Buying a COMPLETE Tube Amp System for Living Room

The best way to ensure synergy is to use all one brand of components like A.N. or time honored matches like Fisher and Klipsch...
You are the only one who can determine what is visually pleasing to you...
You mentioned that vintage may not be for you, but if a primary concern is resell value, buy used, well maintained and cared for established brands like McIntosh, Fisher, Scott, Conrad Johnson, Audio Note. If you purchase at a reasonable cost, you should be able to resell near the same price...
If I were blending your wish list together, I would consider all A.N. if you have the financial means. A Fisher with Klipsch/Altec would provide an entry into tube amp sound at a much lower cost and personally I prefer the visual aesthetics of older gear and easier resell without taking a financial loss.
As others have mentioned, you should do more research towards matching speakers to tube gear.

 

I think you're getting good advice going for an integrated tube like a LM and pairing with high efficiency speakers like perhaps a pair of Zu Omens. Easily fits your budget requirements.

 

I'm guessing this is the "Meishu with new circuitry" that I've been hearing about. Is there anything online with more detail? Thx.

 

McIntosh MA 252 Hybrid and Klipsch Forte III. Heard this recently and it sounded tubey, huge, dynamic with spectacular complementary synergy.

 

That is correct. The new catalog still lists the older Meishu and the Meishu Tonmeister.

It is transformer coupled, rather than capacitor coupled. At this point there is no documentation that I am aware of, including even the manual. I hope to get more information this coming week. It is currently in transit here and I will be running it in with both standard and the new 4300 tubes (which I currently have running in my second system-see my profile). My aim is to have a bedded-in/broken-in system prior to the show. We will also be getting a Silver Signature version, but will not have that at the show. We will, however, probably be able to discuss our impressions of the differences. Unfortunately, prior to the show we will not be able to A/B them, since the standard one will be at my place and the Silver Sig version will be at True Sound.

BTW, we will also have a new TT3 w/Arm 3 and IQ3 cartridge. I will be evaluating it also with the IO gold cartridge/S8/M8 and M6 pre-amps prior to the show.

 

Beautiful room but the coffee table seems useless. So small

 

It doesn't have to be very big to hold a half dozen bottles of single malt scotch

 

I'd be remiss if I didn't recommend the brand that I have been enjoying for over 20 years: US manufacturer Declare High Fidelity.

www.decware.com

The only downside is a two to three month build wait for most products. Their latest "25th Anniversary" amps (there's a single chassis, and I have the Monoblocks) are astonishingly good imo. Blew me away and I had been a Decware fan for over 20 year's when I received mine 13 months ago. I also use their excellent preamp the ZTPRE and their EQ preamp the ZROCK2 and their excellent speakers the HR-1. I picture myself using these products til my final days. . . .

 

I heard those B&W speakers a few weeks ago and was not impressed. A pair of Focal's next to them were fuller, warmer and much less fatiguing. Focal's were pretty good but not sure they would be my choice in the 3k price range either.

Don't feel pressured to buy one of those options just because a seller has them ready to go. 8k is a very nice budget to get in the game. You can get a great system if you don't rush.

I demoed that Bellari a few years ago and while a wall wart upgrade made it sound better, it would hold your system back. I got a used Jolida JD9 for $400 and it is 10x the phono amp the Bellari is.

 

Not to knock AN or the many other fine brands of audio equipment. I have three Decware amplifier's. one a phono preamp and two are power amps, one of which is single ended.

I have very sensitive horn loaded speakers and the Decware amp is their Mini Torii which is a dual mono design 3.9-Watt single ended pentode (SEP) power amp.



Out of the dozen tube amps I owned, it and the 22-Watt Line Magnetic 518iA SET are by far, the best sounding out of all of them. Because my speakers have high sensitivity, I can do with the 4.9-Watt amp just as well as the 22-Watt amp.

This little amp is only $2,200 base price, with the stepped attenuators and the 1/4" headphone jack, it would retail at $2,500.

QUality audio does not have to cost a fortune!

 

I have heard all of the audio components you list, including the speakers, and I would not recommend any of it. Your choices lack in the key area of life-like dynamics. Any of these systems will sound compressed, lifeless, and boring compared to live music. You can do better with a low-power tube amp and high efficiency speakers. I don't mean horns and super low power (which would be higher than your budget), but more like a 10 to 20 wpc amp and above 92 dB efficient speakers. I hope you will consider a full Audio Note system, centered around AN's P1 power amp and their most basic AN/E speakers, with no preamp at all (the P1 includes a volume control). Or, I happen to like the Music Reference RM-10 amp a lot, which can only be found used now for about $1500, but then you would need a preamp.

 

Warren, compared to the original options that the OP has presented in his original post, how much will this set the OP back? Just curious.

I ask this because AN doesn't appear to be famous for providing pricing for their different products that way other companies do.

F.Y.I. I have never been in the same room with any real AN audio gear, though I do have a ANK L4 EL34 class A/B 30-Watt Power Amplifier, with NOS power tubes and it is the nicest of all ten of the non-SET amplifier's that I have owned.

Since I sold my LM 518iA, I have decided to keep it, because I wanted to have something, if I wanted more power than the 3.9-Watt Decware SEP.

"I dont mean horns and super low power (which is actually too far higher than your budget)." I agree with you on this. Which is why the Line Magnetic 518iA at $4,500 (or it replacement the 845iA) at 22-Watts has been recommended more than once in this thread.

 

A pair of AN/E-D speakers are $3985 (cheaper from me through my SH.tv member promotion);
A P1-SE amplifier is $2905 (also cheaper to SH.tv members through my promotion);
no preamp;
a used Oppo DVD/CD/SACD/DVD-A BDP-95 player from Ebay ($500);
careful choice of used cables from Ebay, to start with, which I can help to choose.

 

Skip the Bellari, please.

 

From my perspective a smaller surface means there is less chance of people putting cluttery items on it haha. Its role is to hold beverages, and that’s how we use it. Sometimes an iPad makes an appearance, but that’s when things have started to get out of hand. Just kidding, but we do like it neat and tidy. We don’t need it to be a storage surface.

 

Had a chance to hear the Meishu Tonmeister Silver at the weekend, when we visited the North West Audio Show in the UK. They also had a prototype version of their MaSC FGPA/NOS DAC too.

No A/B comparisons, but the Meishu now sounds more resolute than I remember. Less mush, more crunch, so to speak. More agile and 'swift' maybe? Still the same beauty or better than I recall, based on how it made me feel. Previously I have shied away from the Meishu, preferring a 2A3 or more exotic/cripser but maybe it's time to reconsider. They played it with standard 300Bs, not their new ones. And while we listened on AN/Es, I would love to hear the Tonmeister with Klipsch Forte IIIs on the ends...





Am making enquiries about the amp already.

 

Maybe that's why they call it a "coffee" table?

 

I used to have a "coffee" table, but after putting in a second sofa, I found that it took up too much room and I was forever bumping into it.

Plus, it always seemed to accumulate "clutter".



So I removed it and replaced it with an inverted wine chiller.

It not only really opened up a space that was closing in on me, but now I can claim that I did it for some silly "audiophile" reason.

 

Diagonal placement!

Nicely done!

John DeVore likes this configuration, as well!

 

Thank You! It turned out that this was a great room for my audio and my HT.

The wall in the corner where the TV is, is 6' deeper tan the wall on the right, so I could put everything there without having it stick out into the living area.

 

Largish room, current hungry speakers with a wide impedance swing. A SET will not be an optimal amplifier.

McIntosh MA2275. An integrated version of the 275, same circuit and output transformers, with a full function complimentary preamp section that includes a phono stage.

A brand with excellent resale value, and “look”.
Tube
Will work well with your speakers.

HIGH Fidelity

 

Big issue: B&W and McIntosh speakers not tube amplifier friendly. Both are power hungry choices. Plan on very efficient speakers. And horn loaded speakers often as not. Or biamp with 4 ohm reactive load friendly SS amps, and use tube amp for midrange and HF duty.

 

Chances the OP comes back are next to nil. Been almost a week since his last post.

 

Nope I am still here! I actually called all 3 of the retailers suggested in the previous posts, AudioVision SF, etc.

My goal is to do some legwork and see what inventory they have. I even talked to Fritz and went over to his house yesterday to check out his speakers and give a listen.

Are there any good retailers I could do the same with, and have a package curated for me, in the Oregon or Seattle, WA area? I visit those places often, too.

 

Glad you're still responding. Welcome back.

You seem intent on packages but honestly, no dealer has ever had the best of everything I've wanted so what's the point? Get the best-sounding amp from one, best speakers from another, etc. A single dealer might have a couple of great pieces but never everything.

Wanting to exclusively work with packages might seem more convenient but you'll (IMHO) restrict the quality of the overall system almost immediately. Stay open to purchasing your components separately.