totem model 1 vs. quad 11L

I have read that most totem, dynaudio, proac, etc. like a lot of power. I was afraid that the st70 might not be up to the task for any of those speakers.

I love the way the kt66 tubed st70 sounds with my quad 11L's except for the total lack of bass.... I also have a sansui au517 integrated amp (65 watts per channel) that I tried in the system as an amp only with the classe dr6 as the pre. While the bass tightened up slightly with the vintage ss amp, the soundstage shrunk considerably and the nice sounding vocals and instruments were not there.The ST70 is way more musical,lifelike, and "holographic" in my system.

I know that a vintage 70's consumer amp is not going to sound as good as any decent modern amp such as bryston, classe, etc. but I was not impressed with the ss amp in my system.

If very high quality monitor or floorstanding speakers need a high power/ high current amp, then maybe I should pick up a "warm" sounding highend ss amp in the 100-200 watt per channel range first.

High efficieny speakers are not an option either(I have a pair of reworked klipsch heresy's) because I have some kind of strange groundloop issue in the house that is not noticeable with 88db or lower speakers, but drives me nuts with the heresy's.

Maybe I should post in the amp section for suggestions on a warm sounding ss amp to match with my classe dr6 preamp.

Dav65mus,

Kind of wondering if you can bi-amp your Quads? If you can, you might want to try letting the Sansui drive your woofer, and your Vincent drive the tweeter.

Yes the quads are bi-wire capable. I have thought of trying just what you suggested but space for the equipment will not allow for 2 amps......

Spendor 3/5 SE's are a lot cheaper than Totem 1's used, & sound great with good SS electronics. I use mine with a C-J PF-R pre-amp & MF2250 amp in a small room, & they sound great, with plenty of bass given their tiny size. I'm pretty sure they're less finicky than Totem 1's, altho they do like good SS electronics.....

Try quad 12ls phenominal bass for small speaker and then use 11s for rears if u go ht