Speaker match for 75 watt Tenor amps

Natalie, I got to disagree with you. I heard the 75 watt Tenor Tube amps on the Lamhorn 1.8 speakers at the Stereophile show in 2001. I think its important to understand, the horn just acts as a sub, all the mids highs and bass come out of the 8 inch AER Driver. All i can tell you, this system at the Stereophile show sounded amazing. I put a review about it in June 2001 on here. It sounded very articulate and the midrange and bass just were perfect.

Coincident Eclipse series is much more flat sounding and less detailed than the new Victory. Perhaps Victory is too lean for some tastes.

The Tenor 15 wi and the Kharma Ceramique 2.0 sound pretty good. The Kharma 2.0 is a bit lacking in bass strength and not quite as extended in the highs as other speakers that I have heard. However, the mids are unbelievable and the best that I have heard. The speakers disapear. Will I keep the speakers...I received them damaged in shipping and they may have to go back. What will I replace them with? I am going to try the Coincident Total Victory speakers. They may be a better match with the 15 watt Tenors.

Hey all,

I've never heard the Tenor amps my self, although they have quite a reputation. Personally, I would take the amps over a Miata even if that car were given to me. Just my opinion.....John

ESB,

So, how do they sound?

Kana813- Very true a miata may very well offer more of a thrill for the money- those are amazingly fun little cars, for the money to fun ratio they can't be beat when the sun is up :)

Sax, you can drive to happiness HUNDREDS of speakers, expensive or otherwise, with yr amps. If yr moniker is representative of taste, then mikelavigne has made a point. If not... the list is long & my knowledge too restricted.
With all due respect to all others, of course! Cheers

Tireguy: Tim- I didn't mean to imply that any of the speakers mentioned were poorly designed. I just think it's better to select your speakers first.

Based on your report, I'm sure the Tenor OTL amps sound great.

I'd love to have a pair, but their cherry wood bases wouldn't match my koa speakers and for $20K I can buy
a new Miata.

Aloha.

I am so proud to have participated in the most stupid thread on this forum. I especially enjoyed Natalie's advice to "stay as far away from a Horn as is humanly possible." I own Lammhorns and have heard a variety of horns in a variety of systems. To state that all they are good for is midrange is ridiculous.

Kana813 is right: find the speaker first.

Kana813- With all due respect I don't believe any of the speakers mentioned in this threat are "poorly designed", they all do somethings better, and I have never heard a speaker do EVERYTHING right so there are comprimises to make- that's life. But these amps are in fact that good and worth building a system around, FWIW I highly doubt anyone could buy the materials to make a tenor 75Wp let alone a 75Wi for $1000. Other then that I enjoyed reading your insightful response to this thread. BTW I don't own these amps and I am not defending my honor for purchasing 'over priced' OTL's I am merely defending what I have heard to be one of the best if not THE best amp. Cheers! Tim

This is the most stupid thread I've seen on this forum.

The most important component is the speakers.

Unless the Tenor amps are perfect, you should select a speaker which best fits your listening room and musicial
taste, and then pick an amp which can drive them properly.

I had a pair of JF's OTL amps, which he handmade for $1K
on Quads, and I can't believe anyone would think these copy cat amps from Canada are worth $20K.

Saxman, find speakers you like and ask the manufacturer
what's the best amp to drive them.

Don't get hung up on fancy wood bases with parts that are worth 10% of the asking price.

Great speakers will sound good with a cheap amp, but a
great amp can never make up for a poorly designed speaker.

Aloha.

all the coincident speakers.total victory.

all the coincident speakers.

Hopefully,next week I'm going to here the Tenors
with Coincident Total Eclipse. Than a couple days later
I get to try some Veritys. I'll report back.

last year when i was waiting for my Tenors i borrowed a BAT VK75SE for 3 weeks. it was a very nice amp, excellent dynamics, detail and extension. no complaints at all. but when the Tenors came it was no contest....the difference in clarity and articulation was dramatic.....the Tenor was way faster and a much lower noise floor and therefore more transparent and natural soundstage. the Tenor was much more like real music. the BAT was more "hifi".

the VK75SE will have some dynamic advantages with some speakers. but the performance of the Tenors with the proper speaker is way beyond the BAT IMHO (as you would expect for the $$$ diff). i would also add that the BAT VK75SE is as good a "real world" amp as i have heard for less than $10k retail list.

Saxman, I wonder how did you select Tenors to be your new amps? Are you getting rid of VK75se? What’s wrong with them?
I don’t mean to criticize your decision. Tenors are wonderful amps and were making very pleasant music paired with Verity speakers on 2001 HE show, but IMHO are obscenely expensive.
If you will have both Tenors and BAT at home please post your impressions comparing them on same speakers.

I recently purchased the Tenor 15wi and also was looking for the right speaker to go with the Tenor. I found a pair of Kharma Ceramique 2 speakers on audiogon at a great price. I heard that the synergy between the Tenor-Kharma was something special. They should arrive by Friday and I will let you know how they sound.

Everytime I heard Coincidents with OTL is was imprsessive. A friend recently went from a Jadis to OTL he uses Coincident. He raves about the Coincident OTL sound.

I had the Verity Parsifal Encore for about 15 months before i sold it recently on Audiogon,but i didn't have the Tenor.

I have use Jadis JA 250(180W),Cary 805(50W),ML 383(100W SS,I helped my friend to sell it on Audiogon and i tried it for fun),and the KR Audio Mono Kronzilla (100W).

All my amps were over than 75W except for Cary 805.

JA 250 : Warm,deep,and huge soundtage. The power of the Jadis was more than enough to make the parsifal rock.

Cary 805 : Very musical,roll-off at low freq,the bass was not solid as the JA 250. Mostly i just used the 805 to drive the monitor only since i felt the 50W from Cary was not powerfull enough for the Parsifal even though i have a small room. (I like high volume)

ML 383 : Hearing only 2 hours,i didn't know what's wrong with that amp since Cary 805 was more powerful than the ML 383 in my room .

Kronzilla : The bottom end remainded me of my Jadis JA 250 with adding more control and balance.Very musical,detail, and as the JA 250,the Kronzilla was never lacked of power driving the Parsifal.

In my system,the Kronzilla follow by the JA 250 were my choice.

Just remember that the Parsifal impedance is 4 ohm and below 3.6 ohm at 40's Hz. (I know that OTL like high impedance.)

I haven't heard the Tenor,but if the Tenor has 25 Watts more than the Cary 805,you can go with it.

Good luck

Good choice. Stay as far away from a Horn as is humanly possible. If you like only midrange go for it. If you want the whole pie Verity is a great choice so is the Coincident. Shame you cant try them side by side. Let the best one win.

first, you are smart to start with a great amp and then find the right speaker.....the amp/speaker match is to me the most significant decision in any system. i went with the Tenor/Kharma.....but the Verity Parsifal/Tenor is a very good combo....and with your moniker of Saxman...the Verity will be especially lush and musical with sax recordings. i would stick with that direction. the Verity Parsifal will be more weighty and full-bodied than the Coincidents.

you will love the Tenors.

Kharma, Piega, Alon, Coincident, Talon, Verity. Shoot me an email with your phone number I know a few people you may want to talk to about this.

for jonathan valin at tas,tenor+kharma is wonderfull match

How about the 15 watt Tenor amps and a pair of Lamhorns.

Have you considered the Vandersteen Model 5's?