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
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,
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
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,
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
Lots of interesting suggestions. Few points worth mentioning:

1. I already have a Naim NAC 52 preamp. So adding a NAP 300 would not be an issue from the matching stand point.

2. Bombaywalla, thanks for your suggestions. Somewhere within, I know a high powered is always desirable for this speaker. But I am at a stage where I am unable to find an amp with a good balance of quality - quantity - cost. The tube vs SS battle is also on. After listening to the Wavac for the past few months, I am getting too critical of less than stellar sound from an SS amp. But then finding a neutral, high-resolution tube amp isnt easy either.

3. Charles1dad, you are really fortunate to own a 14ohm speaker. That is a cake walk for these 300B SETs. I auditioned the Wavac on a pair of WHT speakers which were 11ohms nominal impedance. The wavac could drive it to rock concert levels. So, in a way you are pampered :-).

4. Islandman, your suggestion of changing the speaker has already been on my mind since last couple of months. I have been weighing all options. After a lot of research and introspection I came down to this:
The Wavac remains among the most accurate sounding amps I have ever heard. Near flawless, I would say. However it is like a tool, a very high precision one. Tannoy prestige speakers on the other hand are a work of art. They might have flaws but to me they remain one of the most satisfying/fulfilling speakers to listen to music on. Since the time I acquired it I stopped bothering about better speakers! I mean even when I hear a better speaker I do not care because this Tannoy doesnt let me worry. When I auditioned it, it was being driven by $1k chinese amp and even with that I was floored. This speaker remains the best purchase of all time in my audio journey. I just do not know what to replace this speaker with (except the higher Tannoys). Till that time I will keep it.

The problem at hand is to maximize the sound for the money. I have written to Reno hifi for the F5, lets see if I could get a demo. I am at Singapore btw, so the typical demo policy probably wont hold for me.