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Help me choose a speaker match for my Line Magnetic 805ia tube amp under $10K

Since all of you were such a huge help in getting me to arrive at my decision to get the Line Magnetic 805ia tube integrated, I thought I would start another thread to discuss speakers to consider. I do love my Ascend Acoustics but after hearing the improvement that the Line Magnetic gave my system, I am wondering now if there is a reasonably priced but a better speaker that is a better match for my system. The only criteria is that the price be equal to or less than $10k. I am looking for a speaker that is not harsh in the higher frequencies but still has enough sparkle and snap that doesn't give up anything in terms of detail. The ability to deliver some low end, dynamic punch is something that I would be looking for as well as this is the one area the Ascend's lack in currently. 

My current setup is...

Speakers: Ascend Acoustics Sierra Tower with RAAL Tweeters and Ascend Acoustics Center Speaker with RAAL Tweeter
Amp: Line Magnetic 805ia at 48W x 2
DAC: PS Audio Directstream Junior
Primary Music: Jazz and Female Vocals 

Speakers that I have considered so far include (power requirements notwithstanding):
  • Magico A3
  • Dynaudio Contour 60
  • Focal Sopra 2
  • Sonus Faber Olympica 3
Looking forward to hearing your thoughts!
freesole
bradf's avatar
bradf
329 posts
 
@freesole  @Ramtubes

 It would be my recommendation to listen very closely to what Ramtubes has to say. I believe Ramtubes is Roger Modjeski, Engineer and owner of Music Reference Amps, which are some of the most respected amps in the business. You can read Richards Bio here
http://www.ramlabs-musicreference.com/.

If he is willing to help you, I would be seeking his advise, like a dog on a bone.


I think he was trying to give you some insight to relativity of the damping factor and the LM508ia., and how it is a important consideration when pairing this amp with a speaker.


I was unable to find the dampening factor for this amp, but as a general rule of thumb SET amplifiers have very high output impedances in the order of 1.5 to 3.0 ohms opposed to 0.1 for a typical solid state amp and 0.8 for a typical push/pull tube amp.

These numbers represent the ability of the amplifier to control the woofer motion relative to the amplifiers output impedance. 



grk
223 posts
 
@freesole 

Sorry to hear about your experience. The Devore website does not list any dealers in Washington state. Pearl Audio in Portland is listed on the Devore website though.
freesole OP
159 posts
 
Three other speakers that have come up on the interest list are the: 

Legacy Audio Aeris
Acoustic Zen Crescendo II 
Daedalus Ulysses II

Anyone have thoughts on these? I am going to hopefully have a listen to #1 and #3 sometime in the next week. 

rogerh113
20 posts
 
I am currently using an 805 SET with Altec 604 speakers.  Well worth considering as an option.  Set up in appropriate sized cabs (large - 9 cu ft) the 604 can go down to about 30 Hz, and are competently driven by the 805 amp.  If you are a DIY, there are cab designs, and possibly even better, excellent phase corrected crossover designs that yield impressive results.
avanti1960
1,476 posts
 
Legacy and The Spendor towers sound incredible with tube amplification.  
No offense to the people recommending Tekton Encores - I bet they sound great but they look absolutely hideous and will never see the light of day in my listening room.  There are more ways to skin the cat than to have 15 tweeters per speaker even with their array concept.  
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