John, you're on the right track to consider using tubes with the Eidolons. People who have heard the Eidolons only with solid state amplifiers simply have not experienced what this speaker can truly deliver in terms of pure musicial enjoyment.
I use Atma-Sphere MA-2 MkII.2s with my Eidolons. I think this match is incredibly good. Regular Audiogon contributors Slipknot1 and Trelja have listened to this combination at my house and can offer their comments.
For me, the Atma-Sphere MA-2s have the quickness, neutrality, dynamics and bass definition to complement the Eidolons extremely well; musical "authority" is definitely present. Resolution is very high, including at low volume levels. And the Atma-Spheres deliver a natural musicality, with very accurate rendering of timbre and harmonic overtones, that makes listening to acoustic music a joy.
Other Eidolon owners have reported good success with some other large tube amps, but these big Atma-Sphere all-triode Class-A OTLs make the magic for me.
Used MA-2s fall within your stated price range, and if you ship them to the factory, Atma-Sphere will check them out, bring them to current production spec (if needed) and re-up the five-year warranty to you as the new owner for a reasonable fee.
http://www.atma-sphere.com/products/ma2.html
You can get some sense of my listening priorities, and see how they may match to yours, in the postscript to my review of the Walker Proscenium turntable.
.
I use Atma-Sphere MA-2 MkII.2s with my Eidolons. I think this match is incredibly good. Regular Audiogon contributors Slipknot1 and Trelja have listened to this combination at my house and can offer their comments.
For me, the Atma-Sphere MA-2s have the quickness, neutrality, dynamics and bass definition to complement the Eidolons extremely well; musical "authority" is definitely present. Resolution is very high, including at low volume levels. And the Atma-Spheres deliver a natural musicality, with very accurate rendering of timbre and harmonic overtones, that makes listening to acoustic music a joy.
Other Eidolon owners have reported good success with some other large tube amps, but these big Atma-Sphere all-triode Class-A OTLs make the magic for me.
Used MA-2s fall within your stated price range, and if you ship them to the factory, Atma-Sphere will check them out, bring them to current production spec (if needed) and re-up the five-year warranty to you as the new owner for a reasonable fee.
http://www.atma-sphere.com/products/ma2.html
You can get some sense of my listening priorities, and see how they may match to yours, in the postscript to my review of the Walker Proscenium turntable.
.