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Amp pairing with Tannoy Turnberry?

Hi all!

Going to be picking up a pair of Tannoy Turnberry speakers in the near future, and was looking at some various options for integrated amplifiers. There are a couple on my radar and was wondering if anyone who owns the speakers has any insight. 

1. Primaluna EVO 300 or 400 - torn on whether the extra $ warrants going for the 400 over the 300. I had a Primaluna + Tannoy pairing some years ago and loved it, so immediately thought of this one.

2. NAT audio single HPS v2 - this is at the very top end of what I could consider budget wise. I have heard this amp, but not with the tannoys. It sounds incredible to me, but I'm not sure if it would play nice with the Turnberry speakers and don't have the ability to test one at home. 

From what I've hard of the NAT, I'm thinking it may be the better option, but maybe there is a better solid state in the price range I'm looking at. Ideally, I'd like to stay in the 5-6k range, but willing to stretch a little bit more for something I will be happy with for the forseeable future. 

Thanks for any insight.

128x128mmcgill829
jtgofish's avatar
jtgofish
515 posts
 

The Almarro 318B can drive Tannoys quite well and that is a SET of about 15 watts.

It is a bit unusual for a SET however because it uses a fair bit of negative feedback.Most SETs use zero negative feedback.The 6C33C valves can also supply a lot more current than say a 300B.

 

pehare's avatar
pehare
835 posts
 

Tannoy Stirling GR owner here I just acquired a new custom build Dynaco ST-70 by Chris Keller in NC and it's an amazing piece.  I've owned a bunch of tube amps over the years and this is really fantastic and an amazing value.  My last tube amp was a  Music Reference RM 10 MkII and my alternate full-time amps are Atma-Sphere class D monos.  It's here to stay.

miesdavis's avatar
Ag insider logo xs@2x
miesdavis
20 posts
 

I just wanted to confirm the comments that KT66 amps are stellar for the Tannoy Turnberry. I use a Line Magnetic 126 which is a KT66 amp and the Turnberry GR’s simply sing. Also, this is a 15 watt, class A amp that weighs 105 lbs so there’s no shortage of current and the speakers are well driven. Highly recommend the pairing. 
 

 

charles1dad's avatar
charles1dad
10,250 posts
 

@miesdavis 

That's one serious looking amplifier and I suspect very well executed. I have no doubts that your Tannoys truly sing driven by this amplifier.

Charles

mmcgill829's avatar
mmcgill829 OP
155 posts
 

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.

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