Tube vs SS vs Digital

Wolfie, definitely the best post of the day, and probably the week :-)

Mbovaird, I'm not particularly familiar with your speakers, but based on their impedance curve I suspect that most tube amps would not be good matches for them. Their variation of impedance as a function of frequency (low in the bass and lower mid-range regions; high in the upper mid-range and lower treble regions) will interact with the relatively high output impedance of a tube amp to produce a significantly brighter sound than with the low output impedance of a solid state amp. I suspect that with most quality tube amps that added brightness will be objectionable.

Also, given their roughly 4 ohm impedance at lower frequencies, their 86db/2.83V/1m sensitivity is effectively only 83db for a 1 watt input at 1 meter. So you will obviously need lots of power, and it is probably safe to assume that high powered tube amplification will be considerably more expensive than high powered solid state amplification of comparable quality.

I have no particular opinion on Classe vs. Bel Canto, or on Class AB solid state vs. Class D generally.

Regards,
-- Al

Mr.T, your Quad electrostatics are a different animal altogether than the Revels. The Quads (and most electrostatics) will tend to sound brighter with solid state amplification than with tube amplification, which is the opposite of how the Revels will behave.

Regards,
-- Al