Very interesting commentaries ... Based on much experience.
I owned Tannoys System DMT 15 MKIIs for about ten years. This is a studio monitor .... While rated at 98db efficient, I found that they sounded best with high current amplifiers. My journey began with George Wright 3.5 single ended 2a3 monoblocks. Wonderful tone, poor timing. Next we're a pair of (Harvey 'Gizmo' Rosenberg recommended) Sun Audio 300b push pull monoblocks with a likely 20 wpc. Those amps were a fine match ... very much a 'classic' sounding combination ... certainly not 'monitorish' sounding.
It was when I was persuaded to follow Tannoy's recommendation of higher powered transistor amps that old assumptions about the superiority of tubes began to be questioned ... at least for these monitors. The Naim 250 was a good match. But my final amp for those Tannoys was designed and manufactured by a small but renouned shop in England called Avondale Audio. I used their 'standard' stereo amp for the last 7 years. It is truely extraordinary sounding, at a moderate price. They also make monoblocks, whose owners totally rave over. Check out their site, and do a search on the Pink Fish audio site in Great Britain.
I recently moved, resulting in the sale of my beloved Tannoys. They've been replaced by refurbished Quad 57s. The Avondale Audio electronics remain.
WTS
I owned Tannoys System DMT 15 MKIIs for about ten years. This is a studio monitor .... While rated at 98db efficient, I found that they sounded best with high current amplifiers. My journey began with George Wright 3.5 single ended 2a3 monoblocks. Wonderful tone, poor timing. Next we're a pair of (Harvey 'Gizmo' Rosenberg recommended) Sun Audio 300b push pull monoblocks with a likely 20 wpc. Those amps were a fine match ... very much a 'classic' sounding combination ... certainly not 'monitorish' sounding.
It was when I was persuaded to follow Tannoy's recommendation of higher powered transistor amps that old assumptions about the superiority of tubes began to be questioned ... at least for these monitors. The Naim 250 was a good match. But my final amp for those Tannoys was designed and manufactured by a small but renouned shop in England called Avondale Audio. I used their 'standard' stereo amp for the last 7 years. It is truely extraordinary sounding, at a moderate price. They also make monoblocks, whose owners totally rave over. Check out their site, and do a search on the Pink Fish audio site in Great Britain.
I recently moved, resulting in the sale of my beloved Tannoys. They've been replaced by refurbished Quad 57s. The Avondale Audio electronics remain.
WTS