Should I get a new amp?

Ok , try this get the Primaluna Prologue 2 advertised here for $950 . If you are still worried about the power thing you could also try some Speltz autoformers and zeros , again listed here for $450 . They should , if I understand them right , take care of the lower impedance dips . That would leave you with $100 for shipping and be with in your budget . The Prologue should be easy to sell if you don't like it . Don't know about the Speltz stuff .

Try bringing your speakers another 12 inches out from the wall behind them . If you loose some bass then put them back . Also try to put them on an equal lateral triangle ie. the same distance apart as the distance from your listening position . Toe them in so that , in your listening position , you can see equal amounts of the sides of each speaker . When mine were setup this way they had the best soundstage that I have ever witnessed . It actually seemed like some of the performers were behind the wall behind the speakers , some were outside the boundaries of the left and right speakers and some were at my feet . It all depended on the CD mixing and the accompaning equipment but not that hard to do just to see what happens .

It doesn't sound like that you need to run your system at high sound levels to enjoy your music .

But if it were me , I would just get the integrated and see what happens . If it doesn't work well then try your sub with it . If that doesn't work well either , you still will have gotten a taste of what tubes are like and can go from there . Just my 2 cents .

Good luck .

Thanks Saki70. My soundstaging is actually excellent already. Many well-mixed tracks do seemingly extend beyond both the side walls and the back wall. I do have them toed in and sit in an equilateral triangle, but I'm always open for moving around a bit...it's fun :-)

It's more the smooth mids and vocals that I crave with this upgrade than anything. And from the sound of it, the tubes do that better than SS which is what caught my attention.

FatghOst, tube rolling is trying different manufacturers' (EI, Sovtek, JJ Tesla, etc)version of the same tube (EL34, KT88, etc). There is also the search for NOS (New Old Stock) which are tubes made long ago and no longer in production. Many feel they sound much better than current tubes - I have no idea why, may QC was better, maybe the use of radioactive parts no longer permitted, - but this path can get very expensive - some NOS brands - Mullard, Amperex, Telefunken, Siemens, RCA, Sylvania. Typicall NOS tube rolling start in earnest when you are committed to tubes and are try to eake out the last nth degree of performance - it can be a slippery road if you do not know what you are doing, and even if you do.

Fatgh0st

My room is just under 14w x just over 20L with 8 ceilings. Until recently it had two openings, one to either side. One midway back on the left, and another all the way back on the right side. Near field listening was the only place to gain good balance, left to right. Great Bass was really difficult to acquire too.

The comments I made thus far were all applicable to the room in that config. I've since closed off the room by adding doors there just a couple months back.

That room doubles for me as well, as an HT and 2 ch listening room. Give or take a bit here or there, you have your room just like mine.

In fact your musical tastes, save for the rock, are mine as well.... and I do play rock as well, just not a lot. Def Lep, ZZ, Whitesnake, Lynyrd, Styx, Ozzie, Matchbox, etc.

As far as integrating a sub for 2 ch it shouldn't be too hard. Surely not expensive either. Especially if the "???" int has a set of preamp outs. Most do. Run the sub off them with a pair of RCA cables you can get at Radio Shack cheap... I do/did. they work fine. $20-40. If the sub has phase contrOls you might not even have to move it much if at all.

...AND YOU MAY NOT EVEN WANT TOO INCORPORATE THE SUB... BUT it's there if you have to.

Tube rolling = exchanging tubes in a piece of tube gear. I guess the term came from a while back 'cause once you take 'em out and lay 'em down while putting in other ones, they could roll if not on a level surface. ??

The Flavor of the tube piece is dependant upon the tubes being used within it. Differenet tube brands? Different sound.

that is to say, if it has JJ Tesla's 6922's, and you replace those with say, Amperex 6922's, the sound will differ. in fact the whole shooting match can change. Sound stage, bass, impact, openess, liquidity, etc.

Tjhis goes for all the tubes. inputs or drivers, and output tubes too. Even the same tube, yet a different vintage, can and do sound differently. for some this is a true joy, having such flexibility. For me it was a consternation.

But even a blind squirrel can find an acorn now and then. I did find the compliment of tubes that suits me without too much trouble.

you should be fine. Especially given your mention of gaining more from the mid bass on up is more important to you. you'll still get that which your speakers can put out in the bass region.... it'll just be different... but the musical info will still be there.

one other thing... you said the back end of the room was open. If you only ran some heavy curtains across that area behind the couches, which you could open and close at will, you'd be far better off too. Even better, accordion doors.

Hope that was helpful.