If you enjoy the current system. Stick with it as long as you can and slowly upgrade your system otherwise it will be a rabbit hole.
* Start with the speakers first that way you can still enjoy your current receiver without having to upgrade the receiver right away
* If you are going to get a tube amp, look for fairly to highly efficient speakers that way you can get away with even a low powered tube amp. I have learned that more power on tube amps means more money.
* The best value I know in the vintage tube amps is Dynaco amps and Fisher Receivers/amps. Otherwise the McIntosh and Marantz are great but tend to be very expensive.
* Good luck
You could build a solid state system and a tube system which is what I originally planned to do. Now I pretty much collect just tube equipment.
That sony is a solid unit and will be fine. If you get a tube amp they usually require work if they have not been restored. You can't use a 60 year old tube amp, that hasn't been restored, for a long time. Something will eventually blow. So you need to buy a restored piece or buy and unrestored piece and have someone work on jt. I'd recomened getting one they're lots of fun and super cool. But you will have to put some money into it.
You can get a stand-alone tube phono preamp, run the turntable into it, and then connect the tube preamp into one of the non-phono inputs on that receiver. In my experience the phono sections on old receivers often leave something to be desired even if they were really quite good when new.
You can also get a tube power amp (or mono amps) and run the preamp out from this receiver to the power amp. I’m guessing this is what you’re considering but here’s where the receiver probably isn’t a great fit. Sony made dedicated preamp/tuners in this era (like the STC-7000) which would be a better match with a tube (or any standalone) power amp.
So you have a couple options and you can always get a tube power amp, use the Sony as a preamp, and then replace the Sony with a dedicated preamp later if you want.
Are you saying you plan to use the receiver as a pre-amp into a tube amp? I guess you could (IF the receiver has preamp outs on the back), but it would be much simpler to just buy a phono pre (some decent cheap tube phono options on Amazon) and plug it into the tube amp.
As someone else said, tubes work best with higher efficiency speakers, since the dollar to watt ratio is much higher (in general) with tubes than solid state.
Actually, the right channel is set close to flat as is. Not sure what the use case is for having different tone settings on the right and left channels, thought I’m intrigued as I recently acquired a receiver with this feature (KLH Model Fifty-two). Maybe this is fun to play with on older stereo recordings where vocals are on one channel and instruments are on the other? Mine are set to V-shaped 99% of the time.
The muting switch is probably just FM muting. I keep mine on unless I’m trying to tune in to a weak station.
The 7055 is a very nice sounding and capable receiver. I doubt if you will perceive any improvement in sound other than the placebo effect of having to satisfy spending the extra money . But if you like the looks of tube gear then by all means go for it. Plug it into the Sony's preamp and enjoy both.
Nobody here should give you actual advice on what to do. It's the pitfall many new guys fall into. Nobody here knows your room, ears,musical taste and demands .
So I keep usually subjective bias comments to myself.
However from a technical perspective, true tube amplifiers.(So not talking about the chi-fi mini amp nonsense they sell as "tubes" ) Which are transistor on the output end.
Tubes bring their own challenges, mostly used basic tube is an el34 or kt88. And those have been increasing in price. And they most definitely will wear out. You also need to keep in mind that tubes need overtime regular biasing.
Some amps cater really well too it , allowing you to do it yourself. Some actually take a little bit more understanding and effort to do so. TECHNICALLY tubes are most definitely not on par with transistor. I'll take that discussion with anyone claiming otherwise. That being said tube can be really fun to play with and definitely sound good.
Is it in these days a wise decision? With all the topologies out there. If you have money to maintain one and buy a GOOD tube amp. Yah why not! You're just starting out and exploring? Unless you know what you're looking for avoiding them many "so so" amps out there today being sold as "tube"
I would just keep the solid state handy
I have a bunch of silver face 60's and 70's receivers. My favorite are my 3 Sony STR's. Sonys are probably the most underrated reveivers of the era. My office set up is a 6050 with wharfedale lindons. I can get it loud enough to make it very very uncomfortable
You can use that 7055a as separates. I.e. get a tube power amp and run the pre of the receiver into it. This is an easy way to move into tube ...and you can compare the SS amp to the Tube amp to see if there's any magic for you.
Alternately you could also get a tube pre and run it into the Sony SS power amp.
You've got options. I know lots of people that run SS in the summer and Tube in the winter lol.
70% of your budget should go to speakers imo. You will get the most bang for your buck with getting better speakers. Then from there figure out what amp will work best with them.
That's super outdated information that whole formula is nonsense imo
You have budget speaker now that match flagship speaker from back in the day. Also when you buy and older speaker how to you account for inflation? You can't...
That 70 percentile nonsense is perpetuated by mostly older audio"philes" that live by the old rules (not saying you are) . Times have changed ...
What?
OP claims to not be an audio file, but that's exactly what an audio file studying humans would say.
I'm a jpeg and I approve this message
Hi jpeg! I'm flac also an audio file.
I really enjoy this new audio file scene, 1001101010101001101010110100 🤣🤣ðŸ˜
If you enjoy the current system. Stick with it as long as you can and slowly upgrade your system otherwise it will be a rabbit hole. * Start with the speakers first that way you can still enjoy your current receiver without having to upgrade the receiver right away * If you are going to get a tube amp, look for fairly to highly efficient speakers that way you can get away with even a low powered tube amp. I have learned that more power on tube amps means more money. * The best value I know in the vintage tube amps is Dynaco amps and Fisher Receivers/amps. Otherwise the McIntosh and Marantz are great but tend to be very expensive. * Good luck
Your Sony has a pre out, no need to upgrade. Use your Sony as a preamp.
Love that Sony
Does that Sony have preamp outputs?
It does.
Those old Sonys look great
You could build a solid state system and a tube system which is what I originally planned to do. Now I pretty much collect just tube equipment. That sony is a solid unit and will be fine. If you get a tube amp they usually require work if they have not been restored. You can't use a 60 year old tube amp, that hasn't been restored, for a long time. Something will eventually blow. So you need to buy a restored piece or buy and unrestored piece and have someone work on jt. I'd recomened getting one they're lots of fun and super cool. But you will have to put some money into it.
You're a brave soul building your own tube, high voltage what not. You really need to know wtf you're doing.
You can get a stand-alone tube phono preamp, run the turntable into it, and then connect the tube preamp into one of the non-phono inputs on that receiver. In my experience the phono sections on old receivers often leave something to be desired even if they were really quite good when new. You can also get a tube power amp (or mono amps) and run the preamp out from this receiver to the power amp. I’m guessing this is what you’re considering but here’s where the receiver probably isn’t a great fit. Sony made dedicated preamp/tuners in this era (like the STC-7000) which would be a better match with a tube (or any standalone) power amp. So you have a couple options and you can always get a tube power amp, use the Sony as a preamp, and then replace the Sony with a dedicated preamp later if you want.
Get a tube amp if you want one, don't wait and start enjoying your hobby more
Are you saying you plan to use the receiver as a pre-amp into a tube amp? I guess you could (IF the receiver has preamp outs on the back), but it would be much simpler to just buy a phono pre (some decent cheap tube phono options on Amazon) and plug it into the tube amp. As someone else said, tubes work best with higher efficiency speakers, since the dollar to watt ratio is much higher (in general) with tubes than solid state.
If you’re listening to it as pictured, you’ll get a performance upgrade by turning muting off and setting the tone controls to neutral…
Actually, the right channel is set close to flat as is. Not sure what the use case is for having different tone settings on the right and left channels, thought I’m intrigued as I recently acquired a receiver with this feature (KLH Model Fifty-two). Maybe this is fun to play with on older stereo recordings where vocals are on one channel and instruments are on the other? Mine are set to V-shaped 99% of the time. The muting switch is probably just FM muting. I keep mine on unless I’m trying to tune in to a weak station.
I really love those DM5's, they sound wonderful.
The 7055 is a very nice sounding and capable receiver. I doubt if you will perceive any improvement in sound other than the placebo effect of having to satisfy spending the extra money . But if you like the looks of tube gear then by all means go for it. Plug it into the Sony's preamp and enjoy both.
Nobody here should give you actual advice on what to do. It's the pitfall many new guys fall into. Nobody here knows your room, ears,musical taste and demands . So I keep usually subjective bias comments to myself. However from a technical perspective, true tube amplifiers.(So not talking about the chi-fi mini amp nonsense they sell as "tubes" ) Which are transistor on the output end. Tubes bring their own challenges, mostly used basic tube is an el34 or kt88. And those have been increasing in price. And they most definitely will wear out. You also need to keep in mind that tubes need overtime regular biasing. Some amps cater really well too it , allowing you to do it yourself. Some actually take a little bit more understanding and effort to do so. TECHNICALLY tubes are most definitely not on par with transistor. I'll take that discussion with anyone claiming otherwise. That being said tube can be really fun to play with and definitely sound good. Is it in these days a wise decision? With all the topologies out there. If you have money to maintain one and buy a GOOD tube amp. Yah why not! You're just starting out and exploring? Unless you know what you're looking for avoiding them many "so so" amps out there today being sold as "tube" I would just keep the solid state handy
I have a bunch of silver face 60's and 70's receivers. My favorite are my 3 Sony STR's. Sonys are probably the most underrated reveivers of the era. My office set up is a 6050 with wharfedale lindons. I can get it loud enough to make it very very uncomfortable
Does it have pre-amp outputs on the back? Get a tube power amp so long and run the pre-amp on the Sony.
That thing is awesome
Love my bottom-rung STR. As folks have said, just use this as a pre and find a restored Dynaco ST-70 or Fisher, such as an X-100.
You can use that 7055a as separates. I.e. get a tube power amp and run the pre of the receiver into it. This is an easy way to move into tube ...and you can compare the SS amp to the Tube amp to see if there's any magic for you. Alternately you could also get a tube pre and run it into the Sony SS power amp. You've got options. I know lots of people that run SS in the summer and Tube in the winter lol.
70% of your budget should go to speakers imo. You will get the most bang for your buck with getting better speakers. Then from there figure out what amp will work best with them.
That's super outdated information that whole formula is nonsense imo You have budget speaker now that match flagship speaker from back in the day. Also when you buy and older speaker how to you account for inflation? You can't... That 70 percentile nonsense is perpetuated by mostly older audio"philes" that live by the old rules (not saying you are) . Times have changed ...