midrange forwardness

DazzDax,

The reason why many solid state amps may not sound right with the rising impedance in the low end on SoundLabs is that SS amps typically double in power with a halving of impedance. This also works in the other direction...they halve their power when the impedance is doubled. Tube amps tend to perform much better into a rising impedance...they typically either hold the power constant or increase power slightly into higher impedances.

You are right that SS amps do much better than tube amps into low impedances (particularly at low frequencies), but the SoundLabs have a rising impedance in the low end and most SS amps will put out less power into the low end than the rest of the frequency range. This can make the lower midrange sound anemic.

May be something to think about. Many people have found tube amps sound significantly better with the right speaker...I think the Soundlabs qualify as being a "right" speaker for tube amps. I'm sure they can sound wonderful with the right SS amp too, but I'd bet that a SS amp that sounds wonderful with this speaker is harder to find than a tube amp that sounds wonderful with this speaker.

Good luck,

Jordan

So why would the Soundlab sound relatively louder in the treble with a solid state amplifier?

It won't.

It will give you more bass (where impedance rises) - so if anemic bass is your problem then a tube will help.

If you want more midrange then a tube amp will unfortunately reduce the output but you may get some more harmonics in the mids (more warmth) - if that is what you need then tubes are a good solution => more bass relative to mids and more warmth overall. (note warmth is related to loudness in a sense so although mids may lose some power they may sound more "rich")

Good luck!

make sure your speakers are sitting firmly and spiked properly (or whatever Soundlab recommends). I recently put sound anchor stands under my Audio Note E speakers and the midrange gained a more 'solid' 'palpable' quality when it was slightly recessed and hollow before. BTW I do know Soundlabs are big stats but I imagine the benefits of proper stands could be similar.?

Also I would experiment with cables which are great tone controls just ask JA of Stereophile :^)

I think Germanboxers nailed it. Even with speakers that that have a moderate steady impedances, classic tube amps tend to be more forward in the midrange and classic ss amps tend to be withdrawn in the midrange. To be fair, most modern quality amps both ss and tube are much more neutral and similar in this regard. Never the less, adding that to that what Germanboxers already correctly explained, and it's not surprising that you might be percvieving a midrange suckout. While I tend to favor ss amps (mostly due to the speakers I tend to prefer), in your case a high quality tube amp might be the better tool for the job at hand.

I agree with Germanboxers and Unsound...and pretty much Mingles too. I didn't go with the amp switching idea, for only one reason....it's a major change, and could be very expensive.

I do have tube amps, a tube preamp, and a tube DAC in my primary system. If you are very close to being happy, with where you are now...and are only looking for some "small amount" of midrange changes...I would still start with a tube preamp.

If you are looking for something more major (and it didn't sound to me like you were)....tube amps will do that best of all.

Dave