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25 watts Class A or 70 watts Class A/B ?

I understand these days there are many good examples of both Class A and Class A/B amps. To the point that a well designed Class A/B can beat a similar pedigree Class A amp. However my question is in particular related to these two amps:

1. First Watt F5 (Pass Labs)
2. Naim NAP 300

The speaker to be driven is a Tannoy dual concentric Turnberry SE. It is a 93 db sensitive 8 ohm load and in general considered to go well with both high powered and low powered amps.

F5 is a highly purist class A 25 watts design with a robust power supply. It is a push-pull design so it can generally drive difficult loads better than typical single ended first watt models (F3, F4 etc). I have heard the F5 on an Altec horn system and I loved its pure and direct sound.

Naim amps in general has always appealed to me, again because of their very direct presentation. Music has a certain excitement and bounce through them. The NAP 300 is one of their top models and I am sure it will be a very refined amp.

However I will only buy one. Both these amps must be having few fundamental differences in the way they present music considering they are coming from very different designers. Even the topology is different here.

The first question here is, can a 25 watts F5 drive the Tannoys well ? My room size is 200 sqft and I listen to music at reasonably medium to loud levels. I dont play very loud though. I listen to all kinds of music from Mozart to Metallica.

Qualitatively, sound per sound, how do these two amps compare ?
pani
bombaywalla's avatar
bombaywalla
1,958 posts
 
So, Peter, what's the deal here (just trying to understand this for myself) - you have PBN Audio manuf loudspeakers & also several amplifiers & then you have Liberty Audio also manuf some power amps??
How does Liberty Audio compare to PBN Audio? Is Liberty Audio the down-market brand?
Thanks.
charles1dad's avatar
charles1dad
10,250 posts
 
Pani,
You have received some thoughtful replies with the inevitable varying opinions. I agree that speaker sensitivity isn't the only consideration, the load in ohms probably is more relevant. Pani my room is noticeably larger than yours and my speakers are 94 db and a 14 ohm load.

I have a 100 watt and a 40 watt push pull amplifiers class AB. Both of these fine amps have been in a 5 year hibernation since the arrival of my 8 watt 300b SET amplifier. It just sounds better and is superior overall (not close).It's very possible that the Tannoy may be more difficult to drive than my Coincident , I don't really know. It's also possible you may simply prefer the presentation of a high power amplifier (I believe that low power amps sound better with an appropriate speaker choice). Lower power may not be what you need to meet your specific goals.
Good Luck,
Charles,
Ag insider logo xs@2x
islandmandan
1,260 posts
 
Pani, you might consider making a speaker change. With your Wavac, which you seem quite attached to, a move to a higher sensitivity speaker would seem to be in order.

My custom Tannoy HPD's, at 94db, with either the 300B SET (9 Wpc), or the First Watt M2 (25 Wpc) give all the dynamics and slam necessary in my large (16.5 X 34' w/ cathedral ceilings) listening room.

Obviously, you can't have it both ways, if low powered SET amps is what you want, a high sensitivity speaker is in order. A Wavac 300B amp is a fine thing, a more suitable speaker match for that amp is, perhaps, what you should consider.

Regards,
Dan
charles1dad's avatar
charles1dad
10,250 posts
 
Pani,
Dan makes an excellent point.You say you love your Wavac to its core,
If that's true I'd keep this terrific SET and get more compatible speakers. Dan's Tannoys are apparently easier driven than your specific model. Tannoy models must vary in ease/difficulty of their speaker load.Option 2, sell the Wavac and get a higher power amplifier. If this were my dilemma, I'd keep the Wavac.
Charles,
pbnaudio's avatar
pbnaudio
1,613 posts
 
Bombay,

Liberty is our direct to the consumer brand which focus more on the entry level to high end. We currently have two products a Phono Preamp the B2B-1 which have received praise form many reviewers and consumers, theres even a few reviews of it here on Audiogon.

The other product is the Power amp I mentioned above the B2B-100 which has also been very well received. Currently working on a fully balanced line amplifier hoping to have that ready for the Newport Show where Liberty Audio will have a display room, right next to PBN Audio.

Good Listening

Peter
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