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Integrated Tube Around $1000

Hello,

I'm deciding to dip into the tube world and I'm looking for a few suggestions. I love the warm tube sound but I don't want to break the bank or take up huge amounts of space with mono blocks and a pre-on the floor.

I plan to spend around $1000 US. I currently have a pair of Dynaudio A72 Floor standers and a pair of Totem Model One's. They are both in the 87-88db efficiency ball park. So I think I'll need a little juice to get them going but I suspect that 30-50watts should do the trick. My music room is in the small to medium area. I listen to everything and I do mean everything. From punk to Indian Classical and from lap top music to Jazz. Eventually I will probably go with a more efficient floorstander but I am hoping to use the integrated with the Totems or the Dynaudio's.

I'm thinking about the Jolida 202 with Mods by parts Connexion or maybe the Prima Luna One. I've heard the Jolida and been suitably impressed and I'd love to hear the Prima Luna.

Any suggestions? Should I think about used instead of new?

thanks

matthew
mcrosier
rar1's avatar
rar1
1,769 posts
 
Hi Arthur;

The 85db that I was referring to with the AR 302 and the NHT SB2 speakers was their sensitivity ... as opposed to the resultant sound level that I am driving them at. I doubt that I am using more than a watt or so of the Prologue Two's power output, though. In HI FI Plus' review of the Prologue Two, it speaks a bit about how loud the amp plays.

Regards, Rich
mcrosier OP
61 posts
 
So it sounds like the Jolida 302 or 502 as well as the Prima Luna are the leading contenders. Has anyone been able to compare the Jolida vs. the Prima Luna?

According to the Totem web site, they suggest that 15 watts is a bare minimum for the Totem's and the Dynaudio site says that 25 watts is needed for the A72's. In time I plan to replace the Danes and go to a more sensitive floorstander. But I do plan to keep the Totem's. If they will work with the integrated Tube, than that just gives me more flexibility with the system. They are great with my Classe 100 mono blocks, but that's 200Watts of solid state. I don't listen to music loud, I found that with the mono blocks I got full sound out of the speakers at low volume. I'm hoping for something similar with tubes. But maybe 30 watts isn't enough, although it might be. Is there a floor where you can't go wrong? 40watts? 50watts? 60watts?

thanks

matthew
classic95
52 posts
 
I have Totem Model 1's and I recently hooked up my 30 watt RM-10 (from the 4 ohm taps) and it could NOT drive the Totems to ANY kind of reasonable level. As soon as I hooked it up it was pretty obvious that it wasn't going to work very well. I had planned on listening at least through the weekend and it didn't make it more than an hour or two. HTH.

Wes
scottz
29 posts
 
I've listened to the Jolida 502 and the Primaluna Prologue 2, but not side by side. I think both amps will be able to drive the Totems. I listened to the J502 with Maggie 1.6s and the P2 with the Audio Physic Virgos. Neither speaker is terriby efficient. Despite the power ratings of the amps, the P2 seems more powerful than the Jolida. Some of the posters above assume that all watts are equal. The quality of those watts will also make a difference. Both amps are very good, especially for the money. As noted, the P2 has better build quality. It's easy to use for the first-time tube user and should put out great music for a very long time. Based on all my auditions, I think you would need to spend double or triple the price of the P2 to get significantly better sound. I ended up getting the P2.
tobias
1,534 posts
 
Rich, about the relative loudness of your Prologue 2 vs the NAD 320BEE... do you mean that's a measure of the ability of these amps to play loud, or simply that the Prologue has more gain at a lower volume setting?

I have the 320BEE on a short list for 4 systems, each one with different-efficiency speakers, which is why I ask.
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