Right now I have some Cornwall III's that I am happy with. Driven with an McIntosh MC 7106 that works quit well. I am kicking around the idea of buying a PrimaLuna integrated amp, any suggestions? And replacing the McIntosh.
Go with tubed OTLs with higher power. 30W per channel as a minimum. In my experience, OTLs are in another league when you compare them against SET and push-pull designs on higher impedance speakers.
I have come to the conclusion the best compromise is to use Tube and Solid State in combination. Tubes for Pre-amp, and Tubes for Power Mid range and Highs, and Solid State for Bass. This can be achieved by bi amp or Sub-woofer. I prefer Sub-woofers. I would recommend SET amp. There is no right answer - I guess.
I've never seen a tube driven sub, so an all tube pre/amp system (as I have) with one or two (or a swarm) of solid state amp driven subs seems fairly normal, and using 2 RELs with the mains left alone works for me. The tube amp I use is a 12wpc or so single ended thing, and the subs total 250 watts...sounds sublime.
In my last few systems I've had sucess using a tube pre-amp with a SS amp.You get the bottom authority of SS, with
the sonic signiture
of a tube.The braun, with the warmth, without the need of expensive power tubes.
You must have a verified phone number and physical address in order to post in the Audiogon Forums. Please return to Audiogon.com and complete this step. If you have any questions please contact Support.