Tube Amp Recommendations $1500

Quicksilver mid-mono, few hundred dollars more than your budget but worth every penny.

Audio Research Classic 60
conrad johnson MV75A-1
conrad johnson MV55

5-27-14: B_limo
... it's time to start researching tube amps in the $1500 price range.

I'm looking for something that looks good, has more power than my Prima Luna 5, and has that charecteristic warm, lush, textured and detailed sound.

05-27-14: Fjn04
LM Audio 211 or 219. The former uses EL34, the latter KT88!

Aren't the Line Magnetic models integrated amplifiers? It appears that B_limo is looking for a power amp, to use in conjunction with his Lightspeed attenuator.

Also, I believe "219" should be "216," with both model numbers being followed by the letters "IA." And neither meets the stated criterion of being more powerful than the Primaluna Prologue Five.

Finally, I'm not sure that a tube amp would be an optimal choice for use with the particular speakers. If the speakers are the same model or have an impedance curve similar to that of the Paradigm Reference Signature S2 (see the first figure) the interaction of their impedance characteristics with the relatively high output impedance of most tube amps will result in an over-emphasis of the 1 to 2 kHz area, and an under-emphasis of the mid-bass, assuming (as I suspect) that the speakers were designed with solid state amplification in mind.

Regards,
-- Al

Indeed it is the 216 I was thinking of. I believe it's around 40WPC. I am not familiar with the power output of the Prima Luna, so the OP will have to decide on how much power he needs for his speaker. I have no experience w/ the Paradigm. Cheers -Don

Hi Al,
Good points you raised. The Line Magnetic amplifiers generally speaking have rather stout output transformers and power supplies. They are reputed to drive loads better than their watt specifications would suggest.
Charles,