Amplifier Recommendations to Match the Tannoy GRF90

Hi charles1dad,

Funny!! I actually own all the amps you are talking about, and i will be trying the Dragon on the Tannoy for sure. But I am in a tropical region and summer with big PP 211 tubes is just very sweaty. Moreover, i have tried those on the Westminster GR (99dB!!!), they were doing actually well, but i’m a real difficult guy when it comes to sound, and thought that they did not have full dynamic control and did not completely seperate instruments, especially bass at higher level. So i am suspecting they wont fully satisfy me with the GRF, along with the heat issue. I must admit that the Coincident products generally have great sound when they are working properly. But I’ve had a lot of "bad luck" with them for just about every single thing i bought there, although I kept renewing my trust to I.Blume, but susbequent orders kept coming with issues, and it was never his fault, always the transport or something else, and he would never make up for it, unless I argued strongly with him. I have conculded that there is some serious quality control problems at CST, and with the assembly/mounting of gears at the workshop. His attitude has been unacceptable, and I have decided to end all relations with CST. Just recenlty with the preamp, less than 2yrs old, the right hand side volume has come off from inside. I am sure (and hope) it is easy to repair, but this should not happen and does not happen with other gear at that price.

Hi hddg,
Your repeated problems with Coincident products surprises me. I’ve had their Line Stage and Frankenstein since 2009 and they have been utterly reliable (and sound marvellous). I’m very sorry to hear that you have had these problems and the responses from Israel Blume. He’s always been very responsive and friendly with interactions I’ve had with him.

I can understand your decision to move on, just the antithesis of my experiences. It does seem that given your desires/objectives,a  solid state amplifier is the right direction for you to pursue.
Best of luck,
Charles

Hi charles1dad,
CST products sound real good, that's actually why despite several first issues which i decided to put aside on bad luck's account, I kept purchasing products from them for my various applications, but now enough with "bad luck". Still using some of them, and will someday get them all upgraded/serviced by some tube specialist. The Franks work great, rolling Psvane WE300B and incredible Takatsuki TA300B.
Thanks for your wishes,
Best,

@hddg & @charles1dad 

When my (second-hand) Coincident PREs were shipped to me, UPS dropped them.  Although there was no structural damage to the cabinets, the internal woofer wire spools ripped off their zip-ties and broke the connections to the woofers, damaging the crossover components in the process.  Eventually had to send them to Isreal to bring everything back to as-new status... ended up being $6k in repairs.  When pulling out a woofer, he put three 2" x 1" scratches in the veneer.  No mention of the damage, no attempt to fix, no price break on repairs.  I'm sure I could have complained and (hopefully) sent the entire sub back to Canada, but ended up just eating the issue because I had to move. 

He also drastically overstates the efficiency of the speaker design.  Despite stating that they can be driven by as little as 3 watts and advertising that the Franks can "easily drive every Coincident speaker model", other owners believe the PREs need at least 30 watts.  When I complained about the bass response created by my Franks, he immediately stated that they do not have sufficient power.  

These are not among my favorite experiences in this industry.

One (more) nice thing about Tannoy is that their listed efficiency/sensitivity numbers are legit, at an honest 8 ohms nominal. And they leave the low-end extension intact to get there.

When I see a speaker, that isn't humongous, claiming 98+ dB with any kind of low end extension past 50 Hz...yeah, "not sure if srs". The Westminster in particular is a unique marvel -- where else can you find: 99 dB, 8 ohms, and extension past 20 Hz in a point source?