Power tubes as drivers -- Line Magnetic

Thanks Jrinker. I'll give Matthew a call.

I love my dealer (In Living Stereo), and they thought my strategy outlined above would be a useful approach, but then I called a very reputable tube guy who thought it would be a complete waste of time. So far, it's been a perfect microcosm of our hobby, with two experts completely at odds with one another! At least it's really fun figuring it all out.

D

Chayro: Apparently, I absolutely am that guy! I've been enjoying the amp for a couple days now.

Tb: I'm driving Merlin TSM-MME. I also tried the 15W leben integrated, but it really didn't have the grunt to drive the Merlins. I'm not sure if it's the extra wattage or the current capability of the 845s, but the LM was a much better match for my speakers.

Ralph: I had never heard of class A2 until now. I just did a little reading-- very interesting. Until then, I would have had to use my best Nigel Tufnel accent to say class A2 is "one louder" than typical class A! Thanks for the info.

Ralph-- you might find it interesting that my Merlin TSMs, which are 8 ohm nominal and 6.5 minimum, are really enjoying being driven off the 16 ohm taps of the Line Magnetic. I'm getting a very open and extended sound but all of the bass definition I could want.

Thanks for the input Charles. The amp is still breaking in, but I'm confident I'll get to a good place. My dealer was nice enough to let me bring my speakers over to audition them before I bought, and the combination was very engaging. I'm going to let the amp and tubes really settle in and get a handle on the sound before rolling tubes. I do have some mid 1990s Svetlana 6L6s around the house as spares for my guitar amp, so I suppose I can pop those in to see how they sound.

As far as Merlins being easy to drive, they certainly do have that reputation, and I know Atmasphere amps are generally thought of as a very good match for them. However, as I mentioned above, I first paired the Merlins with the Leben CS-300, and the Leben really couldn't drive them in a satisfying manner. This was strange, because the Leben did an amazing job driving a pair of Dynaudio Focus 260s, which at 4 ohms nominal impedance, would theoretically be a harder speaker to drive.

I also think the Line Magnetic is tonally just a better match for my Merlins-- the Leben sounded a bit lean on the Merlins, but fantastic on the Dynaudios. By the same token, the LM/Dynaudio combination yielded some plummy/wooly bass, but through the Merlins produced the best bass I've ever heard from my speakers. It would have been interesting to hear the more powerful Leben CS-600 paired with the Merlins, but that amp was just a bit too expensive.

Truth be told, I was pretty sold on Leben when I went to the store and was just trying to make sure they could drive my speakers. There was really no contest though and I had to change my plans.

Welcome DRS! I haven't heard the LM 218 or your speakers, so of course I can't form much of an opinion as to their synergy. I am finding that the 518 has a lot more drive than its 22 watts might otherwise suggest. It's always unsatisfying to hear "you need to see for yourself," but here it's really true. Find a dealer and check out the amp. On paper, sounds like a decent match, but you'll never really know until you try. I am a very happy camper though.

Best,

D

TB. Looks like you already found the Steve Huff review of the 518 and 219. He's having such success driving your speakers with the LM amps. I haven't heard the 219, but have had similar experience with the 518's "fat" sound. With my Merlins, this is very welcome and I'm happy to have a bit more bass. Mind you, that isn't code for "bloated"-- it's taut and tuneful bass rather than one-note boom. Steve does seem to prefer the 219 with the Sonus Fabers, but I believe that amp is about $3k more than the 518 and those 300b tubes make for expensive tube rolling, especially considering how expensive 845s are.

Steve's experience should give you a lot of comfort. My dealer wouldn't let me bring the amp home either, and bringing my speakers into the shop was definitely a distant second choice, but I did get to spend as much time as I wanted driving my speakers with the 518 and was therefore absolutely sure it was the right choice. It's a bit more hassle, but you get to the same desired place. I also got the benefit of the store's expertise: without their suggestion and blessing I would never have thought/dared to change output taps on the fly to experiment and end up discovering the 16 ohm taps sounded best on 8 ohm nominal and 6.5 ohm minimum speakers.

I've read your review Tim and have shared a lot of your observations. Kudos on a well written review that really captures the soul of this amp!

Although you and my dealer both suggested the preamp tubes would make a lot of difference, I've found them to make a more subtle difference, although I haven't done a proper shoot out with all my tubes on hand. I'm liking a pair of 1960's Mullard CV4004 best so far. Agree the rectifier is very important. I'm using a '60s Mullard there too, and it widened the soundstage considerably. I haven't experimented with many 6L6 or 5881 types, but looking for a nice pair of KT66 to try. So far, my favorite drivers have been a pair of 1950s RCA Greyglass 6V6 tubes I pulled out of a non-working RCA console radio I bought at a consignment shop, and an original pair of Genelex Gold Lion KT88 I happened upon on another tube hunting excursion. I must say I think the drivers are important too. It's probably more a case of making sure it's not a bad fit-- the good ones all work well, but a pair of EL-34s (and they we're pretty good ones) made the amp sound almost broken to my ears.

Agreed its a fantastic amp. Looking forward to adding an analog source quite soon!