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Eminent Technology 8b Speakers - Amp/wattage Recommendations

I recently purchased a nearly new pair of 8bs. I am now looking for an amplifier. 

My preference is tubes over SS.

The room is 23x15x10 feet dedicated for music. 

I like to play music fairly loud at times. 

I will likely biamp, meaning whatever tube amp I end up using will receive a high-pass filtered signal and drive only the mid and high freq panel drivers. 

I am aware that Bruce T recommends 75-200 watts. 

I am considering two options, (a) Quicksilver KT monos with KT150 tubes (100 watts) and (b) another amp by a boutique builder using 4 KT 120 per side and 120 watts. 

My preference is option (a), but worry that 100 watts is not sufficient. 

I would appreciate any real-world experience on how many watts is practically needed with the 8bs. Are they as power hungry as I think they are, or is 100 watts more than enough? 

Does bi-amping make a difference, meaning one can get away with using less watts since you are driving only the mids/high drivers and not the subs? 

Any feedback or suggestions from 8b users would be appricated. 

Thanks much! 

 

 

jwr159
blisshifi's avatar
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blisshifi
1,124 posts
 

I’ll probably get yelled at for this, but I had the LFT-8b in a small room (10’x20’) a few years ago. It was powered by a Luxman MQ-70, a rare 35x2 EL-34 tube amp influenced by Tim de Paravicini. Well, it rocked without clipping and distorting, easily into the 90db’s, maybe even 100db peaks. This was also considering sitting about 7-8’ away. One thing to consider is the added gain from a preamp, which is likely 8-14db, and room gain. Once you add all that up, it boils down to the quality of the current and of each watt.

Given the OP’s room size, a more powerful amp might be needed, but perhaps not necessarily.

ozzy's avatar
ozzy
7,241 posts
 

or...Consider the Bob Carver tube mono blocks. They put out 350 wpc tube power!

I am using them, and they are great! I also have the JL Audio CR-1 crossover that sends the low lows to my 4 JL F-113 subs.

ozzy

jwr159 OP
19 posts
 

The Carver monos at $9500 is beyond what I wish to spend. 

Although I have not heard the Quicksilvers yet, I like everything else about them.  The utilitiarn look, no hype, no money wasted on marketing, a stellar name behind the brand, great customer service, and tons of positive reviews from real users. Cost is reasonable as well. 

I am glad I posted here on the forum. Many of the responses have removed my concerns. Thanks.  

decooney
1,906 posts
 

@jwr159 I've heard your 8bs and the smaller LFT-16s on QS amps more than ten times in a slightly larger room than yours. Always a treat.  Also, heard the smaller 16s with my same Mono 120s with KT150s too, very nice.  The new version monos should do it nicely for ya.   

bdp24's avatar
bdp24
9,510 posts
 

@jrw159: One thing to know about open baffle woofers is that because of their inherent dipole cancellation characteristic (the front and rear waves meeting on either side of the open baffle frame, the opposite polarity waves causing a drop off in the very low frequencies), a dipole cancellation compensation network is necessary. Brian Ding installs just such a circuit into the A370 plate amp that is included in the Rythmik Audio OB/Dipole Subwoofer kit.

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