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Tube Integrated - Narrowed down to 4 - Help pls

Hi gang,

Ok, speakers are a custom-made, Great Plains Audio (Altec) 604 based system, with BSC filtering that leaves the sensitivity at around 96bB-97dB....

I'm moving from a Parasound A-21/Sonic Frontiers SFL-1 combination, to a tube integrated....All of my prior speakers were hideously inefficient, hence the big power SS amp...

Here's my list of finalists:

Rogue Tempest
Rogue Cronus
Cary SLI80
Cary CAD300SEI

The 300SEI is the odd man of the bunch of course, but I'm still on the fence about going SET or not....I do want the "magic," but my listening preferences (live volumes at times) and living space (15 x 30) are concerns....If SET is the only way to go, then I can rearrange the room for more of a near-field listening environment (6' from the speakers). Regardless, SET is still a consideration if folks feel it'll work....

I'm looking for as much of the midrange sweetness of an SET that I can get, and I'm also a sucker for soundstaging, imaging and super high levels of detail....Add to that, I like dynamics and a good, solid foundation....I may be off base, but unless I spend a fortune on a 300B amp with massive iron, I don't think I'll get the "punch" in the low end that I like...I have zero experience with tubes, so I could be all wet...All I know, is that when a bass pedal hits a bass drum, I want it accurate, and not like a pillow...

I know there's 10,000 other options, but I've narrowed it down to these 4, so if you'd be kind enough to limit your input to the above mentioned products, I would greatly appreciate it....

So the million dollar question: Which one, and why?

Thanks so much for any input!!! I have zero options in my area when it comes to tube equipment, so I'm flying blind....
seadweller
larry510
121 posts
 
Hi,

The speakers will work with both PP and SET amps. I am a little concerned with the size of your room with just 8 watts with the 300B set amp.

I do have a both a PP ( Cary SLI 80 with Thiel 2.4 speakers) and a SET ( Wright Mono 3.5 amps and Klipsch Cornwall speakers ... 103db efficient). I enjoy both systems imenensely and won't even venture a guess which is better. They surely are different.

As to bass response, the Cary/Theil has very tight fast bass. The SET system has floppy bass in the lowest octave... but we buy SET systems for their midrange magic not for deep bass.

The Cary is a great amp IMHO and it sounds great in the triode mode where it put out 40 to 50 watts. If you get it, you will not be disappointed.

good luck with your choices,

Larry
krugorg
7 posts
 
I had a Rogue Cronus and enjoyed it a lot. It was the first EL34 tube amp that could play bass effectively enough for live rock or big orchestral music. I have also had a Cary SLI-80 and it had a fantastic midrange, but just couldn't get the job done when bass was required (IMHO). One other kewl thing with the Rogue is you can play with different output tubes - KT77 and EH 6CA7 work as well as the EL34s... does make a minor difference in sound.
shannere
82 posts
 
I used a Cary SLI80 F1 for a while driving a vintage pair of Altec A7's and found it to be entirely adequate. My Altecs were 16 ohm and still there was enough power even in triode mode. The bass was strong but a slight bit "floppy" but I think this is the characteristic of the large paper cone woofer. Remember when these speakers were first brought out that a 20 watt amp was huge. The Cary can use either 6550's or Kt 88's with just a bias adjustment which is straight forward and quite easily accomplished. If you buy a Cary on A'gon and don't like the signature it should be an easy sell as they never seem to last too long. Happy hunting.
seadweller OP
55 posts
 
Thanks everyone.....

Something that's interesting, is some folks get fast/tight bass out of the SLI80, and some get slow/flabby bass.....Funny thing is, the slow bass is coming from speakers you'd think would have fast bass, and vice-versa!!! I would think it's amp and speaker matching, but I had both Thiel 2 2's and 3.6's, and they require some grip for the low end...

It's also interesting to hear of floppy bass out of an A7, particularly with the horn loaded woofer...The cones are lightweight paper, with huge magnet structures....Could it have been that the 16ohm impedance didn't mate well with the SLI80?

Which unit do you believe would respond best to tube rolling?
shannere
82 posts
 
Don't forget that horn loaded Altec is also reflex loaded and they were made before Mr Thiele gave us any of his math equations to help tuning. In retrospect the Altec bass was supplanted with a TC 2000 in a small suspension with an extremely dead cabinet powered by a big QSC which at least to me sounds quicker in the sense there was much less overhang, may be a better choice of words than "floppy" Perhaps the thin plywood Altec enclosures were a contributing factor and with your custom Great Plains boxes it will probably be much less so. You're also right could be the 16 ohm loading, the Cary is switchable from either 4 or 8 and can be done on the fly and the difference between the two is hearable, again I think your GP 804's are 8 ohm so this should remove one more variable from the equation. As far as either Rogue or any SET amps I don't have any experience.
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