Tannoy Stirlings on the way!

Regarding low-power Pass on Sterlings: I had an XA30.5  (and XP-10) with Turnberry. The combination was a bit on the anemic and slow side. I am now using Benchmark AHB2 and HPA4 with much better results. Far less strain, much bigger/taller images, etc.

“Accuphase kit interests me, but I've never heard any of it.  From what I've read/heard people say, it seems like they have an atypical class-A sound; cooler, flatter, a bit recessed by comparison“

@trentmemphis 

Accuphase sounds nothing like your generalization of a component you never heard. I can only speak to E-650 Integrated that I’ve come to treasure over past 2 plus years. To my ears, it has a slightly warm (SET like) sound that is smooth yet suave with unfatiguing tonality.

The E-650 liquidity with vocals in also unmistakable. I could easily pick out the dense texture and richness of vocal harmonies on one hand and its resolution and transparency on the other. The voices blends beautifully with arrangements without congealing; the rendering of space is exemplary not just in width and depth but more importantly in the precise placement of images within the soundstage. Notably, instruments are presented as individual objects spatially and texturally, making it easy to clearly hear individual parts within the whole. That’s one quality that a meticulously designed component does well; to hear it to this degree from an integrated amplifier is quite astonishing and rewarding. Once you hear the E-650 textural beauty, resolution and liquidity, it becomes very hard to walk away :-) 

Good luck with your journey! 

Thanks for all the input, everybody.  I truly appreciate it.  Lots to think about.

@lalitk 

I think there may be a bit of a misunderstanding.  I didn't actually make a "generalization about a component [I] never heard."  Because I haven't heard it, I made a generalization about what I've seen/heard others say about it.  That was all I could do.  If it came across otherwise, it wasn't intentional.

@trentmemphis 

It’s all good. I just want you to make an informed decision based on actual user experience. I realize no two systems are alike but you and I share speakers that are cut from same cloth and I want you to enjoy Stirling’s to the max. They are very special speakers, the kind you hang on to rest of life, I know my Canterbury’s are not going anywhere :-) 

I think I’m going to stay with what I’ve got, for now. I am awfully curious about how these sound with, say, tube amps, but I’m not finding anything out there that meets all my criteria, so I think I’ll just plow that money into the house fund. (A house with a dedicated listening room!)