Tannoy Stirlings on the way!

@astolfor 

I'm really surprised by that. I think it smells lovely. I've treated a few times with Tannoy's wax and once with the Liberon Black Bison (exact same thing), and always enjoyed the smell the next few days with no ill effect. I suppose everyone has different sensitivity levels to chemicals. The Briwax crap is the one that would've choked me out, had I applied it.

Well, I went and did it.  I'm now on the list at Decware to get a Zen Torii Mk. V.  (I'm guessing it'll be a year, at least, before I actually get it.)  If you're not familiar, the Torii is a zero-feedback, push-pull circuit designed to behave -- or at least sound -- like a single-ended one, while putting out 20wpc.  I looked at all their different models, including the SETs, and landed on the Torii as the best fit for me.  I also looked at Icon Audio, the Line Magnetic components, Cary Audio, etc., but I kept coming back to the Torii.  I can't say I'm excited, exactly, to hear it with my Stirlings; that's too far off in the future.  But I am looking forward to hearing it.

In the more near-term, I also upgraded my digital front end. I've been using a bel canto streamer with the Mac preamp's DAC module.  That module is no slouch; it's a fully balanced design, using ESS chips.  But, I've always wanted to try an R2R DAC.  I like what I hear about them.  So I've got a Denafrips Pontus II on the way.  Pretty excited about that. 

Also on the way is a Hifi Rose RS250 streamer to replace the bel canto.  Frankly, that's mostly about the user interface.  I don't use the DAC in the bel canto, and I won't use the one in the RS250, either, so neither unit is contributing anything to the sound.  (OTOH, I am stuck using an RCA coax connection from the bel canto to the Mac pre, and with the new stuff I can run USB from the RS250 to the Pontus, and a fully balanced analog signal from there to the Mac.)  Mainly I wanted something with a display that shows track information, album art, etc., and the RS250 has a nice one.

So, my Stirlings will soon be getting fed better, and a while down the road, maybe quite a bit better.  Here's hoping they reward me for it. 😁

@trentmemphis

Awesome! That might just be the sweet spot on Tannoys for many people. I haven’t tried SET but I KNOW I need at least 20 Watts. I’ve hit the limits on 25 Watts, 35 Watts, and even 75 Watts (that one only by accident) on 93dB Kensingtons (which I owned 10 years back). 25 Watts was more than ample for > 99% of listening, though - and way more than enough for most rock & pop without large dynamic swings. High dynamic range classical (which is not something I listen to often) at high volumes is where it ran out.

The EL34, 5881, 6L6, KT66 - these are gorgeous sounding tubes; it’s really hard to make an amp that doesn’t sound great with these. And they will sound amazing from first watt to the very LAST watt. I had tried all of these types with the Kenstingons on a few restored vintage amps (Heathkits, Eicos), and you’re gonna love the beautiful lush sound they render on Tannoys.

Thanks, @mulveling !

I thought about ordering a pair of mono SETs, which gives you 6wpc instead of 2.3, but in the end decided I’d prefer something with a bit more juice. I knew some of you guys said you ran into problems with lower wattage amps, and also I wanted to reasonably be able to try tubes with some of my other, less sensitive speakers. I watch the meters on my Mac amp sometimes, and it rarely bounces up to 15 watts, much less beyond that, so I think I’ll be covered with 20 when driving the Tannoys, at least.

As for the tubes themselves, that’s something I’ll be starting from zero knowledge on. I had a BAT preamp 25 or so years ago, but never futzed with the tubes before selling it. Then I picked up a 2nd-hand Jolida phono stage a few years after that, but it stopped working before I really had time to try tube rolling.

I did a little poking around on the internet last night, just trying to get a feel for what tubes are available of the types used in the Torii. Found some in the 4 output tube families you mentioned. Only one 7027 and no 807s, though. On the input side, I found some 6922s, but almost nothing from the 6DJ8 or 7DJ8 families. Seems like the AX7s and AU7s are used a lot more commonly. Could be I’m just not looking at the right sites.

How’s the bookshelf evaluation going, @chorus ?