I have used Cary V12, Cary 300B SEI, Primaluna Dialogue One, as well as Almarro 205 MK II, all with terrific success. |
I was a little shocked that the little Almarro is as dynamic as it is, warm,
with great vocals, and is a real giant killer. You have to roll-in the right
tubes though. I got rid of the stock EH 84 and 12ax7. I have rolled in
Mullard, 7189s, Ei, and Gold Lion 84s. So far I like the 7189s the best. I
have substituted Sylvania 5751 3 Mica Black Plates as well as GE for the
stock tube. Soon, I will also try Amperex, JJs, and Shuguang Black
Treasure, or their Psvane counterparts.
The Cary 300Bs exhibit all the 300B attributes; it too, is warm, full, beautiful
midrange, bass is good, but not last word in slam, has nice organic feel.
Never fatigues.
The Primaluna does not have the stock tubes, I am mostly running NOS
Soviet Reflektor 6n3ce 6L6, NOS Amperex Bugle Boy12au7 with NOS
Sylvania 5751 3 Mica Black plates. This unit is nicely balanced, excellent
mids, bass slam, and a good treble, but certainly not the last word. In my
room each of these amps throw a wide, layered sound stage. The Cary is
the most lush. I'd like the Primaluna to have just a tad more weight and
fullness. Same for the Almarro, yet neither is thin.
All-in-all I like the Cary V-12 with these speakers the most; yet I like them
all for different reasons.
I should add that none of these units ever fatigue. |
I've just purchased an Almarro 205 MK II with Teflon V Cap upgrade for my brother from a fellow A' gonner; he is going to use it with the Tekton M-Lore in a second system. Before my brother picks this up we are going to check it out in my system with the Lore. If I like the Teflon V-Cap I'll upgrade also with the V-Cap or something else after doing some research. |
My room is 16x14x9 and the answer is yes, Wilson; but not likely in your size room. The Almarro can play louder than I want to listen. I listen to a wide variety of music, almost any genre except Rap. |
Nguyen, I suspect you should find warmer speaker and interconnect. Cary with Tekton Lore is superb, likewise Primaluna with right tubes. |
Finsup, you're right, it was Part-Time Audiophile, my bad. |
I like the Cary SET 50 watt triode push-pull the best because it has most of the attributes of the Cary 300B midrange with large amount of headroom, more solid bass, a little more extension on top, has a little more weight and dynamics. For me and my ears in my room, tops all the others mentioned in my post, yet each is good.
My parents were musicians as are I and my brother. I know live music intimately. The Lore is live sounding. Dynamic. I have used EL 84 tubes in amplification often, among others. I like their sound. The Almarro acquits itself nicely, but a different presentation as one would suspect, very quick and lively, great for Jazz, Folk, Folk Rock, Pop music. It does not do as well on large scale Classical, especially when it all gets going and is complex; yet it is still good.
The Cary V12 is a well-suited amp for the Lore, it adds a little more warmth, weight and fullness compared to my Primaluna, it is sweet and timbre is accurate, RRAT is slightly better on Primaluna, but really small difference. Bass is very tuneful.
I hope this stuff is what you were asking Finsup.
I believe, like Sebrof, the Jolida 502 would acquit itself well with the Lore. I wish I could inject some Wolf Garcia humor here. |
Nguyen787, seriously, you must replace stock tubes. Read the comments by Jeff Day in 6Moons review, he is right on the money. When I first received my Almarro 205 MKII it was a little bright and harsh on top, not warm with the Tektons at all. Try the GE WA 3 Mica black plates or Sylvania 5751 3 Mica black plates or grey plates, or what Jeff Day recommends. Same for EL 84 or equivalent. The Tubestore has a nice NOS 7189. I am also using Ei EL84, that get rid of the nasties, yet keeps the detail while adding the right amount of warmth with the Tekton Lore. Mine are nicely detailed with soundstage well outside speaker edge, good timbre, terrific PRAT. |
Pace, Rhythm and Timing, musical flow.
I hooked up the Almarro to the Tekton Lore early this morning, took out the Ei EL84s and installed Amperex EL 84 Bugle Boy recommended in the Jeff Day 6 Moons review. It was quite nice: No edge, glare or brightness, yet outstanding detail. Large well-defined soundstage with nice layering. Musicality, timbre was excellent, musical flow was fast and tuneful, there was a richness to the sound, as well as just the right amount of warmth; NOT fatiguing at all. My wife and I listened to the RCA Living Stereo Box Set Sample disk, Ella Fitzgerald's "Best of the Song Books", Leonard Cohen, Neil Young, Louis Armstrong, Dave Brubeck. Had a blast. It was fun
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Didn't Eric like the small Red Wine Audio battery amp ? |
Do not forget about the input/driver tube GE 5751 or Sylvania 5751 mentioned above they both make as much difference as the 84 tubes. |
Nguyen, what speaker and interconnects are you using? I have used
Kimber 8TC speaker, PS Audio Statement, Goertz Alpha Core AG1, for
Interconnect, Cardas, Silnote Morpheus II, Alpha Core Sapphire silver.
I should also mention that I also have the Eastern Electric Mini Max DAC
currently connected. I haven't tried the Metrum Octave yet as it is currently
doing duty in my main system. I've been using the stock power cord. |
