2. amps-preamps
  3. 1089202007

Tube amp for Avalon Eidolon ?

I have no experience with tubes, and want to give them a try on my Avalon Eidolon (not diamonds) speakers (87 dB sensitivity, 4 ohm nominal, 3.6 ohm minimum). I'm using dCS Elgar + Purcel front end and currently not using a pre-amp, cardas neutral reference cables. I listen mostly to jazz, some classical, some rock.

Looking for suggestions on tube amp(s), preferably with balanced inputs, but not mandatory. I'm willing to spend some money, up to say $15k, and will probably try to buy used.

Thoughts and recommendations appreciated. Thanks. John.
johnax

Showing 2 responses by kurt_tank

kurt_tank
1,189 posts
 
A friend of mine has tried four different tube mono-block amps with his Eidolons (also not the diamonds). I got to listen to them all luckily enough for me!
I will list them in the order tried.

1. Kora Cosmos. Great sound, but way too little power at 100W/ch. (I think the sound was the best using these, but only chamber music, and jazz combos really worked with these, as the power was just not enough for symphony music or even high intensity rock.)

2. BAT 75. Good sound, decent power, but seemed to sacrafice some of the nice tube sound for the extra power.
(I compared these to the Kora Cosmos, not to the next two amps.)

3. Manley NeoClassic 250. Very good sound and very good power. Almost a keeper, except it would clip, albeit gently, when pushed to extremes. (My friend is very much into symphony music, and listening at realistic sound levels. It took a very loud symphony passage to get this to clip. Beautiful amp to look at, espcially with the gold face.)

4. VTL MB 450. This was the end of his search. This had very good sound and excellent power.
(Note: It is not the best looking amp, as it is fairly utilitarian looking, but it is not ugly, just kind of plain. I mention this because the Manley's were gorgeous as are the Eidolons. My favorite speaker, which I wish I could afford!)

My two cents worth anyway. Good luck in your search.
kurt_tank
1,189 posts
 
Well, since this thread is still being posted to, I figure I should update my post.

My friend has since moved on from the VTL MB-450s to the (hybrid) Lamm M2.2s. While the printed power rating of the M2.2s @ 220 wpc is about half of the VTLs, the sense of power does not seem diminished at all. The Lamms have a firm grip on the bass response (much better than the VTLs), and yet it retains a sense of that nice tube lushness in the mid-range. The treble response is even better than the VTLs as well. It has such a nice decay to cymbals, that it still astonishes me.

(The Lamms impressed me so much that I bought a pair myself. I could not afford to buy them new, so I did the next best thing, which was to get a pair of used M2.1s (the 200 wpc predesscor to the M2.2s) for a much lower price. I always thought my Revel Studios were good speakers (no, not Eidolon great, but good), but when combined with the Lamms, the sound is very good, and better than I had ever hoped for.)

Hope this helps!
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