# Butler TUBE amps ? are they any good?



## JAX

there is a 5 channel , new on ebay for less than $500 ..I just dont ever hear anyone mention them...


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## ryan s

There's _some _mentions on here about them...but...

...you'll get 2 schools of thought, I believe. The "wow tubes make all the difference!" crowd and the "well, it's a solid state output section anyway" people. It really depends who you want to listen to and how much faith you have (in yourself) in hearing differences _apart from_ psychoacoutics.

It should have decent resale value, in any case  Or buy mine :laugh: Kidding, kind of. Sorry for repeating myself Mike...hopefully it gets some discussion going for ya.


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## azngotskills

There has been discussion on where the tube are implemented to discern whether they make a difference in sound. Some just for looks and others do their purpose. From what I know, Milbert and HSS have true tube amplifiers

-Mark


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## JAX

I did some searching and see there was some topics..I was looking to see if anyone had used that particular 5 channel Butler..seemed like a good deal on it new and warranty


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## tinctorus

I installed about 3 or 4 of the 5 channels awhile back at one of the shops I worked at and I was always impressed with the Butler amp's

I always thought that they sounded very nice and had a nice low key clean look to them

FWIW I would absolutely run them in my own car if I had the money to get what I wanted right now


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## WhippingBoy

Just keep in mind that each amp consumes 8 - 10 A at IDLE! To me, that makes them much less feasible for most folks.


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## Se7en

WhippingBoy said:


> Just keep in mind that each amp consumes 8 - 10 A at IDLE! To me, that makes them much less feasible for most folks.


I'll leave the tube vs. solid state discussion off to the side. I ran 5 butlers in a system years ago and to me they sound "very" good. With that said, they are very power hungry and I felt that they lacked headroom. 

They also tend to run pretty warm. I had all of mine in the cabin with me (seat delete) it got downright hot in there. 

I ran mine for several years and never had any reliability issues with them and they always sounded great.


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## JCoffey

I currently have a 4 channel. I've owned a pair of 2 channels before that. Honestly I LOVE my amps. Yes there are other amps that are probably better, but for the money it's one of the best amps on the market. You wouldn't regret purchasing them. Clean sound, ample power, and they make my Dynaudios sing.


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## JCoffey

Avoid any of them that were made by PPI in the early 90s. They bought the rights from B.K. but they werent his design. The Phaze Audio ones are the ones I have and they're great. Ive heard really good things about his Blue line but havent heard one of them yet.


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## usmcsoldriver

Tube vs ss sound aside.

You get a very well buit amp that will last and will provide you with all the power you will most likely need in most situations. No extra electronics to jack with the sound, just gain control. And its sexy to boot... Imo. 

As long as you arnt paying msrp on them, they are pretty hard to beat imo. But i could be biased. I do have a tdb2150 and 475....

About the 575, it kinda depends on what your using it for. Front stage and center. Good to go. 5ch surround. Win. Front stage and sub..... No.


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## lsm

How do the new Blue's compare to the originals? Their website claims the new models outperform the old on all counts, but what else would they say...

I'm trying to decide between a BK 475 and a McIntosh MC420. I'm running an McIntosh MX406 CD, which is leaning me towards the Mac...


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## stargazer39

I have the new Butler Blue TD 475 and the older BK Butler 475 running Morel Piccolos and Dyns Esotar2 430. Personally I think the older BK Butler sounds more dynamic. The blue sounds warmer. I'm getting the Tru Technology C7.4 hybrid tube amp soon and will write a comparison between the 3 amps.


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## Art2703

Yes, they are very good. If you could find the TB275, TB475 or TB575 to try and listen, you will probably like either one of them a lot. It gives a different perspective of sound than most regular amplifiers. However, it is awesome in their own way..


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## stickpony

stargazer39 said:


> I have the new Butler Blue TD 475 and the older BK Butler 475 running Morel Piccolos and Dyns Esotar2 430. Personally I think the older BK Butler sounds more dynamic. The blue sounds warmer. I'm getting the Tru Technology C7.4 hybrid tube amp soon and will write a comparison between the 3 amps.


hey man, get a chance to write that review on the 3 tube amps yet? why not pick up a us amps tu- series as well?


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