30w class A amp for Joseph Audio perspective 2?

Pass labs XA 30.8 or Luxman 590axii. If possible audition them. If not, you cannot go wrong with either of them. 

Hi

I also vote for the Pass Labs xa30.8. I have owned one for five years and have used it with many different speakers and several different preamps and it ALWAYS sounds wonderful and it will easily drive just about any speaker. I am using currently using it with a pair of Eminent Technology LFT8B speakers and those are 83 dB! Extremely musical and bulletproof reliability. In my opinion, a giant killer. Enjoy.

Scot

@ditusa  The amp has a gain control through different feedback amount using knobs in the front panel. thanks.

@ tiger, Do you have gain controls on the back of the amp. What jjss49 said is right. Adjusting the amps in put gain will make the amp, more or less sensitive to in put Voltage, from the preamp output. :-)

@paladin  Sounds good! Yeah I already found that using lower output level on my DAC makes things sound smoother. Going to play with the feedback on the amp more. Did you ever change the grounding settings between DC/AF/RF? It is very hard for me to adjust it with tubes running hot but I want to know if it is worth trying. 

@jjss49  Thank you! Makes a lot of sense!

yuhengdu_tiger

I went from the Ren. 30/30 while I had SF Amati's (just a tad short on horse power to drive them) to the Ren. Sig. 140's & upgraded the speakers to the SF Stradavari's.
In both cases - I start @ zero feedback & play from there - You'll find the right setting for your taste. 
I would adjust the DAC first - Then play with the feedback on the amp.

tiger

how far you need to turn the knob on your amp volume control (12 oclock, 3 oclock etc etc) to get the desired volume playing into your room is a function of how sensitive your low level and amplifier input is to the signal being fed to it (and of course the sensitivity of your speakers) - ideally you would have a good range of adjustment in the middle of the range of the knob (or digital control), but sometimes not

analogy is some cars have a very sensitive gas pedal - you just barely touch it and the car lurches forward ... other cars you have to depress the pedal 40-50% of get good movement... car A is not more powerful than car B... just a more sensitive gas pedal...

@jjss49  Can you help clarify more the difference of amp power and input sensitivity and how that applies to my case? Thanks

Thank you all with your suggestions! all seemed interesting. I realized that my dac was set at a bit high output level (18dbu) so I set it to 12dbu yesterday and the combo sound much more controlled now. 

 @soix  I am interested in the clayton s40 for a while but seems they rarely show up in the market. 


@paladin  Cool, thanks for the suggestion. I also changed the feedback of Vac 70/70 to be 5db and lowered the DAC's output level. Now everything sounded more smooth. Is there a recommended feedback setting for the Vac 70/70 ? 

VAC also made a 30/30 Renaissance but I think the  Renaissance 70/70 will do a better  job now & in the future.

another thread confusing amplifier power with input sensitivity

I’d add Clayton Audio S40 to the list. 

While you're considering Pass, take a look at Sugden's Class A amps too.

yep, or the Pass XA30.8.  Stays in Class A up to 61w

Pass XA25 will suit your needs beautifully! Or get in touch with Aric at Aric Audio and he will build you a bespoke tube amp.

Most material requires less than 1 or 2 watts most of the time.  But low frequency sounds need more.  Depending on your listening level and the bass content, you might be pushing into 30 watt levels on peaks.  Although 60 watts only gets you 3 db more sound level, it does provide more headroom before clipping.  Clipping can be quite harmful to speakers and should be avoided.

I would be OK with 30 watts if I expected never to play at higher volumes.  Otherwise, stay with the speaker manufacturer's recommendation.

Jeff Joseph told me that I should use an amp of at least 60wpc with my Pulsars. I can’t imagine that you could get away with lower wattage with the larger Perspectives.

Just saw your other thread.  Assuming some consistency between the two, check this amp out.  

https://www.audiogon.com/listings/lis9j5a1-art-audio-adagio-stereo-set-amp-27w-tube

Power rating is about right for you and this is a truly incredible amp.