Vacuum tubes hum, and this one hums along pretty damn well.The whole tube or solid-state dilemma is somewhat of a misnomer. The faceplate has some rough edges, the bass and treble dials aren’t nearly as smooth-turning as higher-grade equivalents, and the illuminated VU meter looks a bit chintzy, even as it sits there bouncing happily away to the beat of “Bad Romance.” There’s also a persistent hum emanating from the Monoprice when powered on, but that’s part of the tech - and the charm. The build quality is solid, but not as polished as pricier vacuum tube units targeted toward the audiophile crowd. In fact, I had to keep reminding myself that the entire system cost so little - an unbelievable bargain for such a classic experience.Īesthetically, the amp will look great on your shelf, with its tubes, piano-black shell and silver faceplate.
Home stereotube amp portable#
I tried the same tracks in a portable BT speaker and a more mainstream shelf system, and the Monoprice’s sound was significantly better.
Home stereotube amp Bluetooth#
The Monoprice, notably, was also far better than any other Bluetooth speaker or shelf system that I can think of at this price point. And, naturally, the benefit seemed to match with the song - the more vintage Goo Goo Dolls and Queen sounded slightly better on the tube amp, while Lady Gaga and Maroon 5 tracks favored the Roth system.
The tube amp also created a more intimate audio experience that, while not as crisp as my go-to Roth system, was exceptionally satisfying and enjoyable.
The Monoprice system did more with less, generating robust sound at high volumes through relatively small speakers, though having the subwoofer helped, too, of course. I cycled through my tracks and found the system to be much warmer within all of them than my go-to, and much more expensive, shelf system, the Joey Roth Ceramic Speaker and Subwoofer ($1,095). They give back the more subtle audio signals that Bluetooth strips away. Though outdated by decades, they’re thought by audiophiles to generate a warmer, more realistic sound by virtue of their mechanical operation, especially when the sound is delivered via lossy Bluetooth. If you’re new to the idea of vacuum tubes, they predate more efficient solid-state transistor amplifiers, which are driven entirely by electrical signals, and are effectively the mechanical equivalent in terms of boosting signals and powering speakers. I did so in my den, a smallish room with wooden walls - about the perfect size for shelf systems. The tricky part in evaluating it is identifying what’s making the music sound so: Is it the four vacuum tubes making it sound a certain way, or the speakers and cables, or the fact that it’s streamed through the ether via Bluetooth? The only option in critical thought is to go with your gut, and the only way to find out is to fire up those tubes. That makes it a hybrid system, using a solid-state power amplifier but a tube pre-amp. The shelf system is a 25-watt tube amp system that also has Bluetooth, so you can feed it from your smartphone or tablet. Auditioning the Monoprice Stereo Hybrid Tube Amp via such perennial favorites presented a special challenge.
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