Tubed Monos for Focal Aria 948s


I'm considering a pair of tubed monos for my Aria 948s. Given that their efficiency is at 92.5 it seems that I could swap the 130W SS monos for the warmer tube sound in the 40W range and not have any issues. Any ideas how much bass would be lost? Do I need to factor gain into the equation? Already have a tube preamp and like the way that sounds, even like the the way the SS monos sound but since the Focals are so clear my thought is that tubes would pair very well.

Thanks
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Showing 3 responses by erik_squires

My past experience with Focals is that they can develop a distinct L, C and R image, but without the ability to fill in between.  I was able to fix this with just a little toe in. 
Sorry, I never got to my point.  My point was that when auditioning amps, listen in the lower to mid bass for any weakness. Decide accordingly.
The biggest issue with similar speakers, and Focal in particular, is they tend to have an impedance dip right where you don't want it, around 100 Hz.

This makes them "discerning" of amplifiers, meaning that they will require a low impedance amp to drive them without loosing bass drive.

This is not the same model, but it is typical in this range for Foral:

https://www.stereophile.com/content/focal-aria-936-loudspeaker-measurements