Tube Integrated Amp for Dynaudio Focus 140

You should look into the Raven Night Hawk or Black Hawk . Do not let the 20 watt rating discourage you. Second to none customer service ,No answering machines at Raven

I have used a Primaluna Dialogue One for several years now, and it is a lovely sounding amp, and is plenty powerful for a 35W tube amp. Totally reliable IME.

Thank you all for your suggestions. The Unison Unico SE sounds like it might be a good option. Thanks again

Brian

I tried McIntosh among others for my previous Focus 160 and there were no doubt in that Audio Research was the best partner, I tried ARC VS-115 power amp, highly recommended!

I had excellent results using a Unison Research Unico SE hybrid tube integrated amp. 140 wpc/8 ohm and 240 wpc/4 ohm.

I was driving the Dynaudio Contour S1.4 and then the Volent Chorale CL-2. Both speakers were 86db 4 ohm. No regrets!

Looking at John Atkinson's measurements on the Stereophile site, that's not a very difficult load for an amplifier. All the amps you mentioned will drive them just fine.

Unless you are regularly listening at ear splitting levels and setting them up in a large room, quality watts of at least 20 or so would be appropriate.

I have Dynaudio 52SE running off a 20 watt tube amp and want for nothing. However, I've also run them with several hundred watts of solid state and they do like to go loud without breaking a sweat.

Dynaudio uses great drivers that can be played very loud and maintain their composure, so if you enjoy going loud, go for the watts. If you don't need the watts to reach your listening levels and are ready to try some tubes, you shouldn't let the sensitivity issue worry you. Most people are quite shocked at how few tube watts are needed to produce plenty of decibels.

Keep this in mind when considering watts. It takes a doubling of watts to increase the spl a mere 3 decibels. That means that the difference in a 50 watt amp and a 100 watt amp is only 3 dbls.

I'd suggest giving the Primaluna serious consideration based on its autobias circuitry. That takes a lot of the fear of tubes out of the equation for people new to them. Not to mention it's a damn nice sounding amp that is built like a tank. You'll find out real quick what tubes are all about and whether or not they are for you. If they don't float your boat, the amp is always in high demand and you won't take a bath on it.

Why not stick with an Octave V40se or V70se (pre-owned). I had an Octave V70se and V110 when I had original C1's and C1 signatures. Great synergy. Besides if you ever want to change up the sound you can roll tubes and not purchase different equipment. T+A is another good choice if you like SS.
Best of luck

Hello Brian.

You may want to consider Audio Note UK kits. Pete Fulton (Digital Pete) is an authorized kit builder for Audio Note UK equipment. I bought the L3 tube preamplifier from him with excellent results. The best part about kits is they can be customized to your needs. I upgraded my preamp with Dueland caps which sound fantastic.

Equipment link: http://www.ankaudiokits.com/l4el34pp_c.html

You can reach Pete at petfulton@comcast.net

Good luck!

Steve

I would highly recommend the Primaluna DiaLogue Two using KT 120s and its 4 ohm output. I recently switched to this integrated after using solid state for many years, and now there is no going back!