Can Dynaudio 1.3mk2 be driven well by tube gear?

As Karls touched on, you need current to drive these low sensitivity speakers well. In addition , their 4 ohm impedance means you need an amp that will be stable at low impedance and high current. That usually means SS unless you go big on the tube amp. I have the Contour 2 MkIIs and drive them with Pass Aleph 2 monos (They are single ended SS Class A amps). These amps double as my room heaters in the winter (no joke) and their high current is needed to overcome their single ended amplification technique (what also makes them sound so good) to get the dynamics and transients right for the Dynaudios. If you really like the tube sound and cant' go really expensive for a huge tube amp, try a Threshold T-100 or 200. Both can be found used for 1300-2000 if you look around some. I can't say anything less than amazing for the T-200. Very dynamic and doesn't sound solid state. If you have the means, consider the Alephs monos. You won't be disappointed. There are several great large tube amps, but you may notice a little lag on the low end dynamics (an admitted weakness at least in my Dynaudios) that is compunded by the valvular nature of tube amplification. Hope this was helpful. I think you've chosen a great speaker. It takes a little more to drive it well, but it's well worth it. Happy listening,

Todd

Don't know what tube gear you've tried. They need current to open up, so on a budget they are better with SS, but with BIG tube amps (AR, VTL, etc) they can be great. (what isn't?) 100wpc is probably the bare minimum, more is better. Just a question of whether you want to spend the bucks on a big amp and on the tube replacements.

I have a Totem Forest loudspeakers which have Dynaudio drivers. I drive them with VTL Deluxe 100 monos (110W/ch in tetrode mode). It sounds much more open and better than previously driven by Bryston 3b-st (125W/ch)