Since 30 watts are enough to drive your speakers, I would consider the Music Reference RM10 MKII. I've owned both amps and it would be a good contest to see if tubes are your cup of tea. Your XA-30.5 is the finest SS I have heard (Alpeh J not bad either). A new RM is $1995 - relatively cheap, point-to-point, EL84 based tube amp with 35 watts into 8 ohms. A very neutral, revealing amp. |
If the Zingali's have a highish, flat input impedance the Atma-sphere S30 OTL (stere amp) would also be worth considering - 30 watts, Class A, triode, OTL. Given how little power you need, these would give you a very good idea of what good tube amps can do. I owne their M60 monoblocks since I need a bit more power, but hard to beat an OTL with appropriate speakers. Both RM and S30 are revealing and incisive in the way that good SS can be - neither is tubish in the derogatory sense, but they do the bloom thing spatially that is quite addictive that SS has a hard time replicating. |
Are the EAR integrated expensive in the UK? They have a 15 watter that is said to be wonderful, but I have never heard it. |
The good thing is you do not need a lot of power, which is a good thing with tube amps, lower power is generally simpler, fewer output devices, much less money, and I have always found that with the same basic circuit, less power sounds better than more power if it is sufficient power for you speakers. |
A tube pre can change the sound a bit, but in my experience the tube experience and the distinctive sound of tubes comes much more from the tube amp / speaker relationship than a tube pre. You have a great amp, so if you want to experiment, I think a tube amp or integrated tube amp would be the direction I would go. IMHO a tube preamp won't give you enough of the tube experience - which does not mean a tube preamp and SS amp can't sound wonderful, but IME it is not the real tube experience that tubeahololics love. |
I feel pretty strongly that if an OTL can match well with you speaker in terms of power and impedance drive, it is very, very difficult to beat an OTL. Note the M60s are better yet with most speakers, especially in providing incredible bass response that seem untube like. I had the XA30.5 and the Atma M60s in my home for several months going back and forth - I don't have the Pass anymore - which does not mean it is not a great amp, it absolutely is. I would use SS if I needed to, my speakers don't need what SS can do, otherwise I might have kept the Pass with no regrets, as there no absolutes here, but if you want to possibly find "magic", OTL is likely (not guaranteed)to make you feel like you found it IMHO. Think about it: Class A, (real)Triode operation, and no transformers! |
The new models have the connection in the back of the amp. I think they were in the front to provide the shortest path to the input tubes, and to keep the wire from having to run through all th electronics, etc - an approach also taking be Convergent Audio Technologies - a bit of an inconvenience, but I suspect the best sound is had that way. Seems like the market prefers the connections on the back on aesthetic grounds and shorter ICs. Of course, if you run balanced, the cheap Mogami XLR IC is going to sound about as good as anything else you buy regardless of cost. What Ralph K of Atma-sphere said regarding the Mogami, and I have no reason not to believe it. |
Like I said, if an OTL can drive your speaker, it is going to beat and tube amp with transformer IME. The M60s replace the CAT JL2s which they are many folks that consider it one of the very best high powered tube amps available; and I do think the CAT will drive speakers that would leave the OTL panting for breath, the transformers do serve a purpose afteal. But with my speakers that have a smooth and highish input impedance, the M60s drove me to the sell the CAT - something I never, ever, thought I would do.
Alfa, because he might very prefer it, even he loves the XA30.5s, which there is every reason in the world to love, but there is a reason so many audio loonies love tubes - try 'em, you just may like them - maintenance and all. |
Well, either way, you will own some very fine equipment, with what you have, or what you are considering; everything mentioned on this thread could be the basis of an excellent system, so I don't think you going to wrong with the options you are considering, once you get the preamp or no preamp issue resolved. |
Your speaker seems well suited for what SS can provide - current and damping- good thing air-condition is readily available in Florida - though, I would say the M60s threw off more heat than the XA30.5. There must be a Agoner XA30.5 owner somewhere in Florida. |
Pettyfeversk, your experience is with a multi-driver speaker and perhaps a 10" or more woofer? I'm thinking there is something about multi-driver speakers that makes a difference in the simple sensitivity/watts equation we normally make - seems that for some reason you do need more power and current than driving a 2-way with 7" "woofer" - even when the speakers have the same rated sensitivity. Anyone know if that is true? That just my experience, so I don't know if it is technically valid. My Merlins which are 89db played as loud as I could possibly stand and sounded wonder at lower volume with the 30 watts provided by the XA30.5. Also had the Music Reference RM9 SE (162 watts) for comparison - the Pass did not seem underpowered. |
Ralph, I also think the XA30.5 is very conservatively rated, but one might still need the more powerful XA amps, even with "sensitive" speakers if they loaded up with drivers and x-overs. I think, but I'm not sure, that ight be the case with Pettyfeversk's speakers and why moving up the power chain with Pass has proven to be a worthy improvement for him. |
I think it switches at some point to B for handling peak power demand - I'm sure it is addressed in the Stereophile review, perhaps Magfan can confirm the data from Atkinson's tests. |
There amps that never leave Class A? For some reason, I think my CAT JL2 worked that way, but not sure if that is even possible. Techheads? |
Normally tube amps with the same watts seem to play louder than their SS counterparts because they handle clipping very smoothly. I don't know the percentage of the tube advantage on perceived power, but tube watts always seem more powerful, considerably so, driving a speaker - unless the speaker's impedances are so uneven as to really need SS to operate properly. |
THe MP-3 will drive the XA30.5 with ease from an impedance perspective, I think output impedance is 250 ohm which is very, very low, especially for a tube preamp. It also uses 6sn7 tubes which always seem to be in my favorite tube line stages - oh, an really balanced. |
