My point is if you look at the Sony SS AR1 speaker measurements they are as George and others have rightly noted, a ’challenging ’ speaker load given its impedance curve and phase angle characteristics. Armed with this knowledge the last thing you’d recommend is a 14 watt tube amplifier.@charles1dad In looking at this statement I think you might be conflating high power with the ability to drive difficult loads. But I suspect this load isn't as difficult as it appears, but regardless a small amplifier can easily deal with difficult loads if designed for it. Anyone making a tube amp these days has to deal with the simple fact that 4 ohm speakers and difficult loads are a lot more common than they were even 20 years ago! And I suspect that Luxman didn't go into that product design blind to this fact!
Thoughts on Tube vs SS amplification for Sony SS AR1s
Hi all~
Was hoping someone with more knowledge than me may be able to help clear up some confusion I’ve been having.
I recently was able to acquire my ‘unicorn’ speakers, the SS AR1s. 4 ohms, 88 dB, 28hz-60khz.
i have an integrated tube amp, the Luxman LX-380, which on paper doesnt seem to deliver a lot of power for these speakers (14 w into 4 ohms), but i have been really surprised by how full/robust everything sounds with the Luxman in place. I had been advised that a more powerful SS amp (‘at least 200 w per channel!’) would be needed to get the most out of the SS AR1s (and i have had a lot of SS amps in the past), but To be honest I’m pretty impressed with how it sounds already - So, i was just hoping someone with more experience here could weigh in? Is it necessarily true that tubes just aren’t a good match for a speaker of this sensitivity? Would a more powerful amp like the luxman mQ-88uc (25 w into 4 ohms) be worth looking into? Would a powerful SS amp really make these speaker sing (and i just dont know what I’m missing)? I want to take advantage of the low-end of these new speakers (which is the main difference from my previous pair), so looking for some guidance re tube amps and exerting control over speakers like these.
thanks much!
Was hoping someone with more knowledge than me may be able to help clear up some confusion I’ve been having.
I recently was able to acquire my ‘unicorn’ speakers, the SS AR1s. 4 ohms, 88 dB, 28hz-60khz.
i have an integrated tube amp, the Luxman LX-380, which on paper doesnt seem to deliver a lot of power for these speakers (14 w into 4 ohms), but i have been really surprised by how full/robust everything sounds with the Luxman in place. I had been advised that a more powerful SS amp (‘at least 200 w per channel!’) would be needed to get the most out of the SS AR1s (and i have had a lot of SS amps in the past), but To be honest I’m pretty impressed with how it sounds already - So, i was just hoping someone with more experience here could weigh in? Is it necessarily true that tubes just aren’t a good match for a speaker of this sensitivity? Would a more powerful amp like the luxman mQ-88uc (25 w into 4 ohms) be worth looking into? Would a powerful SS amp really make these speaker sing (and i just dont know what I’m missing)? I want to take advantage of the low-end of these new speakers (which is the main difference from my previous pair), so looking for some guidance re tube amps and exerting control over speakers like these.
thanks much!
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- 47 posts total
- 47 posts total