Which 300b amplifier for Devore O/96

Dear Op

We had exchanged opinions about Lyngdorf before.

Are you still located in India?

If so, even refutable dealer in US have limitation to help you.

Thomas

@shkong78  One of the amps I tried was a Lyngdorf TDAI 3400.  Unfortunately it was not an easy transition from the 300b Frankensteins... I much preferred my SETS.

@OP

each of your choices for amplifiers on its own merits are fine amps.

the issue I see is as has been said by Al & Ralph, they are likely not the 'optimum[' match in terms of power for your O96s.

a secondary aspect apart from power of an amp is the amp's 'voice[' given the build is on par with premium built amps.

Naturally there is some latitude for re-voicing' by rolling tubes but I've found its best to find amps whose voice as is is what you prefer, rather than to speculate on what other tubes 'may' later on bring to the table and in this thread I've read nothing about your sonic preffs, or musical interests which could point to something more specific regarding your short list of amps.

in amplifiers as with life i've found it is best to have it and not need it, rather than to not have it and need it.

amps whose power is seemingly too much is not nearly the possible issue that amps whose power is possibly enough though one is not certain of it.

I've heard glorius SET like sounding amps which ran EL34 PP w/Tformers pushing out only 30wpc into 6-8 ohm, 87db speakers.

as well with some NOS tube exchanges on those same speakers I've used 60wpc BAT vk60, and later 60wpc EL34 PP amps.

at modest listening levels things were fine enough.

exchanging the 87db units for reputedly 93db similar 6-8ohm speakers it was a completely different world!

speakers gotta have an appropriate amount of power or one has wasted a good bit of money and time regardless how well respected the amp may be rated.

then, again, there's the 'voice' of the amp to consider

there are a number of let's say lesser build and less costly amps around whose power ratings are better suited for the O96s you could bring in and later flip to prove or disprove what is being said here to your own ears in your own setting.

I'd definitely try that route if you do not lend much creedance to what Al & Ralph and others have input here before puting all my eggs into one pricey basket.

lastly, what does it say for a speaker maker to show a product with PP amps rather than with standard SET amps?

best luck to you going forward and as posted please drop back in and relate your final verdict..

You can definitely use Shindo/Audio Note amps with O'96s. Obviously they would work better with Avante Garde or other 100+db speakers BUT don't let anybody tell you they simply wont work well. The West Coast Shindo dealer has the O'96's as one of his Demo speakers to be used with the Shindo amps.  I have the O96's and a Audio Note Jinro....have had Shindo La FonGM70 Mono blocks previously.

excerpt from http://geekout.io/index_files/The_truth_about_AirPlay_audio_streams.html
AirPlay uses regular WiFi standards (802.11n) for transmission of audio and video content. Against initial speculation this process is not limited to Apples Airport station, third party routers equipped with this protocol can handle the streaming without complications. The only predisposition necessary is that all participating hardware is on the same WLAN network.

AudioMIDISetup
What is the audio quality for this type of transmission?

In contrast to Bluetooth connections, which sometimes lead to downsampling and loss of quality, AirPlay is transmitting “CD quality” audio (16bit / 44.1kHz). This can easily be verified with the Audio Midi Setup tool that is located in the Utilities folder in your app directory.

For streaming content Apple is using the in-house Apple Lossless Audio Codec (ALAC). Here data density is permitted for up to 120 megabit per second. No matter what format the audio originally coded, your Mac or iOS gadget will turn it into a lossless audio stream. Only so-called “Hi-Res” Audio formats used by pros and audiophiles with higher resolution (e.g. 24 Bit / 192kHz) will be down-sampled to 16 Bit / 44.1kHz.

Video playback with tricks

Video streaming is tricked out by Apple. Audio tracks in videos are generally sampled in 48kHz. The AirPlay specifications state that audio needs to be down-sampled to 44.1 kHz for remote playback. The subjective audio quality itself is only decreased minimally. Most of the video content available online is limited to 160 kBit/s transmission rate for audio. This also applies to movies and TV series on the iTunes Store. = = = = ==

given this input one can stream up to 16/44.1 from which ever service via Air Play... and now Air Play 2, into what ever is supported by license from apple, apps, hardware, etc.

check the audio midi app on your mac to see what is what in terms of available..

if the service however streams out at max MP3 levels or 320bits that will be what one realizes and no more.

I'm a bit at odds on things being upsample or rather converted into another format entirely to lossless as is said in the above article regardless if it comes from Apple or not.

despite the conversion, if any, one only gets what is there. no magical changes arise during conversion from lower bits of info via fidelity when one merely increases the size of the file from a condensed or compressed file.

only native rips into 16/44 will be unaffected if a format is converted, ala, WAV to AIF, or to FLAC and or ALAC. lossless to lossless.

this said, much depends on your ears and system as to wether or not you'll either detect some loss, or just enjoy what ever streaming rate you are receiving.

maybe its best to stay in the dark and just let your ears decide which service sounds better.

I've not connected up with TIDAL or 'boz but do have Apple Music and Spodofy. of these two the latter does often seem to present a more expansive stage. Yet fidelity seems to have little disparity between them, yay or nay. its IOW, a coin toss in terms of SQ between them.

even with my current feeble rig, listening to lossless vs lossy files is pretty readily realized, so opting for uncompressed streaming even with Air Play I or II ought to do well within its designed constraints.

Hope this helps.