Tannoy Westminster amp matching question.

Borg7x9, if brightness is something that bothers you in a system (I know it does for me....) then you will want to avoid amps that employ negative feedback. Feedback will make any amplifier sound brighter.

Remember how I mentioned that the ear uses the odd ordered harmonics to tell how loud a sound is? Negative feedback in an amplifier will reduce most forms of distortion, but will increase the odd orders slightly. By 'slightly' I really do mean by trace amounts - 1/100ths of a percent. But our ears are so tuned to this issue that it is safe to say that using negative feedback violates a fundamental rule of human hearing- how we detect the volume of a sound.

One last comment, I'd like to make.
I doubt very much, that Franks and Coincident speakers (Total Eclipse, or Pure Reference) sound radically different from one system to another. And even though I'm not a big fan of being guided solely by measurements in my equipment choices, the facts are just that- 8 Watts of SE power is likely not to be enough to drive a multidriver box speaker of average sensitivity to it's full potential. Neither Coincident speakers, nor their amplifiers posess any mysterious secrets to make their products any more different in this regard.
What I DON'T have doubts about, that we certainly put a different emphasis on various aspects of music reproduction, and I wouldn't be surprised if we had judged the sound of the very same system differently, given a chance to be in the same room, at the same time, listening to the same music.

Maril555,
I`d agree with your last statement,I probably would`nt like what you do,nor you what I like.I`m ecstatic with the sound of my system and I hope the same is true for you with your system.
Regards,

Phew !!! For a minuet there I thought It was all getting grumpy and out of hand ;-).

Atma, I appreciate you'r physics based approach to your explanations. Seems to make sense to me.

Charles, I like you're open and philosophical approach to the classification of what will work or not. I think I'm in the same camp as you re trying SET's with these. Probably if there are limitations, the subjective benefits I'd get in the way I listen would more than make up for the downsides.

Personally I have never found the "massive power being better" thing to be true, but there are so many variables here that it is immensely difficult to judge objectively. I'm thinking of a friends class D amps driving his B&W 802's (A horror to my ears). he really loved it, something I couldn't understand.

I am getting a number of truths from this thread:-

1. There are many different ways to get it right.
2. There are more different ways to get it wrong.
3. If we each think that our own system is fantastic then who cares what others think ?? I do like to listen with friends over a nice bottle of wine. But I wouldn't design a system change so they liked it more and me less.
(maybe there is a different consideration in the case of designers who are designing products to be attractive to appreciative customers) Actually that's a thought provoking point...... Atmas do you design to what you think sounds great, or is it a case of trying to please some of the people, most of the time ?? I expect in this industry(at this end of the industry) that its driven by passionate artisans who are designing towards their ultimate personal taste. I think that's the only way that you get truly phenomenal products. i.e. someone pushing passionately, for what they believe is the ultimate way to go.

4. The only way to really tell is to experience for yourself in your own room with your own music. Unfortunately this is not always possible so gathering opinions from experienced enthusiasts like yourselves can help avoid making really bad mistakes.

Thanks all.

Charles1dad -
Again you still make false assumptions when you assert that "high powered solid state" may suit someones preferences. The underlying assumption you imply is that high powered solid state has a sound - well that's not true, its going to be speaker dependent. Isn't the primary goal of an amplifier to drive the speaker properly.
My point was that you need an amp that is driving the speakers properly and with over 20 years experience with Tannoy 15" drivers in various cabinets, I do believe that many folk incorrectly assume that you only need a few watts because of the high efficiency. I believe that controlling the 15" driver, which has been specifically designed to be phase coherent through the crossover point at 1k, is paramount to maintaining that design intent.
I personally do not use high powered solid state. I use a very high current phase coherent 50wpc solid state amp, regarded by many as one of the best solid state amps ever made. I still own tube amps as well, some of which blow the Plinius away completely through the midrange in transparency, liquidity and preservation of harmonics, but are they the best amps for Tannoy - not necessarily.
Let me give you an example. A friend of mine has the Coincident Pure Reference speakers which are 94db. He uses most of the time a Bakoon amplifier of 15 watts. This drives the Coincidents in a large room easily. On my Tannoys of similar efficiency the Bakoon sounds very transparent, but runs out of power very quickly, even at low listening levels. As I explained above the efficiency is only half the story and can be misleading.