2 channel for Revel F30's

Hi Bill,

If you want tubes, I would say you need at least 100W to keep your amp (and speakers) happy. The Cary V12 would work but the amp alone is your entire budget.

Another local hifi buddy of mine has a Cary SLI80 and although it is quite powerful, I wouldn't personally use it in triode on F30s for anything other than acoustic vocals. In UL mode, it would probably be fine as long as you don't want a night club ambience. It is a great tube integrated that is sensitive to the tubes you have in it, so you can tailor the sound very easily to your liking. It would be a good starting point.

Arthur

The revel F30 is rated at 87db sensitivity, which really does not require 100watt tube amplifier.

I drive 88db sensitivity speakers to very high volume levels with a 12wpc Audionote tube amp. I listen to a wide variety of music including rock and orchestral. I drove the very same speaker with both a V12i and Sli80. The V12i could literally blow the doors down, and its power is of no use unless you want to have a dance party for the hard of hearing. I also ran these speakers on a 22wpc 6C33 set amplifier with great results.

However, none of the above produce the bass my Audionote does. I think a well spec’ed amplifier rated at about 22-35wpc should be more than adequate.

Regards
Paul

Most B&W speakers are rated at 89dB or so. I wouldn't recommend powering them with a 25 watt tube amp, though.

I don't think the issue of sensitivity is as clear cut as you make it.

One man's loud is another man's soft. It is all relative and loudspeaker sensitivity is barely 10% of the story.

Also, don't forget we are talking about logarithmic scale! Human brains tend to make everything linear but that isn't reality. "A little louder" can cost an extra 75W of power surprisingly easily. Do some dynamic range power calculations and/or live with McIntosh power meters for a while and you'll see what I mean.... I did both with Revel F30s and I can tell you, power is necessary for these speakers if you want to get the most of their ability.

Arthur

02-05-07: S7horton I don't think the issue of sensitivity is as clear cut as you make it

It could be that the Revel F30’s have a big variance in impedance across the frequency range. If that is the case, it is better not to use tube amplifiers at all, 100 wpc or otherwise. The amps will never sound their best.

Tube amps require speakers with benign impedance curves more than high sensitivity.

Regards
Paul