello. I’ve had these Altec’s for a bit now. What a great pair of speakers! I currently have a Darling 1626 amp and 45 mono blocks. Both amps sound great. But I want a 3rd options. The 1626 and 45’s just don’t add much weight to the sound. I want a 3rd tube amp with some grunt. I tried a 25 watt class A solid state. It had all the grunt in the world but lacked the emotional connection I get with the other two tube amps. Is there a Goldie Locks amp that gives you the tube sweetness but has some body and some grunt? These 604 8H’s are super sensitive and I can run them on 3/4 of a watt but I feel like they also like some watts to wake up the woofer. And before you say so, I don’t want to bi-amp in here. Kinda going for a simple vibe in this room. Just an amp sitting on top of my Drexel cabinet. Thanks for your thoughts!
 
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Cambo5150 said:
And before you say so, I don’t want to bi-amp in here. Kinda going for a simple vibe in this room. Just an amp sitting on top of my Drexel cabinet. Thanks for your thought
Click to expand...
The only way you can keep the SET magic,
is use bigger triodes . 2a3's, 6b4's 300b's, 845's 211's 811's.
as you move up the power levels, the amps Iron, power supply
goes up geometrically! as does cost and weight.
as with any tube amp the magic is in the output iron!
I use 45's both globe and st shaped vintage tubes. on my 604's.
I also use RCA 2a3's 3 watts compared to the 1.4 from the Globes.
when I want to hear the Bass more than the 2a3's can do before they distort,
I use my 65 LB transformer coupled 300 b amp, Aprox 10 watts.
It does bass Really well. At the cost of the fine detail that the 45's have.
I don't want to use the deadly high voltages that the larger
transmitting Triodes require. along with stupid heavy mono blocks.
when I want to here More impact, I use my Triode wired Fairchild 260's.
with around 22 watts the volume I get from 10' away is louder than most
triode lovers here on AK can tolerate.
If you want to shake the walls, Get a sub or 2

bobhorn
 
Nyjblbob said:
The only way you can keep the SET magic,
is use bigger triodes . 2a3's, 6b4's 300b's, 845's 211's 811's.
as you move up the power levels, the amps Iron, power supply
goes up geometrically! as does cost and weight.
as with any tube amp the magic is in the output iron!
I use 45's both globe and st shaped vintage tubes. on my 604's.
I also use RCA 2a3's 3 watts compared to the 1.4 from the Globes.
when I want to hear the Bass more than the 2a3's can do before they distort,
I use my 65 LB transformer coupled 300 b amp, Aprox 10 watts.
It does bass Really well. At the cost of the fine detail that the 45's have.
I don't want to use the deadly high voltages that the larger
transmitting Triodes require. along with stupid heavy mono blocks.
when I want to here More impact, I use my Triode wired Fairchild 260's.
with around 22 watts the volume I get from 10' away is louder than most
triode lovers here on AK can tolerate.
If you want to shake the walls, Get a sub or 2

bobhorn
Click to expand...
I’m considering a 2A3 amp. Could you comment on the difference between the 45 and 2A3 with your 604’s?
 
Cambo5150
If you just favor low volume, extremely detailed but smooth mids and highs,
like a female vocalist, and you don't mind sitting close to your speakers,
the 45's are king.
Now suppose that vocalist has 3 piece band for back-up,with stand up Bass.
Every note struck on it will drive the 45 amp into clipping.
the 2a3 amp does produce better bass, up to a 3 watt Limit!
In a perfect world use the 45 amp on the horns, and something bigger on the woofer.
Don't forget the 604's have a 15" heavy cone and large 3" VC. that weighs more than
20-30 times what a 1" Horns throat aluminum diaphragm does.
 
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You could look at something running 6L6 tubes. My main amp is an Elekit TU8200R, which can run 6L6, 6550, KT88. The latter gets you up to 7 or 8 watts. It might not have the presence of a 45 amp, but should still sound really good.
 
An 8b wired in triode is quite good.
I also like my Dave G design modded Fisher Sa300 on the 604’s although the bass is not quite up to the
Mac 240, or Fairchild 260 level I love the 6L6gc. kt66 kick
 
That is a nice looking set of 604s. Is that a custom cabinet, the crossover is usually on the front? Anyway, I bought a 604-8K, or 8H in the early 1980s. I had a Audionics CC2 that drove the speakers really well. With two CC2 amps bridged mono, you get 220w/channel and double the slew rate.

For a tube amp recommendation, I like the CR Romulus amp. It uses 6L6 tubes and it can drive any large speaker quite well; the power supply is enormous. I have used it for nearly twenty years to drive my Acapella Fidelio speakers that includes the optional subwoofer. See photo below.

Amp is shown in the lower right section of the cabinet. CD Player of the left bottom (large LEDs) is a Simaudio Moon Nova

http://www.crdevelopments.com/romulus.htmP1030023.JPG

CR Developments has two more amps called Remus (huge transformers and beefy power supply) and Athena with more output using KT90 or 6550 tubes. My understanding is they started out designing power supplies and that foundation is etched into their heavy designs, possibly contributing to their robust performance. Construction and finish is top notch. I bought my amp second-hand in 2007 and it still works perfectly-no tube swaps either.

Good luck!
 
I know you want class a but pp el84s can give something really beautiful for chump change comparatively. Pick up a st35 or maybe some fisher monoblocks to try. You can turn them around if you don't like them. Just my thoughts.
 
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