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@freesole,
I've owned the Olympica III, and the highs were the completely opposite than "harsh." If you felt the treble area was harsh and fatiguing, then it was coming from some other component in the system, not the Sonus Fabers. Remember that when you are demoing speakers, you are demoing a system, not the speaker. |
I use 845 monoblocks (ASL-1006-845DT) with 15” Tannoy Monitor Golds, and it sounds fantastic - if you don’t want to vintage, I think Tannoy’s new Legacy Ardens are in your price range. I haven’t heard them, but it might be worth an audition. Tannoys sound great with SET amps |
I would love to hear Tannoy's. Haven't heard them before but have to admit that they are not my aesthetic.
@djfst agreed. I was just surprised given the gear was primarily McIntosh. Given I was also thinking I would go McIntosh integrated or hybrids, I was surprised at the performance in the high range. |
Devore O96 is on my wish list but $<£ in Uk
tannoy would be good to and be able to breathe music into your life. |
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I see others here have recommended you get efficient speakers. They are correct. 48 watts of single ended power is not the same as 48 watts of push pull power, tube or SS.
I read the specs, looked at the manual and no where is the damping factor stated. It is often low with this type of amplifier. Read my posts on AG about the effects of low damping (high output impedance).
This amp should draw a lot of power from the wall, at least 300 watts, but I could not find that information either.
The 805 is a zero bias triode and thus has high plate impedance. Unless they use a great deal of feedback the amplifier will have high output impedance.
Can someone find the output impedace of this amplifier? |
Audio Note AN-E Devore Fidelity 093/096 If you decide on Salk....I have a pair of Soundscape 8's in perfect condition that Ive never used. You can have em for 50% off. I have about 10 pairs of speakers (Including Audio Note AN-E Spx Al Nico and Devore 0/96) so will probably never use the Salk's. |
Freesole- I recently purchased this same amp (and also live in the Seattle area).
I am running Neat Acoustics Iota-Alphas. Less costly than what you're looking for, but very low sensitivity. Probably 84 db as opposed the their 86 db claimed rating. I have no problem driving them with this amp, and 10:00 on the volume is getting pretty loud. And they sound fantastic.
That said, there are better speakers out there for more money.
A few days ago I heard the Spendor A7's with the LM 845 amp (22 wpc). The Spendor's ($5,000) sounded AMAZING! They immediately caught my attention from across the room. The only caveat is that I did not hear them at loud volume and I was unfamiliar with the music being played. That said, I'm already saving my money in hopes of picking up a pair in the future.
I highly recommend checking them out. They have some at Gig Harbor Audio you can check out.
Where specifically do you live? |
ramtubes- I'm not an electrical engineer, but here's what I know about the amp. It draws 400 watts from the wall. I don't know the damping factor. It has four feedback settings.
I will say that I just upgraded to the LM 508 from a Parasound Halo Integrated. I'm running 84 db, 4 ohm speakers, so the Parasound should have been putting out 240 wpc.
The LM 805 plays WAY louder than the Parasound. More importantly, it sounds great from zero on up. The Parasound took 20% volume or more to begin reaching it's zone sound quality-wise.
I'm new to tube amps, but I never would have guessed 48 wpc would play louder and sound better than a 240 wpc pretty decent amp, even with low sensitivity speakers. I can't imagine how it would sound with more sensitive speakers. |
@riaa_award_collectors_on_facebook
How do you compare the Salk SS8's to the Audio Note and the Devore's that you recommended? I have the Ascend's with the RAAL ribbons so I am somewhat accustomed to that sound.
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The Spatial Audio Triode Master speakers are great with the 508ia.I am currently using this setup and I am very pleased. |
I agree with Crisg1000
Although not on the top of my list, the D7 is a better match for your amp then the D9. I would pair it with a very good powered subwoofer.
Most speakers I listed above are designed to mate with SET amps.
First order x-over, benign impedance loads / curves, etc.
Besides Gig Harbor having the D7, they also have the LM 805ia, so it would be a good opportunity for you see what the amp sounds like with the speaker.
By the way I am in PDX. There may be an opportunity down the road for you to hear what your LM sounds like with the Sonist Concerto 4 Gen 2.
Speaker with REL sub and compare it to Sonum Ars Filarmonia 30W Push/Pull operating mostly in Class A with Jupiter Copper/Paper /Wax coupling caps, SR Black Fuses and all NOS tubes. I also have Merlin TSM Magic (next to last pair made); which don't drop below 6 Ohms.
Brad
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Freesole,
I have never used the Salk SS "8"'s so I cant tell you the difference. If I listed all the gear that I still have in boxes and never tried somebody would offer me a straight jacket. Always loved the way the Salk's looked (Mine looks like Tobacco Sunburst finish) so I just grabbed em!! Im sure I will get to them eventually if I dont trade them in for something else first. |
@riaa_award_collectors_on_facebook
I wish I could post an emoticon of my jaw dropping right now. Salk SS8's and they haven't been listened to! I would be so excited to hear them if I had them in front of me :) I'm not sure what the Tobacco Sunburst looks like. What price would you sell them for? Please feel free to PM me. |
@chrisg1000 Awesome to see another member local to me. I am based out in Issaquah (not too far away from Seattle). I purchased the Line Magnetic 805ia from Erik in Gig Harbor Audio. The shop is so nice and welcoming and they always have great music playing. Erik is as standout a guy as I have ever met. I wish they had some of the speakers I was looking for to listen to though!
Your speakers look "Neat" ;) Sorry that was a horrible pun. I am surprised by the level of sensitivity and the ability for your LM to drive it though. This process of hearing what people can drive with their amps has led me to believe that power ratings really depend on their amp type and even then, the numbers are not always "equal". My Ascend's at about 9-10 o'clock on the volume knob is always very loud. No issues with powering these speakers whatsoever. I have not heard the Spendor A7's before but they are a handsome pair of speakers.
I'm thinking of heading down to Pearl Audio and listening to a few sets. They carry Magico, Dynaudio, Sonus Faber and Devore. |
You may want to phone Pearl to insure they have the speaker your interested in on hand.
The Devore O/96 is the only speaker in the Devore line they have on hand currently.
Good luck with your speaker selection.
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@bradf Yeah, I was just on the phone with John. He mentioned that he only had the O/96. With all the suggestions on this speaker, I am interested to listen to them. No Magico A3's unfortunately due to backorder. |
Although I am sure the Magico is a great speaker, the impedance load / curve, sensitivity, phase angle, etc is not the best choice for that amp.
I understand that the crossover is essentially a modified 4th order, which translates to very power hungry.
If I were in your boat I would be researching 1st order or 2nd order, high impedance (or flat), high sensitivity, flat phase angle (or minimum inductance/capacitance phase angle) speakers.
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Freesole
Audio Physic Scorpios would be a great match for your amp, and give you the sound you desire - but these are out of production and hard to find.
I recently heard the Revel 228be ($10k) at RMAF and was impressed. They are 8 ohm, 90 db sensitivity, so should also be a fine match in your system.
Just another to consider. |
How far away are you from Ferndale, WA? It would be fantastic to audition all Daedalus speakers on site. |
@freesole,
If you have a full day open you can drop in Ferndale before lunch time.
Then you can drop at my home which is 40 min down to listen to Vaugn Cabernet and Lansche speakers.
My LM508 is going under repair, thus if you are serious, you shall bring your LM 805.
Otherwise I will use my Rogue Cronus Magnum II fitted with Telefuken 12AX7 and Amperex 12 AU7.
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@twoleftears I am about an hour and a half away. I'll try to get out there. I wonder though, does Daedalus sound more like a Harbeth vs a Focal? If it is more Harbeth like, I'm not sure I will like it but I will want to give it a try anyway.
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I am going to try and listen to the Wilson Sabrina's and the Sonus Faber Olympica's again tomorrow. I'll see if I can bring my LM along with me. |
@freesole
Sorry I missed your question on Nov 7th about which Daedalus I'd recommend. I have the ArgosV2s , they are the only Daedalus speakers that I have heard; and I bought without auditioning. I thoroughly enjoy them
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Hi @facten no worries at all. Thanks for the response. I'll try to get up to Ferndale and have a listen. With several people recommending them, I'll have to give Lou a visit! Have you heard any of the other speakers mentioned in this thread and how would you compare them against your Argos? |
Devore 0/93's or Super Nines. The LM amp is frequently used to demo those speakers at Devore dealerships, since Tone Imports the LM distributor among other brands, sells to those dealers. |
@grk I may drive down to Portland and bring my amp with me. A shop has the O/96 in stock and it would be neat to have a listen - even though the Super Nine's would fit in better with the room they would go into. |
@freesole I've never heard the Argos, but Lou recommends them for a notably wide sweet spot and a slightly more forgiving presentation. I think you might like the new Apollo or possibly the Ulysses. Note that Daedalus has a very significant sale going this month that will end I think on the 30th. Significant savings if one of the models rocks your world. |
@freesole
I have not heard or owned the other speakers mentioned here so I cannot offer any comparison thoughts.
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If you like speakers close to neutral sounding then stay away from Devore and only Harbeth Super HL5plus from Harbeth line up is somewhat neutral(to my ears, did not listen to 40.1 btw).
Btw consider speakers you like and not something just for your tube amp, the could pay forward. I have LM 805ia and you will notice the hiss when you get close to speakers. |
@freesole Happy listening and I would be interested in hearing your impressions. |
Had a terrible experience at Definitive Audio in Bellevue, WA today. Walked out before I even got to listen to the Sonus Fabers and the Wilson's. Will not be going back.
I'll have to find another way to audition these speakers elsewhere. |
I have no problem driving them with this amp, and 10:00 on the volume is getting pretty loud. And they sound fantastic.
Lets remember that the setting of a volume control's position has not bearing on how loud it is or how much louder it can get. You could be right under clipping or miles away. How many dB is pretty loud? |
@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. |
@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. |
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.
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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.
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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. |
@avanti1960 I tend to agree with you on the looks of the Tekton's. Not my cup of tea.
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Brought my LM 805ia to test on the Magico A3's today and wow. It sounded (to my ears) so much better than with the Hegel gear that the Magico's were being demo'd with. No issues with driving the A3's on the 805ia at all. Even the shop owner acknowledged that he was a bit taken back because he did not expect the pairing to sound so good. He remarked at how he didn't think the A3's sounded as good with any other amp pairing he had in store and proceeded to ask where I got my Line Magnetic from. More dynamic and warmth - both were very present characteristics that I heard today. Also heard some surprisingly deep, low end bass that I don't know that I expected with this pairing - considering the specs on paper recommended 50W minimum to drive these speakers. I would be very happy with this combo.
Tomorrow, I test the Daedalus speakers. Hoping to audition both the Argos V2 and the Athena V2. |
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@freesole Did you level match the output when trying the tube amp ?.
I would not use any tube that puts out less than 100watts for your speakers. I have the same amp, would only consider it to power the top section of the speaker.
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Not sure where you are located to go audition. Your amps are rated around 50W, but have fairly high current based on what I remember of them. It's kind of like having a 90W SS amp. What size room did you say? How do you listen and to what types of music? If your room isn't huge and you listen around 86db or so (fairly loud), then you should be able to run most speakers.
Under 10k, I'd have my short list to include:
Proacs
Vandersteen (Treo's as there are rarely Quatro CT's available used as most of us keep them for long periods of time)
Harbeths' (so much fun to listen to for long sessions)
Again, speakers are the most personal of choices in all of the audio chain. I personally like to purchase via a long time established company as there is usually a better chance they will be around when something goes wrong down the line. If you ever need a driver, they are not always available 10 or more years down the line from some of the smaller companies. That's been a problem in the past with some of the very small companies. if you don't care about long term situations, then there are some good designers out there. YMMV |
Thanks all - I ended up auditioning a few speakers and resulted up with the Spendor D9's at home. Pairs beautifully with the Line Magnetic. It's still a brand new speaker so it will likely open up a bit more over the next few months but it sounds fantastic out of the box.
The A3 was very impressive, I had no concerns about the Line Magnetic not being powerful enough to drive those speakers. I might have if I only read specs on paper but no such concerns after the audition.
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That's a nice pairing for sure. Hope you really enjoy them
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@freesole Congratulations on finding a pairing you are happy with. Can you share the other speakers (in addition to the A3) you auditioned and the tradeoffs with each? |
Old thread but I have a question related to this. The Legacy Calibre XD can be bi-amped with the 500w internal Ice amp running the low end. I wonder how the 805 IA would perform and sound driving the mids and highs? |
Sorry, in the post above I meant the 508ia at 48 watts. |
Yes, I meant 508ia as well. |
