Tube integrated amp recommendations

@millercarbon you right the Blackhawk would only prime the pump.

However you love yours and that is great, as I have seen in the millercarbon archives you were thinking about the Reflection by Raven?

Thinking you needed it for those Tekton monoliths (size) you have.

Thanks MC---I've seen the 'rave' reviews about the Blackhawk and their customer service. I'm a novice when it comes to tubes---would you recommend their NOS tubes as starters or upgrade the tubes? 

@bluorion Do a search here on Raven CS it is not as great as some think.

James is a little bipolar.

The Blackhawk’s 20W is plenty for any Tekton. My Moab will take more, and easily, but the Reflection wasn’t about power so much as quality and aesthetics. The Reflection is just about the sexiest thing in all of audio. Just to be able to look at it sitting there in the middle of the room! But they pretty much talked me out of it, and I am fine with that. The only real downside being how good the Blackhawk sounds after about an hour and a half to two hours. I mean it sounds great every time it is turned on. But then after about 2 hours listening to music you realize it is in this crazy magic zone and I really don’t know any word other than magic that works. If you want watts or volume or anything other than magic there are lots of choices.

Mine came with all their best tube choices. Some like the power tubes are not even listed on the site. You have to call and talk to Dave or James. Dave in particular is the tube man. Kind of like the sommelier in the Wick movies only charming. How he is connected with all these sources across the globe and knows so well what tube does what is beyond me. Mine only came with the one set of NOS power tubes, so no idea how much different it would be without them. Preamp tubes though he did send two extra sets and sure enough the ones he prefers are a lot better. So I would talk with Dave and go with whatever he says.

Now sad to say we have someone had to butt in try and create a false impression and I don’t really care for that. The high end audio business is hard enough without audiophiles making it harder. The truly great builders like Raven are rare enough the last thing we ought to be doing is blathering unfounded innuendo. So please either disregard the blatherer, or at least DYODD enough to understand just how full of it he is. More work now, but saves time later as you learn who is and who is not worth reading.

@millercarbon again a few of us have expierienced it but we get it you are a Raven guy.