Bass and Guarneri Homage


Hi,
I've been driving my Guarneri's with 45 watts of 845 tube and I love the mid and high. But, I just plugged in an EAR 534 and discovered that the Guarneris are capable of more bass energy than I imagined. However, the EAR534 as to be expected does not have the transparency and soundstage of an 845 tube. Does anybody have a suggestion of a tube amp that combines the best of both worlds so to speak, and what would you think about an Atmasphere M60 or the Thor 60 watt monoblocs? Thanks for your thoughts, Jeff
jj2468
I love the Guarneris. I've only heard two or three speakers that have the transparency of the Guarneris. Of course, they are not about power and if I can get a little more bass energy I'd like it (audio nervosa). I'm driving them with Art Audio Quartets, which are very similar in character to the Guarneris and deliver 45 to 50 watts in push pull. I prefer zero feedback. Whatever component you mate with the Guarneris, the Guarneris are going to reveal its character. A subwoofer with my Guarneris would probably be a great matchup, but my downstairs neighbor would not tolerate it. The range of the Quartets fully extends to the low end of the Guarneri's range and timber, control and speed are excellent. I just don't get a lot of bass energy, which is a function of the small size of the woofer and my use of 845 tubes. If I had unlimited funds, I'd bi-amp and use a quartet of Quartets! I would be reluctant to give up the halographic qualities of the Quartets with the Guarneris. Since I've added a KandK phono stage, it seems that I can pick out individual players in large orchestral recordings. Jeff
Jeff, I am certain in a very small room you don't want a sub with the G's. The G's are so transparent thaI feel you would have a very hard time matching up a good sub to them without loosing some of the purity and transparency of the G's.
Again I guess it depends on room size. The G's remind me of the Quads in this respect, a very difficult speaker to match up to a sub. However, I am not a big bass freak and would much rather have a lightning fast transparent speaker like the G than a large slower speaker with BIG bass. ( The Maxx 2's kind of come to mind.) Just IMHO.
The cheapest solution to the bass issue is an REL sub (B3 or higher in the line). Minus a sub, you really need 100 watts per side of tube power to get Guarneris to really sing and dance. I use CJ LP140M's with mine and that works great but I also have a B1 sub for my relatively large room.