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Hale Rev 3s

I've just gotten a pair of Hale Revelation 3s. I've just bought a Marsh A400s amp, and am planning on the Antique Sound Lab Hurricanes for tubes.
My question: do any Rev 3 owners find that tubes can't provide enough current to control this speaker?
I'll have them in a dedicated listening room: 9.5' (H), 13.6' (W)x 20'(L). The long ends of the room will be soundproofed with ASC soundproofing strips and the walls will have tube traps (I got a million of them back in '88). Hardwood floors (but with a carpet eventually), dedicated circuits, [FIMS outlets], Modulus 3A, Arcam FMJ 23 CD player, and perhaps Nordost Valhalla speaker cable (right now I have the Shunyata Aries interconnect and Phoenix speaker cables, Shunyata Power cords, PS Audio Power Plant and Ultimate Outlet [high current edition]. I put my Versa Dynamics 2.3 in storage years ago, but am buying a new turntable as soon as I determine the best one.
So, that's the setup. What about the Hales? Current hungry or ok with 200 watts of tube power?
gbmcleod
gthirteen
349 posts
 
you'll be fine.
THese are good speakers.
I owned a pair a few years ago.
I just coudn't get the center image that I wanted,
but some of the best bass ever.
Really balanced sound.
I think you'll have enough wattage, however, it's hard to get a tube amp with that "solid state" bottom octave tightness, but I MUCH prefer the shortcomings of tubes, to those of solid state.
jrde8a6
95 posts
 
these are wonderful speakers..no phoney ported one note bass to be found here...as long as you give them an ample amount of power....the marsh amp is a good choice but if you use tubes your going to need an incredibly powerful amp...the antique just isn't up to power any hales speaker.
gthirteen
349 posts
 
Ahem.

I am ASSUMING jrd has (1) actually heard the Hales speakers
(2) has heard them with Hurricane amplification.

Ok, seriously- I doubt he has heard this combo. Nor have I.
I've heard the Hales rev 3 (actually, the pair I owned) absolutely ROCK on a "100 wpc" Onkyo receiver. I didn't think that would work, but it did, loudly, and for extended periods of time.

Anyway, I'll concede that the Hales aren't as easy to drive via the flea powered tube amps as Coincident speakers might be, not if you want realistic levels, but I'd certainly be hesitant to disregard a possible choice without hearing it myself, just because some one(1) person suggests that it won't be enough. I never had any tube amps around when I had my R3s.

What do people say about these amps?
I've heard things...
gbmcleod OP
429 posts
 
jrd:
I'm interested in what wattage you think would be appropriate for the Hales. What factor would make the 200 watt amps unsuitable? I know the Hales drop to 4 ohm between 50-600 range. I've already spoken to Tash at Divertech and he seemed to be aware that the Hales dropped to 4 ohms, but was quite confident there'd be no problem driving them.
Just for background, in case anyone didn't read this, when reviewed in Stereophile by Robert Deutsch, the Hales were powered by the Sonic Frontiers Power 2 amp, which has a power rating of 110 watts. Deutsch found this quite sufficient for reviewing. Fred Kaplan, in TAS, advised a "minimum of 100 watts per side," so when you say that, I'm just wondering if they neglected to mention something you're aware of.
Thanks for the comments!
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