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Tube Power Amp Suggestions

I have been looking for a tube power amp. Ideally I want to have about 40 to 70 watts output power, with sound qualities as close to a delicate SET amp as possible, with lots of details, fast, good tone (a tiny bit on the warm side) and imaging, yet with good bass and dynamic. Budget is about 10,000. Second-hand is fine. I know I am asking really too much and will probably get negative response because of this. I just want to get the best within my budget.    
      
My initial considerations are EAR 890 or EAR 861. What do you think?      
    
I heard people saying that push-pull amp can be better than SET if it is implemented well, but push-pull is more difficult to make than a SET amp.    
      
My speakers are measured 91db sensitivity, but it needs power to perform well. I have tried both a SET 300B XLS output at 13W and a push-pull EL34 at about 35W. My impression is as follow:            
      
- SET 300B XLS output at 13W: more delicate and smooth, better resolution and density, lack bass and dynamic       
- Push-pull EL34 at 35W: much more bass and dynamic, sounds a bit coarse, less 3-dimensional and delicate     
    
Thank you in advance for your input. 
   

bigdish
electroslacker
375 posts
 
Bigdish,
I'm pretty much on the same search.  I currently have an el34 integrated that I like better in ultralinear than triode, and my speakers are fairly custom and around 91db efficient.  I think I mainly needed the extra power of ultralinear.  I want the new amp to be my one and last great amplifier.

I've narrowed my list down to a BAT 75SE, used REX (some say it's dark), Audio Research 75se, Mc275 series 6, or just pump extra money into the new VAC 200iq.  I want that dynamic, liquid sound of a greal tube amp, and hope I can drive it strait from a Benchmark Dac2 HGC.

I'll be interested in the suggestions and your decision, and will share anything I discover.
mani-2
42 posts
 
Due to both its stature and its sonic reputation, something like the Line Magnetic 219IA could easily be a long term solution. There's a guy in VA selling one: http://www.usaudiomart.com/details/649312691-line-magnetic-219ia/

See the Dagogo review: http://www.dagogo.com/line-magnetic-219ia-integrated-amplifier-review
dentdog's avatar
dentdog
498 posts
 
Second the Decware. Call Steve Deckert.  
paladin's avatar
paladin
227 posts
 
Einstein Final Cut - Probably one of the (if not the very) best mid power amps ever made
atmasphere's avatar
atmasphere
11,841 posts
 
Its impedance is rather flat at 6 ohm.

They are not very easy to drive IMO.
Its easy to see why when you look at the pdf. The speaker has 4 ohm impedance in the bass frequencies and rises to the 8 ohm impedance of the Festerex at 550Hz. I would call this a 4 ohm speaker and no mistake. Its not what I would call 6 ohms. The design suggests an amplifier with ’voltage source’ characteristics should be used, which means that most of the amps suggested so far won’t sound right on this speaker without the help of a set of ZEROs (www.zeroimpedance.com).

The kind of amp needed to drive this will be a tube amp with lots of feedback or a solid state amp. However, you can assume from many of the posts here that most of the people on this thread prefer amps with little or no feedback.

If you wanted this speaker to work easily with a tube amp, the best solution would be to put the woofers in series and redesign the crossover (creating a 16 ohm loudspeaker). I expect the Festerex is considerably more efficient than the woofers; its likely that after such redesign the speaker would also be more efficient.
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