After carefully listening to all sides of the argument: TUBE vs SOLID-STATE. I leaned to the side of tubes for multiple reasons: midrange perfection, and treble smoothness. Granted, there are drawbacks- the bass is a little less defined, and there is a 15 minute minimum warm-up for decent sound.
So the Golden Tube is the cheapest, hi-fi tube integrated on the market with a remote. And have you seen a picture of it? It's absolutely beautiful with a brushed aluminum faceplate. Overall, a good buy before you even begin listening.

Once it's been on for a while, and you have a decent system hooked up (I have ProAc studio 150's and the Rega Planet) the tubes begin to sing. Vocals are so perfect, and acoustic instruments are beautiful in their full-bodied glory. This amplifier has certainly converted me to tubes for life, and is the perfect first tube amp. it is versatile in that it can function as either a preamp or power amp if needed. Also, another special feature is that the preamp can be run in passive mode- according to Sam Telig of Stereophile, this arrangement produces the most unsullied and clean signal to the power tubes. I agree, all possible subtlety is released from the music in this mode.

There are some cons, however. The amplifier tends to over-smooth some of the highs. This may be due to the stock tubes that can be upgraded. Also, I've had a slight problem with reliability. I bought the amplifier last year, and after a few months, the transformer failed. My dealer, Pro Musica in Chicago, was very helpful in promptly contacting the company, and handling an exchange. To Golden Tube's credit, they mailed a replacement, and have since come out with a follow up: the SI-50 MKII. I have no idea how this sounds or is different, but I understand that the price is up $100.

Golden Tube is relatively young company, and has some problems with their reliability. However, they provide high quality true hi-fi tube equipment at the lowest prices availiable. It's a trade-off. But if you take a listen, you will agree that the sound is very solid and impressive.

For price, this amp gets a 5+. For sound it gets a 4. For reliability it gets a 3. For looks it gets a 5. overall 4.

I bought my first Golden Tube SI-50 a little over a year ago. For the price I paid the performance was very excellent. I have been using Magnaplanner speakers and a Cambridge Audio CD. Unfortuneatley, I ended up taking the power amp back to the retailer 3 times--it seems the company had been having problems with right channel failure. The retailer (Audio Dimensions in Birmingham, MI) replaced the unit each time. After the 3rd unit failed we opted for another brand (this time I went with Acuras--I know, it's not tube but it is a very good amp).
I hope GoldenTube is able to correct the problem. Again, for the bucks it sounded wonderful.

I have owned the GT SI-50 Mk II for about nine months and am extermely happy with it. I was looking for an amp/pre-amp combo or integrated amp with a remote for under $2000, which quickly turned into a search for an integrated. I auditioned most of the usual integrateds in this range, including the Classe CAP-100, Bryston B60, and an A/B comparison between the GT and the Krell KAV 300i, in which the tube sound of the GT made me fall in love with tubes; by comparison, the Krell sounded grainy and mechanical with more bass slam, while the GT sounded real, alive, warm, rich, and beautiful with relatively subdued bass, a great soundstage, and plenty of power for my system (50wattsX2)-- I'll take the latter any day. Once I heard the tube difference, I couldn't consider going back to solid state. I then shopped around looking for other tubed combos/integrateds with remotes and found nothing remotely close in price to the Golden Tube-- it is an incredible value (the demo I bought was $999, though I think the new ones are $1300).
I have had no problems with reliability, though I understand others have, which would be the only question mark I would have about buying another. The only other downsides to this amp are a constant low level hum from the right channel and somewhat rolled off bass, which I have successfully overcome with a subwoofer (the excellent B & W ASW 2000) which reamplifies the low end.

In summary, this is a phenomenally priced integrated with a magical midrange and a real-sounding presentation that has kept me very happy until I have the money in a few years to upgrade to the no-compromise system. For value I would give this 5 stars without a doubt, sound 5 for all but the bass end (4 for that), and I don't have enough information to rate it's reliability (maybe 3-4?). This certainly deserves more than 2 stars (ratings posted in anger shouldn't be averaged in), probably 4.5 or so, and others seemingly torn between 4 and 5 have given it 4 stars, so I'll give it 5.

Associated equipment: CAL alpha and delta, Rega Planar 25, McCormack phono line
stage, B&W DM-14 (old but nice) and ASW 2000, combination of Kimber, MIT, and Audioquest cables, and Tice line condidtioner.

Musical, rrealness, midrange, soft highs yet detailed

I really enjoy the soft overtones and musically toned sound production of this amp. It remains very detailed, having a brilliant soundstage and nice depth. Because I use this in conjunction with detailed components, it seems to balance everything out. reliablitlity has not been an issue for me, and should be noted that the amp was a demo for over a year before my purchase. I definitely recomend the purchase of it, is it can be found at a resonable price second hand. One side note, although most people are not into audio equipment they will definitely appreciate the sound, but even more the aesteticcs and solidity of the remote.

Similar Products Used:

Acurus, arcam, bryston

After a month of product demos, I think I can safely say that no other amplifier can match the Golden Tube in this price range... in fact, up to five times the price range. Operation and design is perfection itself, and the sound is unbelievable from *any* source. I have successfully floored people playing worn-out cassettes from a $200 Sony Walkman, for pete's sake... the immediate tube distinction for me is the vocals, which are a million times more alive than solid-state. The music is INCREDIBLE.
Of course, there's a trade-off for the low price and high performance... let's call it "opening night jitters". The first week I had the amp, volume control was way off, worsening until one day it just died. My replacement amp was shipped to me in a few days (from my dealer, for free), but again trouble would strike: the next week, a fluttering static would appear in the left channel during idle time. Back the shop it went, and on it's return the fluttering had stopped... but I couldn't bias the fourth tube! I traced that problem to a blown fuse in the chassis, bought a $1 replacement from Radio shack, and suddenly I was problem free.

So: you must be prepared for a bit of tinkering before it settles down. Take a look at your budget, and decide what you can afford to spend: a few hours of difficulty or a few thousand dollars. Even high-end tube amps can break down, like the old (real) Jaguar cars used to be good for about half a road trip. The quirkiness is the price you pay for a) not paying a fortune and b) getting heavenly sound into your own home.

-J