Goldenear Triton One.R - can it be driven with low power tube amp?

cakids the designer of these speakers prefers 8 watt SET amps and this is obviously a reflection of his taste and how he hears/listens. Your listening biases may be similar to  his or possibly quite different,  who knows?

You have a good quality el 84 pentode push pull tube amplifier that's switchable between 20 (Triode) and 40 (Ultralinear) watts.  Definitely exercise your curiosity and insert this amplifier into your system.  I look forward to your impressions.
Charles 

I have heard these driven by the Line Magnetic 805 integrated amp. A great match with great sound.

@georgehifi,

When I was at the 2017 RMAF, in the Golden Ear Room, I talked at length to Sandy Gross and I mentioned tubes and the Triton References. He told me he uses an 8 watt SET in his home with the References. They have a 93.5 dB efficiency. He said he voiced the speakers with both the SET and an Airtight Tube Amp. He also used a SS amp but he never got into the specifics.


Sandy told me he likes to kick back in the evenings with a good bottle of wine and listen to music via the SET and the T Refs. If you read through the forums on the Golden Ear web site, the moderator in one of the conversations discusses Sandys preferences. I use a Mac MC302 on mine and 90% of the time, the meters hover between .3 watts and 3 watts and in my room, gives me a 88db spl.

Swapped the Manley Stingray into the system and did a couple of hours listening to three configurations driving the GE Triton One.Rs:
1. Stingray in Ultralinear (40 watts)
2. Stingray in Triode (20 watts)
3. Cary Audio SLP-98p Formula 1 mod with Pass Labs XA-60.5 monos, my normal set-up with the Tritons.
Listened to vinyl only. Initial impressions:
All 3 sounded excellent. Bass was identical in all 3 configs. 1 and 2 sounded slightly sweeter or more natural on voices, with 2 being slightly more pleasing.
In config 3, the sound was more evenly robust or full, but not quite as appealing/ natural on vocals.
Bottom line - low power tube amps can drive the Tritons easily, and quite nicely.
The sound quality differences, slight though they were, were probably due more to the character of tube/solid state vs the all tube integrated amp.

Hi cakids,
Thanks for posting your listening impressions. You can get dozens (Hundreds) of opinions on what will or won’t work based on this or that reason. Actually listening to the audio product in your own system is hands down the superior approach.

Given that Sandy Gross is very happy using an 8 watt SET amplifier, it isn’t completely surprising that you achieved excellent sound quality and natural tonality (A strength of good tube amps) using the Manley Sting Ray, I’m glad that you took the time to give it a try.

Very interesting and successful outcome for you in light of the challenging speaker impedance measurements provided by George. You really do have to listen as bench testing doesn’t yield the entire picture, just a partial perspective. Ironically the bass frequency region was a concern yet you report excellent bass results with both triode and Ultralinear modes of the Manley.
Charles