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Tube-Friendly Less Than or Equal to 2k

Greetings all!

I'm in the market to replace a pair of Rega R1 bookshelf speakers.

I have a PrimaLuna Prologue 2 so the new speakers must be tube friendly. Stand mounted or floor standers are both OK. Willing to spend up to 2k. I'm an all vinyl guy. I like to listen to rockin' stuff like King Crimson, Led Zeppelin, and the Mars Volta at appropriately loud-ish volumes, but I play a ton of jazz records too and would like those to sound more than nice as well. Guess that means I'm looking for an all 'rounder. I prefer warmth and musicality to details. Dali Ikon 6, Quad 12 and 21L are what's floating around in my brain right now. I'd love some other opinions from listeners with similar tastes and situations and WHY you recommend the speakers you do. Many thanks!
tubehead21
10 responses Add your response
rlwainwright
1,904 posts
 
You owe it to yourself to consider/audition the Gallo Reference 3s - there are two pairs on Agon right now for less than $1600. Fellow Audiogoner Dave P. is driving his with a 30W SET as I recall and the sound is spectacular. Very deep soundstage, excellent imaging, authoritative bass (and even better if you drive that 2nd voice coil!), sparkling highs without being edgy. And they also have vocals/guitar to die for. They really shine with good tube amplification.

I'm serious, these speakers have it all and in that price range I don't think you can beat them. Unless you must have it headbanging loud, your PrimaLuna will drive those speakers in a marvelous fashion.

Good luck!

-RW-
racamuti's avatar
racamuti
362 posts
 
Check out Reference 3A, either MM De Capo, Veena, or if you can stretch it there are a pair of L Integral's on the GON right now for $2500.00. A friend has a pair of those and sound like what you are looking for. I used to have MM De Capo's and loved them but I needed a hair more sensitivity so I sold them and bought a pair of Sonist Concerto2.
Happy hunting!!!
chrismontez
8 posts
 
Well I have a 15 wpc tube amp and went looking for speakers this week. I ended up with Totem Sttafs. I also liked the Opera Callas Minis bookshelf speaker. I'm listening to Art Tatum right now and it sounds sweet.
dgordonl
128 posts
 
I also agree with the Gallo ref3.1's.
You can try the resistor tweak across the ....sub-in.... terminal.its way better than using the sa amp there....
Gallo users check out the Audio10 review on it...at
www.audio10.com/gallo_ref3.1.htm
saki70
907 posts
 
I have to second the Reference 3a suggestion . I am driving a pair of De Capo i's with my Prologue 2 and really enjoy classic rock , blues and standards .

They are fairly well resolving speakers that will allow you to hear what is upstream without walking all over the music . They will give you bass that you can feel and still provide smooth airy highs . Again , if your upstream components and music provide it . Quite a few of my less than stellar cd's sound better here than with other setups that I have had .

Definitly try rolling some input tubes , if you haven't already . Upscale's suggestion gave me an overall warmer presentation with better bass while retaining the terrific highs of the stock setup .

Good luck .
jaybo
4,478 posts
 
i sound like a parrot, but the castle harlech(being sold out at under cost) from mayaudio.com is the steal of a lifetime. 1050....and it will hold its own with any 5k speaker i've ever heard. heirloom quality too.
Post removed 
tubehead21 OP
23 posts
 
The Reference 3A options look enticing. Thanks for the ideas, all!

Saki, I've rolled out all the stock tubes. I got a set from Upscale. Running SED 6550s, Groove Tubes in the ax7 spot, and the Mullard CV4003 in the au7. I've really been enjoying the warmer tone. They're still getting better as the hours add up.
robr45's avatar
robr45
319 posts
 
Back to your initial question- I can tell you that the 21l makes more sense than than 12l. It gives up almost nothing-and plays louder and lower. What you would spend on good stands will pay for the upgrade. These are definitely all around perfomers.The 21l and 21l2 sound almost exactly the same FWIW. Not much changed.

-Rob
panu21
82 posts
 
does anyone have experience with dynaudios with tubes.
also interested in speakers to pair witha prima luna dialogue one. currently using quad 22L's but seem a bit harsh if i try to push them, vocals especially sound shallow almost as if in an echo chamber. also heard totem arro 's a good match but not so sure how they handle rock which i occasionally listen to. also have been recomended triangle comete's . not sure if any of these is an upgrade from what i already have. reference 3a de capo also sound interesting from above comments. help please.
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