Lush and Romantic Tube Amps

I have, and love, the Leben CS600x.  I might not characterize it as lush, though it definitely tilts warm in my system.  Another Leben alternative is the CS1000p, which is a 100w tube amp.  Haven’t heard it myself, but i’m a big fan of the brand.

I am on a quest for a lush, warm and romantic tube amp. Ideally, it should be 75 watts and upwards. I’m in a large room and my speakers are 87.5 sensitivity and 8 ohm.

@bluethinker If the above is correct you will find that 75 Watts is not enough power. A large room, combined with the low efficiency of your speakers will not allow the amp to play all forms of music without overloading. IME you'll need at least 300 Watts with speakers of that efficiency!

So if you want to use tubes (tube power has always been expensive BTW...) you'll want a speaker that is a good 6dB more efficient. That would put you at about 93dB. 75 Watts would then be able to drive the speakers as loud as the 300 Watts on your current speakers.

The cost of tube amplifiers is why there were so many high efficiency speakers back in the old days (1950s and prior). There is no reason why a more efficient speaker should trade off resolution with a less efficient speaker.

To atmasphere:    Knowing your background of tube design, etc., would you recommend perhaps using a SS power amp with a tube preamplifier?  Or perhaps a ss / tube hybrid integrated?  Thanks.

What amps have you heard to make you think you want warm and lush?  Maybe mention those amps to give people a point of reference.  I ran CJ Pr.12xs (triode amps w/el34’s) for quite a while.  They were probably the warmest and lushest amps CJ made at the time.  I still use tubes but no longer prefer that older CJ sound when compared with what they offer today.  If you truly are looking for warm and lush I recommend you look for a pair of CJ Premier 8’s.  They come up on the used market occasionally and will be exactly what you are looking for.  Plus they will give you the power atmasphere says you need.  I hope you have good A/C though because they will put out some heat.

But going back to warm and lush, make sure that’s what you really want.  Many people think it’s what they want until they get it.  I mean who wouldn’t want warm and fuzzy😎.  Personally with your speakers (which I lust for btw) I don’t think warm and lush is really what you should be looking for.

Speakers seem to require lots of power. I would go with a more powerful tube amplifier especially if you've got a bigger room.