To this day, one of the most memorable systems I have ever heard was in a showroom at the downtown NYC, Sound By Singer. Snell AIII's, VTL 300 mono's, Audio Research SP14, Roksan table, Koetsu Rosewood Sig., MIT cabling. It's been about 25 years and I remember it like it was yesterday. "peach fuzz" feel of tubes? Not a chance. Beautiful tonality with very dense images and rich timbre, and some of the best imaging I have ever heard. I have been lusting after a pair ever since, but have never had the right room for them. I really think you are making a mistake ruling out good, modern tube amplification for these wonderful speakers.
Build a new system around pair of Snell Alll's?
Due to setting up a second home (in Austin), I have the opportunity to set up a new system around my Snell Alll's. Fortunately, it will be a bigger room and I do plan to make it a HT system although my main interest is to max stereo listening. I've had them on a B&K AVR707 and really enjoyed the clarity and neutrality I got. But feel the staging was too shallow which crunched the imaging. Without having any real tube experience I think I may be a SS listener at heart. The "peach fuzz" feel of tubes I've heard described seems unappealing. What I am convinced of is need to get much more power to the Snells. I know there's a ton of variables here but appreciate any suggestions from those who may be familiar with these beauties. Thanks
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Tccaux, 300w of quality tube amplification would be expensive. But, who says you would need 300w's? Read these comments by Peter Qvortrup, CEO of AudioNote UK, who now manufacture variants of the classic Snell's: http://db.AudioAsylum.com/mhtml/m.html?forum=speakers&n=181344&highlight=Snell+type+AIII&r=&search_url=%2Fcgi%2Fsearch.mpl%3Fforum%3Dspeakers%26searchtext%3DSnell%2Btype%2BAIII Your B&K is a nice receiver. I own the 307 in my HT setup driving Totem's. But, the B&K's are not known for their performance into lower impedances. The 707 is rated at 125w into 8 ohms with no indication of the output into 4 ohms. My 307 puts out 150w into 8 ohms and 185 into 4 ohms; a far cry from the ideal "doubling of power" as you half the speaker impedance. The Snell's are rated at nominally 4 ohms, with probable dips somewhat below that, and 86db efficiency; not exactly an easy load. Having said all that, as the audio cliche says: "It's not about the number of watts as much as the QUALITY of the watts". I like tubes, and the stereotype of tubes necessarily sounding soft and mushy with "peach fuzz" is simply not true. What a good tube amp gives you is a sense of dimensionality and tonal correctness and fullness that many SS amps don't give you, IMO. While it is true that great SS amps can surpass many tube amps in bass control and power, many tube amps do very well in that department. This is a subjective opinion also shared by many, but tube amps also give the music a sense of aliveness (dynamic energy) that only the very best (expensive) SS can give you. Certain speaker/tube amp combinations just seem to have "the magic". That is what I heard with the Snell/VTL combo. Please remember that these are my opinions, and I fully expect some who read this to disagree. Another thing to consider is that the most often stated shortcoming of the Type A's (lack of soundstage depth) will be somewhat compensated for by what is one of the fortes of good tube amps, their superior rendering of dimensionality. When I mentioned the VTL/Snell sound, I was not suggesting that the Type A's would not sound good with SS, only that they CAN sound fantastic with tubes. I have heard the Type A's sound great with Krell amplification, and I have no doubt that they would sound great with other QUALITY solid state like Levinson, Classe and others. All simply more capable than a B&K AVR. But, it's a different kind of sound. Your choice. As price is concerned, there are options available used right now that would certainly pique my interest. As far as tube amps go I would say $1500-$2000 is probably rock bottom. An older 150+w VTL could probably be had for that, and there is a Jadis Defy7 for sale right now that is a fantastic amp, and I think would be fabulous with the Snell's. For SS and in that price range you should not have trouble finding a used older Krell, Levinson, Classe, and for a lot less, maybe a McCormack, or Bryston. If you are not familiar with this site, it might be of interest: http://www.snell.no/forum/index.php Good luck. |
I've heard the AIII many times (a friend had a pair back in the day), and like it a lot. I think that the AIII is an iconic design, but.... The one thing I've never heard from them is much in the way "depth". When set up properly, the imaging is very good laterally, and there's a sense of real weight to the localized sounds. However, I've never gotten a convincing sense of front to back depth or layering when listening to AIIIs - relative to many other speaker designs. If that's your issue, I'm not sure that a new amp is going to change that. Marty |
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