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845/211 tube amplifiers with kef reference 5?

Hi, am seeking for advise from those who have the kef reference 5 or have 845 or 211 tube amplifiers.

I personally own a pair of kef reference 5, driving them with primaluna dialogue HP integrated tube amplifiers with EL34 tubes at 70 watts. Am liking the sound but cant help but wonder if playing with the bigger tubes like 845 or 211 will give it even more tube magic, sweetness/softness, musicality and wider soundstage.

However, those amps typically are lower powered around 20-30watts, and would like to ask for advice of those are suitable to power a kef reference 5 which is 90db at 8 ohms and minimal impedance of 3.2ohms? Recommended power is 50w to 400w but i know tube watts can be more powerful than solid state. 

For those of you who have matched a system like that or heard set ups of these forms of amplifiers with the kef ref 5, or have similar experiences, would like to seek some advice/get some experience from you

Thank you!
Regards
Ben
thegreenman
atmasphere's avatar
atmasphere
11,837 posts
 
it won't be a disaster like he's making out, he's got a bee in his bonnet, over something.
'Something' is misinformation. In case there is any question, I am a manufacturer of tube amplifiers that employ zero feedback. I know all too well that such amps don't work on speakers of this type. You're not seeing me recommend our amps here. That should tell you something. I just don't like to see people flush $$$$$ down the loo for nothing.

If the speaker is bi-amplified, then an SET might work on the top. But you'll have to try it with a loaner- you might find that even with bi-amplification (and by that I mean also using an electronic crossover) that the SET still doesn't have enough power even if it can handle the load.

Again, to get the most of an SET, it should not be used past 20-25% of full power.


thegreenman OP
44 posts
 
Dear All,

Thank you so much for your replies. Sorry for the delay as I was heavily bogged down by work. Am grateful to each and every of your replies.

Especially to atmasphere, thanks so much for sharing your views from a tube amplifier designer/manufacturer point of view on SET. I never knew that SETs are not meant to be pushed past their 20-25% mark. Still trying to process and understand some of your more technical comments but am very grateful for your sharing.

Am curious, how about push-pull 845 amplifiers in monoblock configuration? Eg 50w class A, each channel driven by 2 845 or 211 tubes? Would those be sufficient to drive the kef reference 5? 

Thanks
thegreenman OP
44 posts
 
Hi Verdantaudio,

Thanks for your replies as well! I did consider bi-amping but was worried about the matching of the sound. Heard a steve guttenberg video where he was trying to match a tube for high/mid and solid state class A for bass, and sounded bad. Haha hence I am holding that off for now though I agree technically its a feasible option! :)

Heard mcintosh mc901 demos though and agree those sound wonderful! But definitely out of my price range :pp

Cheers
Ben
thegreenman OP
44 posts
 
Hi Sbank

Thanks for your suggestion! Will keep a lookout for dehavillaudio! Now they dont have 845 tube amps but I will keep a lookout for those! :)

Thanks!
atmasphere's avatar
atmasphere
11,837 posts
 
Am curious, how about push-pull 845 amplifiers in monoblock configuration? Eg 50w class A, each channel driven by 2 845 or 211 tubes? Would those be sufficient to drive the kef reference 5?
If the amp uses feedback you'd probably be alright. The feedback is to allow the amp to behave as a voltage source.
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