PX-25 tube amp with Merlin VSM speakers?

Thanks, Rebbi, for adding to the dilemma with the suggestion of another amp that sounds pretty amazing from the reviews and people's experiences! :). My gut is that I would be unlikely to change to another EL34-based push-pull amp as that's what I have now (and am very happy with how that sounds), and that I'd be more likely to try something different, but wow, the buzz on that Decware amp is through the roof.

Dazzlingmd, the difference in a P-P triode amp making 15 watts and an SET making 15 watts is that if you want to hear what the SET does, its likely you should not push is past 3 or 4 watts. Otherwise the higher orders come into play.

(The higher-ordered harmonics behave as loudness cues to the human ear/brain system, causing the SET to sound more 'dynamic' than it should be for such low power. This is something you will often see in reading reviews of SETs- its a psycho-acoustic interaction; once you realize that is has to do with how the amplifier makes distortion, its also easier to hear the amp doing it, so in a way I may have ruined it for you by writing this...).

With a push-pull amp this is less likely. So you get a greater percentage of usable power.

With our amps, as they have little or no feedback but are a form of push-pull, they too have a greater percentage of usable power, but are also quite relaxed in the mids and highs, in fact more so than the typical SET because they are lower distortion. Yet they also have more detail, owing to the lack of an output transformer. The combination of our M-60 on the Merlin is quite good, which is why the Merlin is one of the most popular speakers used with the M-60s. What is nice is to have 'highly detailed' in the same place at the same time with 'relaxed presentation'.

I ended up rolling the dice by pulling the trigger on the Diavolo. At that price it was worth a shot and if it isn't an improvement I can sell it for what I paid and reassess. The Diavolo is supposed to have enough power to easily drive any 90db speaker or higher with authority, and mine are 89db in a small room with a flat impedance curve so I'm hopeful that it will be enough power.

It should be here by the end of next week and then an amp shootout will be in order!

Also, if anyone has thoughts on the difference between the 32b tubes that come with the Diavolo versus the 300BXLS that it can also apparently take, I would be interested in the sonic differences.

Thanks to everyone so far for all the helpful information and ideas.

Congrats! Looking forward to your impressions. From my time with the Carissa I think Art Audio amps are very fine music makers. Their build quality and aesthetics are outstanding as well.

Dazzlingmd,

Yes, do tell us how that combination sounds! That's supposed to be a fabulous amp. Enjoy it!