Tube amp for "difficult" speakers,,,

I recently did an in-store audition with the Primaluna Dialogue (38W) on a set of Dyna Focus 120s (4ohm, 86 db, impedance dips below my 52SEs). The Prima is the best amp I’ve heard, for my taste, since I’ve started the upgrade path... which is starting to look more like the opening chapter of an epic journey.

As for SS, I’ve listened to the Exposure 2100, Bel Canto 1000 and Ayre V5-xe, but wasn’t feeling it. The McIntosh MA6900 came close, but didn’t seem to have the presence and life I felt with the Prima... the engaging sense of decay... plus a little aesthetically show-offy for me, to be honest.

I threw a wide range of sounds at the Prima/Dyna combo -- Black Keys, Stereolab, Brad Mehldau, Count Basie – and went louder than I typically do at home (have a 40w Rotel that never goes past 12). Either I didn’t push far enough or don’t have refined enough ears to sense when the sonics are degrading.

It has been suggested to me (by those who know the Prima but have nothing to gain from the sale) that I shouldn’t have problems with my 52SEs as the Prima plays ‘bigger’ than it’s 38W power rating... but I’m still not ready to pull the trigger because of the various concerns I’ve been reading.

I’ll probably go back and push the Prima/Dyna combo a little harder... if anyone can suggest music to help spot deficiencies and/or point out what I should be listening for... I’m all ears.

As I dig deeper... I keep uncovering compelling SS alternatives to glass. The one that seems to stand out is the Red Wine Audio 30.2... so may have to give that a listen as well.

And have also heard good things about Simaudio, Music Fidelity, Van Alstine, Accuphase... all more or less in my budget, available for audition and totally off topic here.

Oh, dear...

If you try your speakers with a tube amp you may want to check out the Speltz zero autoformers. The zeros can double the impedence that your amp will see changing your 4 ohm nominal speakers to 8 ohm.

Tvad, in the case of the Consequence, power does seem to be a main issue, but perhaps your comment was to Robtym (my speakers don't sound tipped up, just 'dead', if they don't get enough power). The Consequences are harder to drive than the monitors discussed here (dipping to 3.6 in the lower frequencies, plus a tweeter and supertweeter arrangement that probably is also demanding for the amp).

Robtym, this sounds much like my experience with the Cayin + Dynaudio 140. I would check it in triode mode. And why listen for problems if you like the sound. On the other hand, I also have noticed that the grass is not always so green on the tube side of the fence (yes the midrange is great and voices lovely, but after awhile...) - and i agree with your comments regarding s-state.

Dmailer, thanks, very interesting. Perhaps it would work in my present system also. I have mailed Speltz and will check this out.

Some good news - 8 Cerapucs arrived today, bought for a reasonable price from a user in Sweden. Compared to my DIY graphite / cones / bike inner tire solutions, they make a definite improvement (so far, under my record player and speakers). Some of what i thought was s-state grunge wasn't (honours to Krell). Probably more to come in this direction.

I am experimenting with grounding and have started a separate thread on this, cf. "Grounding the system" under Amps and preamps.

Oystein

If you can find Music Reference Rm 9 Mk 1 or 2,it would give you plenty of power and very good sounding.

The Consequence is not that hard a speaker to drive. We've had customers who have had good luck using our MA-2s. That's 220 watts of triode power FWIW.