As you have an Aric pre, why not check in with Aric?
Considering a Raven Audio Blackhawk Integrated for Tannoy Sterlings
I recently purchased a pair of Tannoy Sterling speakers. Rated 91dB sensitive which do not drop below 5 ohms impedance. My room I about 12' x 15' x 8.5'. It is treated with absorption panels to my liking.
I am currently driving the Sterlings with a BEL 1001 MK5 SS amp (50wpc), itself driven by an Aric Audio Special all tube preamp. System is digital based with an Audio Mirror Tubadour III DAC fed by Mac Mini or CD transport.
The system sounds wonderful, however I am looking to simplify, and have not experienced tubes in the power amplifier stage. The Blackhawk is 20wpc. I auditioned the Sterlings with a Luxman 20wpc class A SS amplifier. That amp drove them very well in a room volume greater than my room. I am aware that Raven Audio allows a 45 day trial period with loss of shipping only if one wished to return the integrated.
I find the Tannoys to have a certain warmth that I enjoy. Not thinking that I need any more provided by an amplifier. Love the 'bloom' and 'air' around notes, soundstaging, and imaging provided by tubes.
Obviously, given the trial period I could audition the pairing in my own room. I am just looking for thoughts from members herein, some that own Raven or Tannoy. Thanks in advance.
I am currently driving the Sterlings with a BEL 1001 MK5 SS amp (50wpc), itself driven by an Aric Audio Special all tube preamp. System is digital based with an Audio Mirror Tubadour III DAC fed by Mac Mini or CD transport.
The system sounds wonderful, however I am looking to simplify, and have not experienced tubes in the power amplifier stage. The Blackhawk is 20wpc. I auditioned the Sterlings with a Luxman 20wpc class A SS amplifier. That amp drove them very well in a room volume greater than my room. I am aware that Raven Audio allows a 45 day trial period with loss of shipping only if one wished to return the integrated.
I find the Tannoys to have a certain warmth that I enjoy. Not thinking that I need any more provided by an amplifier. Love the 'bloom' and 'air' around notes, soundstaging, and imaging provided by tubes.
Obviously, given the trial period I could audition the pairing in my own room. I am just looking for thoughts from members herein, some that own Raven or Tannoy. Thanks in advance.
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- 56 posts total
Willgolf, I, like you, am concerned about vender reputation and service. I have watched the video and am impressed with Raven's product and attention to detail. Should I go the integrated route the Raven Blackhawk remains my top candidate. With the 45 day trial period ability to audition in my own home/system, not much to lose. I am stuck in a quandary, integrated vs. separates. Facten, don't the LM518 and LM845 use different output tubes? I have no doubt your amp sounds exceptional. The LM845 did. I have made the decision I am going to stick with USA made. Noromance, I have every intention to discuss with Aric my quandary regarding integrated vs. separates. Aric is very easy to talk with. At the moment he does't make an integrated. I am very happy with his Special preamp and have explored his amp offerings. One thought regarding that quandary is that with my Aric pre I could deploy either a SS or a tube amp at my discretion depending on speaker in use. The Aric pre has very low output impedance for a tube pre and variable gain, thus making it compatible with many amplifiers. |
@mesch " Facten, don’t the LM518 and LM845 use different output tubes? I have no doubt your amp sounds exceptional. The LM845 did. " They are the same, 845 output tubes and the rest of the tube compliment is also the same. , just the name of the amp changed from 518 to 845. If you are going to talk to Aric unlike his pure power amps his Transcend amp has a volume pot http://aricaudio.com/products.php?product=TRANPP88#desc |
- 56 posts total