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Tube amps good with Emerald Physics CS2 speakers?

Hello everyone. I just bought a pair of Emerald Physics CS2 speakers, I know that these speakers need to be bi-amped, and I am now looking for the amps with which to drive them. I spoke to Clayton, (the designer of these speakers), on the phone, and he said that for the lower frequencies, that the CS2s need at least 100 watts to be driven effectively on the low end, and so then he recommended that I use a solid-state amp in order to drive the low frequency woofers, and so I will look for a good solid-state amp to drive the woofers of the CS2s on the lower frequencies. I also asked him about what type of amp I should use for the higher frequencies, but he would not give me a recommendation as to whether or not I should use tube amps or solid-state amps on the high frequency tweeters, saying that he had customers who were doing both and were happy with them. And so, I am asking my questions to and referring my questions to you guys who already own these speakers and who have had experience with them: can you tell me which would sound better driving the high frequency tweeters of the CS2s--tube amps or solid-state amps? Has anyone actually tried driving the tweeters of these speakers with a tube amp, and did it sound good and was the sound to your liking? And also, has anyone actually tried driving these speakers with SET tube amps, and did you think the speakers sounded good driving them with those amps, and was the sound to your liking? I was also looking at a specific tube amp to pair with the upper frequency tweeters of these speakers, and that is the Art Audio Carissa Signature 845 SET tube amp. I was told by Clayton that the power output of this SET amp would be enough to drive the upper frequency tweeters of these speakers due to the use of the 845 tube, but he had never heard of the amp before, and so he could not say whether or not he thought that this amp would be a good match with the CS2 tweeters or not. Has anyone had any experience pairing this particular 845 SET amp with the CS2 tweeters? Has anyone had any experience trying to pair another 845 SET tube amp with the high frequency tweeters of the CS2s? And if you did, did it sound good, did you like the sound, and did it sound musical? Everyone’s input is appreciated, and all are welcome to reply, but I would especially like to hear from CS2 owners and those whom have either tried to use tube amplification in order to drive the upper frequency tweeters of these speakers and who have had experience with using tube amps with these speakers, or those who have heard the speakers before being driven separately by both solid-state amps and tube amps.

Thanks in advance to everyone who replies.
leroyc33
gmood1
1,251 posts
 
I was just discussing this with a friend today.We're waiting for his CS2s to come in. We plan to try my 300B on the top end. And use a Audire Otez or a Classe on the woofers. Preamps will be a TVC and a Bel Canto Dac 3.

Honestly I don't see it being a problem driving the tweet/mid with a good tubed amplifier. I plan to drive mine with the 300B on top and a pro amp for the 15 inch drivers.

I should know for sure in the next week or so how it's going to sound. You can go to audiocircle.com. and post this question. There are plenty of owners on the site.
farmersre's avatar
farmersre
19 posts
 
I will also be doing some a/b comparisons in about 2 weeks. I have a Tom Evans Linear A in my Avantgarde Duo system and I just got a couple more amps to swap in and out of that system as well with the Emerald Physics.

I will be using a tubed amp for the top end and picked up some sub amps for driving the bottom end. I have an Art Audio Carissa, Art Audio PX-25, and a Sophia Electric Baby amplifier with factory upgrades.

I am waiting for my H-Cat preamp to come back from getting upgraded to the newly released model which should be any day and I and a reviewer friend will be setting them up and seeing which sounds best. Feel free to stay in contact with me for more info.....
rockadanny
1,224 posts
 
I don't get some folks' reasoning on using potentially lesser quality amps on the LF woofs of these speakers. I can understand if those woofs handled only LFs, but unless I'm mistaken, these LF woofs also handle freqs up to 1kHz. That covers the all-important mids which so many of us are after, the most sensual(?) part of the freq spectrum. Wouldn't you want your highest quality amp to cover those freqs? I must be missing something here.
gmood1
1,251 posts
 
Hello Rockadanny..yes you are unfortunately.You would have to hear the speakers to understand. In fact it would surprise you how this speaker sounds driven by a pro amp on the woofers. The speaker was designed to do just that, give you great sound using good equipment. These drivers after all are pro drivers, designed to play at ridiculous levels for extended periods of time without distorting.

I've heard Clayton is working out a deal to have his own active crossover manufactured.This is where the rubber meets the road. The active crossover is the strength of this speaker.
philefreak
423 posts
 
You guys are going to love them! I've used a PX4 SET,Decware 2watt SET,300B SET,and 2a3 P/P amps and they all drove the speaker just fine. The speakers are an amp microscope. They will make differences in amps the most noticable than you've ever heard. Rockadanny makes a good point and I'm currently trying different bass amps. The differences in bass amps are far less noticable. So, if on a budget the bass can go a while while one puts all the efforts into the top end. This goes for speaker cable,ICs,and power cords on the bass amp as well. It's still a priority but, just not as high a priority as the treble amp and cables. Guys, be sure you break these in before judging them. They break in fast at first and slow to crawl.They're probably 40% broken in the first 25 hrs. They just get more opened and effortless,smooth,and just downright amazing! Mine have 250 hrs. and they're still improving. I could go on and on about these but, I'll sum it up this way. I've heard many,many speakers(horns,panel,arrays single drivers,you name it)these make all of them sound broken! Beware! If you don't like a live music presentation then you will not like these. They sound as much like live music as I've ever heard in a stereo.
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