For the past year I’ve been driving my O/96’s with a LM805ia via the 16 ohm taps. Wonderful out of the box, I have it dialed in so magically right now by rolling all tubes I can’t imagine making a gear change for the foreseeable future. Wonderful synergy and I agree with the previous poster who indicated you will get the most from this amp with a speaker possessing high and flat impedance (O/96 is nominal 10 ohms and never dips below 8 ohms). The LM805ia replaced a Pass XA30.8 and the pairing isn’t even close compared to the LM. It’s all about amp/speaker synergy and LM + Devore O/ is a great formula.
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):
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
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If your in Seattle and do not have a local dealer your happy with i'd suggest a trip ( when covid is done with us) to Vancouver there is a few good dealers there. I also know in Victoria, Sound Hounds has a few Devore / AudioNote AN speakers on sale right now. I'd also suggest you consider Living Voice speakers out of the UK with the British Pound so low right now buying British is not a bad idea. I replaced a set of AudioNote ANE's with the Avatar2's a few years ago and have to say they are some of the most enjoyable, musical, speakers I've owned, drove them with 300B amps at 8wpc. They do not advertise that much so they are not that visible to us here in NA but they make speakers in the million dollar range so they know what they are doing. Auditorium Range | Reflex MTM Loudspeakers | Living Voice |
I have been very happy with various Vandersteen's and top 50w amps as long as they have plenty of current. As we know you may as well add another 25-40% to the power rating when looking at good tube amps over SS ones. It all depends on you room and listening volume. As long as the speaker is easy to drive as a Vandersteen is, the sensitivity won't matter much. IF you pair said speaker with the Vandersteen sub 3, the main amp is only running in the 100hz on up range so it frees up the bass which is a big drag for most amps. I wouldn't discount any easy to drive speaker and yes, bring your amp with you if you are able to for auditions. |
I have heard Devore speakers at Don Better Audio in Cleveland OH. Very nice for SET amps. Beautiful, musical and organic sound. He also sold me my Line Magnetic amp when he first got them several years ago.My LM audio map is low powered with Vandersteen 2CE Sig II. But I never play at high volume and I am adding a nice subwoofer... in the near future to supplement mid-to low bass. If you win the lottery look at these https://voltiaudio.com/vittora/. In fact the Volti Rival is within your budget and would be another great audition. |
Imo,,of the speakers,suggested Tekton is the worst.When i heard the impact monitor it sounded horrible,we pulled a driver to see what was inside,what a piece of crap.A big part of a speakers magic is the cabinet,bracing and xover...joke joke joke..The double impact was even worse so i would dismiss the clown Tekton shill fan boys.Obviously you should of bought your speakers first and then matched the power to it but having said the couple of times ive auditioned Devore they were powered with LM gear...thats where id start. |
Here is a link for you that compares 5 of the current Line Magnetic Amps. Its incredibly useful. https://www.hifi-advice.com/blog/amplifier-reviews/integrated-amplifier-reviews/line-magnetic-part1/ |
I'm chiming in late on this topic. Curious if OP or others on this thread can opine as to the power characteristics of this amp compared to my LM 518ia, which is an earlier LM integrated producing 22wpc from a pair of 845s. I'm wondering if in the real world those 26 watts are a huge difference. Thanks! |
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. |
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 |
+2 for Spatial Audio, M3 Triode Master A huge beautiful sound stage, very open detailed, yet musical and a miser on power. Also are very room friendly. The only thing missing from some of the best speakers already mentioned - a fancy box and high price tag. A good buy used www.usaudiomart.com/details/649457247-spatial-m3-triode-masters/ Or new with 60 day home trial for about $4K http://www.spatialaudio.us/m3-triode-master/ Just a thought....Jim |
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. |
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. |
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. |
@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. |
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? |
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 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, 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. |
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. |
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. |
@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. |
@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. |
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. |
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 |
