Tube amp/ preamp advice

Are you sure you mean 2800 sq. ft. not 280.  If 2800 you’ll need some power, even with La Scala's.  Maybe someone with theater amplification experience will chime in.

What specific sound characteristics are you looking for (more warm or neutral, etc.) and are most important to you as this will really help narrow things down, what’s your budget, and are you looking for new or used?

@marco1 , it is a 70x40 garage with an 800 sq foot loft. your inquiry is a good point, I am primarily looking to fill the loft that with sound. 

@soix  For sound characteristics, my preference is the warm rich sound of tubes, and would prefer to have a setup that doesn't compromise in bass. Budget is 5-10K. 

LTA gear sounds great but I would not call it warm and rich. With that budget check out a good integrated like an Audio Note Oto or Soro those both have a much warmer sound signature.

If you like the LTA sound (I , for one, do) why not buy amp & spearate phono from them? They are very good for the price.

For sound characteristics, my preference is the warm rich sound of tubes, and would prefer to have a setup that doesn't compromise in bass.

I wouldn’t recommend LTA as they have a more neutral sound as tubes go and not really warm if that’s what you’re looking for.   Maybe McIntosh, VAC, Zesto, Prima Luna, Shindo, Conrad Johnson, etc.  Best of luck. 

Anything from 2wpc and up will fit the bill, but if you’re going to crank it up to fill a larger room maybe 20wpc and up. Really any tube amp will work. If you want a warmer side stick with traditional old-style tubes like 2A3,300b, EL34, EL84. Also consider tube rectified with a choke.

 You’re probably going to want to look for a push pull EL34 about 35wpc I bet that would more then fit the bill in a larger room.  I ran my set off 2A3 SET 2.5wpc in a medium sized room with no issues but I’m not a loud listener (75-85db).

Something else to consider is total gain especially in your preamp. you’re going to want a preamp with lower gain to give you some volume range other then the first two clicks on a volume knob. I struggled with this for a while. Also, noise levels are always going to be in issue with 105db speakers so a quite low noise design is a must. I’d stay away from amps like the Wilsenton R8 etc. with the newer KT tubes they are not what I would call a warmer tube sound, more modern and neutral if not a bit harsher.

Triode labs and Finale Audio is my recommendation for tube amps for LaScala’s.

35wpc seems a bit low to me in that large space

McIntosh MC275 would give you 2 x 75wpc with 4/8/16 ohm taps (what impedance are your LaScala?

future option for a second for a pair of 150 wpc mono blocks, (in case you change to less efficient speakers some day) but no 16 ohms, bridged options become 2,4,8 ohm taps

MC275 listed here, asking $2,900

MC275 LE 50th anniversary limited edition 

Tube Preamp:

Staying vintage, leaves you plenty to get a McIntosh Tube Tuner/Preamp, I love my MX110z, if it died, I would replace it without hesitation, one of the reasons is it's wonderful sounding MM Phono Inputs 1 and 2. Only a SUT needed to use LOMC, retain sound of the MX110z's phono.

I had Audio Classics overhaul my MX110z, including all new gold plated  RCA Jacks

MX110z, was serviced by Richard Modafferi at Audio Classics

https://www.audioclassics.com/mods

Quicksilver Audio see here

Mike

I’d stay away from flea powered amps.  800 sq.ft.is still a good size area.  You’ll need power particularly if you are going to crank it. Years ago, I had a friend who converted his garage into a party room.  About same size as your loft.  He had 4 Klipsch horn’s, one in each corner, powered by 2 large Mac SS amps, 400w-500w each.  He lived on a cul-de-sac and when he cranked it we would open the overhead doors, go outside and sit in the middle of the cul-de-sac circle to listen lol.

Thank you for all of your advice. I am very new to the tube world. I have always been smitten by the 275, I'll do some research on them. Preferably, I would like to have a preamp that is solely an amp, and no tuner integrated. Now that we've narrowed it down to a 275, can you make any recommendations for that? 

You need to actually hear your candidate amplifiers.  Tube amps are WAY more variable in sound than high quality solid state amps.  I personally don’t like the MC 275 amp, in particular, anything made in the past 25 years or so.  They sound so dead to me.  Obviously, a lot of others like them, do it is a personal preference.  

For the money you are budgeting, you should consider an integrated amp.  With some designs of amps, an integrated amp is essentially the same as the power amp with added input jacks, a source selector and a volume control—it costs relatively little to turn the amp into an integrated amp and the buyer gets some of the savings.  It would help to know what features you need in your amp, like, remote control, balance control etc.

I know you and I want separates, but consider Preamp AND Integrated for volume control.

One advantage of an integrated is they are typically newer with remote volume, that is why I bought my Cayin Integrated Tube Amp, so I could use my Vintage Full Featured mx110z tube tuner/preamp with no remote control, leave the mx110z volume at 12 o’clock, and use the Integrated’s remote volume for more or less.

To get remote balance, I added a Remote Line Controller, Chase RLC-1, it also has remote volume and mute (tone controls, 4 line inputs, ...): so I could have gone with a single or pair of MC275’s, any Vintage Tube Amp with no remote.

this SOLD listing shows it well

You MUST have the remote, no controls on the unit, 

I also use one in my Garage/Shop system thru the adapter loop of my Vintage Yamaha Receiver so I have remote mute and volume when working on projects. Over many years, in all 3 of my systems: No one has ever been able to tell if it is in or out, you silently get the benefit of it’s features. 

Chase RLC-1 also has automatic/progressive bass boost for very low volume listening.

It’s sitting on top of a Sony Front Loading Drawer type FL-1 TT which I got so I could fit more legacy components in the stack below it: 8 Track, Dual Cassette; CD Changer

If you don't need remote control, I would agree with jond that Audio Note Oto or Soro integrated amps are great choices in warmer sounding tube gear.  My absolute favorite in your price range is the Synthesis Audio A 40 (40 wpc) integrated amp that includes a very good DAC; it also has remote control of volume and input selection).  The A 40 employs KT66 tubes.  I generally like amps that run 6l6 (like the Soro) or KT 66 (like the A 40) and EL 84 tubes (like the Oto).  I am less enamored with higher power tubes like the KT 88 or 6550, or KT 120.