The "This speaker is too hard to drive for a tube amp" thread

I have 1 entry... the B&W DM 602 S3!

In my other thread, I mentioned I was driving them with a pair of Quicksilver monoblocks. Ian said he had found his 604's needed lots of tube $$$$ to sound properly. I exchanged the Quicksilvers for a Rotel RB-1070 amp, and the difference was night and day... suddenly, the B&W's came to life, with tremendous highs, bass control, and a nice midrange. I had to do the same thing he did - add a tube preamp, to add a bit of warmth and presence to the music, and that was it. My system was transformed.

I don't know if there are any more speakers that should be mentioned... the 602's dip to 3 Ohms, so I guess that's part of the problem.

 

My Acoustat 3's. Not specifically for ANY tube amp.

 

Great thread idea. This is the main reason I have not gotten into tube amps. My B&W Nautilus 802s are big, full range speakers that also dip to under 4ohms in the midrange. I think they are rated at 90db sensitivity. I'm sure tubes would be fine at low volumes, but I give them a good crank a few times a week.

Because my current McIntosh amp has a fairly accurate watt-meter for each stereo channel, I can see just how hard I'm pushing it. It is not uncommon form me to hit 40+ watts. Even scarier is the fact I can push close to 400watts when listening to Steve's Creedance SACDs

I rarely "blast" my system, and prefer an relatively low volume for serious listening, but I'm just so nervous about tubes keeping up with my speakers.

 

I have the N802s. I drive them to earsplitting levels with the VAC Avatar, with no clipping. Tubes and B&W Nautilus is a great match.

 

Very interesting.

I just did some reading on your integrated. Looks very cool. Might be difficult for me to implement an integrated, as I'm using a wonky Sony TAP-9000ES/Lexicon pre-amp piggyback combo along with traditonal stereo and multichannel amps.

My current stereo amp was such a huge investment, I'm hesistant to change. I do long for some tubes, so one day I'm going to figure out how to get some in the line stage.

 

I don't know my 604s sound awfully good with my Jolida 502b 60w.

 

There was a review of a pair of Thiel 3.6's that the reviewer said really came into their own when played with a VAC 70/70 tube amp. I'm guessing, while there may be some general guidelines, there are no hard and fast rules in this particular area of audio either. Depends on the amp, depends on the speaker.

 

Ditto, I have AP Virgo III's which because of the impedance curve the review in Stereophile says will stress low-powered amps if the user wants to rock out on bass heavy music. I drive these with my cj P12's at 140 W/Ch (ultralinear configuration) and rock out all the time. It depends on the amp (tubes or not) and the speaker.

 

My B&W's sound very loud through my Quicksilvers.. they are as dynamic sounding as they are with my Rotel. But somehow, the Rotel brings them to life. I can't explain it, though. It's a night and day difference....

 

I absolutely agree. Tubes can 'help' with the sometimes less the great sound quality of the sources being used with the revealing B&W.

 

Now, is it the wattage availability, or the capacitance?

My tube amps have 4 huge 450 DCV cans each,,,and drive almost anything.

 

Au contraire. Any good tube amp is very revealing of the source. Steve didn't use VAC gear for years for nothing. I'd describe the VAC Avatar as ruthlessly revealing to the point of being analytical.

 

I believe the VAC Avatar would fall under the category of $$$$$ Javier mentioned, at least in my world.

I know lots of people love their Nautilus with powerful tube amps. I guess my point in the other thread was that your options are not completely open in this department with the B&Ws. There are lots of low and medium powered tube amps that will not do well with B&Ws, particularly at generous volumes. Pair them with an Avatar, on the other hand, and I'm sure they absolutely sing.