Amp pairing with Tannoy Turnberry?

One more note - at the very top end, I'm not looking to spend more than $8-9k for an integrated or preamp+monos. Will be difficult to stay within that budget for separates, which is why I've been looking at integrated options. Maybe sometime down the line in the future I may be at a place where I can consider separates, but that is not at this time. 😅

And the room measurements are 14' x 20' approximately, so it's not a huge space or anything. 

Having said that, looks like audio gods are smiling upon you. Once you get your Tannoy’s, reach out to Mike Powell (NAT distributor) for in-home audition of HPS, he lives in ATL :-)

As an alternative to tubes, consider Accuphase Integrated, something like E-480 or E-650, both can be had for a good price on used market. 

I do have Mike's website bookmarked, but unfortunately I live in the Dallas, TX area nowadays, so would probably be difficult to get an in-home audition with it, I'd think. Once I am ready to buy, I may discuss if he has a window of return if necessary if I decide to give that one a try. I was seriously impressed when I heard one before, but it was on Kensingtons and not Turnberry speakers, and I don't recall what phono pre they were using. 

I did read somewhere that the Accuphase E650 can be a good match to the speakers, so that could be a consideration as well. 

I suppose I neglected to mention some important details here in my initial post that many have touched on - notably, what I listen to and what kind of sound I like. 

I typically listen to primarily Jazz music on my system, but do mix it up with some different genres here and there - like classical, folk, or soul. Primarily, Jazz is the most important genre to get right for me, though.

I used to have a Primaluna integrated a few years ago and I enjoyed how the pairing of the Primaluna and Tannoys I had at the time sounded. However, the current price of the EVO 400 in particular puts it in the price range of so many other great amplifiers, so I didn't want to jump the gun and go right for that just because it was familiar, especially if upgrading to nicer speakers.

I am using a hybrid integrated now as a band aid (vincent sv237mk) that sounds pretty good for an off the shelf, low fuss amp, but does not have nearly the soundstage that the Primaluna had, which makes a big difference in how immersive the music is for me. It kind of floats in a weird middle ground for me - warmer than *some* pure solid states I've heard, but not as warm as an all tube setup. So I don't really love it for what I listen to.

I like vocals to be clear when present, without being grating. Sometimes I've heard various amp combos that do well with vocal clarity but get a little tiring to listen to after a bit. Or, I've heard systems where the vocals can sometimes feel like they are 'behind' the band instead of in front, which can be a little strange.

And thanks for all the recommendations and input so far!

@charles1dad 

Yes, I do think that is what I am leaning toward at the moment. It's at the upper limit of my budget, but willing to stretch a bit for the right one. I'm just not sure that a solid state will give me what I am looking for, at this price point at least. 

@sandthemall 

That's what I was thinking if I went with Primaluna. I wan't sure if the extra power was really worth the price jump in that case, especially if it wasn't necessary for the speakers.

@jonwolfpell 

I don’t know your speakers but another thought might be a Rogers High Fidelity EHF 200 Mark II integrated amp. Rogers is selling directly a used one w/ their full lifetime warranty for $8500 or best offer. I own one & it’s substantially better than a Prima Luna in build & sound quality..His amps are hand made, all pint to pint wiring w/ top quality components. It’s pretty big, puts out some heat as if offers over 100 watts / side operating fully in class A running a total of KT - 150’s. Big, full rich sound w/great dynamics & bass & beautiful mid &top end. 
 

I believe in & like to support , smaller independent, American made products & Roger is a very smart guy who designs & build his products in North Adams, MA.. check out his videos on YouTube or on the website. 

Interesting! I have never heard of or heard this brand at all. This amp does have quite a lot of power in comparison to the NAT, though even on sale it's slightly over what I'd be comfortable paying. Would be hard to pull the trigger without trying it first, and it appears that they only do at home trial periods for new items from what I can gather. I'll do some research on this as an option, however. It does have more power than the NAT, which may be beneficial, but could have all the power in the world and not matter if I don't like the sound 😛

@lalitk 

Thanks for sharing your genre and sound preferences. Now that you mentioned, you’ve already heard HPS with Kensington and really liked the sound; that makes HPS an easy choice for Turnberry’s. Keep us posted on your journey.

If you’re ever step into my neck of woods (Houston), feel free to stop by for a taste of Accuphase/Tannoy sound. I stream most of the time so there won’t be any shortage of Jazz musicians :-)

I will keep that in mind if I am ever down there! Thank you for the offer! While my experience with higher end speakers is a bit limited, I've always loved the Tannoy sound. 

@larryi 

I have the Turnberry speakers and the Primaluna amps (although not together) and I think the speakers are best used with warmer sounding types of tube amplification.  I am not a fan of Primaluna amps, but I've never heard the NAT amps so I cannot recommend then either.  The NAT design looks interesting, and if they are available in your price range, they might work out.

For warmer sounding amps (something that would complement the Turnberry), I would look for amps run will 6L6 or KT66 tubes.  I would tend to avoid KT88 amps because the tendency to have a "hard" or "brittle" sound might exaggerate the slight tendency toward sibilance of the Turnberry.  Of course a 300B pushpull or single-ended amp will have the right tonal qualities, but, the issue would be sufficient power.  I personally don't listen at very high volumes so my compromises would be in favor of low-powered alternatives, but, this is a personal decision.  

Interesting point. I have only ever heard the tubes on the NAT (GM70) on that particular amp, so outside of that one experience, I am not sure if I can really judge their sound signature. From what I've read, they tend to be sweet, dynamic, and detailed, which tracks what I heard from the amp, at least. When I had my Primaluna before, I swapped the tubes out for....(I think) EL34s and found it much nicer with those, but this was quite a while ago now.

@atmasphere 

Due to the efficiency of your speakers, unless you have a smaller room I would avoid SETs in particular. 

With this particular amp that I am looking at - the NAT - the room it was in was larger than my room, was driving Kensingtons and sounded wonderful. As much as I'd love to consider mono blocks + pre-amp separates, realistically they are out of my budget for the time being, at least at the level I would prefer them to be if I went that route. I would likely have to get very, very lucky on the used market to put together 2 excellent mono block amps and a great preamp for $8k. A goal for the future!

Revisiting this topic a bit as I’ve been doing some more thinking...

I don’t necessarily NEED an integrated amplifier or a preamplifier beyond my phono preamp. It’s just convenient since I do stream music occasionally for things with no vinyl available, but that’s easy enough to just switch the plugs out on those fairly rare occasions. So, I suppose this could open up a few other options, such as mono blocks or just a stereo amplifier w/no preamp.

I can always add a pre-amp separate at a later date if I absolutely must have.

From doing some further reading and input from some other owners, just common responses have been:

1. for more detail, studio-sharp dynamics - go SS
2. for a more relaxed, emotional experience - go SET

That’s not a revelation at all though, and has been my experience with the whole tube vs SS thing in general. While detail is nice, I definitely enjoy the more ’emotional’ tube sound, even if it’s a bit colored. After all, the whole point of all this is the music. 😛 I have a SS/Tube hybrid amp now and miss my tube amp every day. My current amp doesn’t sound bad by any means, but it’s just lacking that warmth I grew to really love, which is why I hesitate with SS.

A brand I have also seen mentioned is Air Tight, which might be something to consider used in my price range, though I have no experience with them at all.