Amp advice sought for Coincident Total Victory

I tend to agree with both Sidssp and Mechans, either the Cary or AtmaSphere would give you the extra power to get the job done.

The Cary would no doubt be warmer, sweeter and more "romantic" while the AtmaSphere would be way more transparent, faster and more extended in both directions. I'd look for a used pair of A/S M-60 monos(60wpc), change out the stock 6SN7's for some reasonably priced NOS and live happily ever after.

For the life of me, I can't understand how anybody can expect an 8 watt 300b(or 12 watt) to do justice to a speaker with nine drivers(four 8" per box!). I don't care how efficient or how easy the load(impedance).

A while back, I heard a friend's 300b Frankensteins mated to my A/S MP-1 preamp, powering my 2-way sats(part of a larger system) and they sounded wonderful; great midrange as you'd expect. But... we're talking an easy to drive tweeter and 5.5" midrange(good to 50Hz) and even then, to my ears, they(300b's) sounded rolled off at the extremes and not nearly as transparent or detailed as my OTLs.

Just my 2 cents!

Something`s strange here.Your speakers are quite simillar to mine(Coincident Total Eclipse 94 db)but even more sensitive at 97db, and with 14 ohm load. I get drsmatic speed,dynamics and jump factor galore with the 8 watt Coincident Frenkenstein 300b mono blocks. Others on this site report the same with this amp drving the Total Victory4,super Victory and the Pure Reference speaker. Though your amp is rated at 12 watts it may lack the driving capacity due to perhaps lesser power supply,driver tube or transformers. your speakers absolutely sing with effortless dynamics and control when mated to the Frankenstein(very stiff PS,large custom transfomers and 6em7 driver tube). Have you ever considered this amp? I used a very good push-pull amp(100 wattpentode/ 60 watt triode) and with this speakers the Frankenstein is better without question.Power supply and transformers are so critical when it comes to driving speakers sucessfully.

The eight watt Frankenstein is a different animal. I owned a pair a while back.
"Headroom" is simply a lack of constriction when a sudden, instantaneous need for current presents itself by way of the software, isn't it?. The output power of the amplifier is only part of the scenario.
I'm (primarily) a rocker; yet there was rarely a time when I felt the need for more power. The Frankensteins have so much current on demand so to speak, that I never felt that they got "flustered" when the music got complicated. Heck, the driver tube has it's own transformer and PS!
I think the Coincident speakers had something to do with this also. Mine were similar to yours, at 95db sensitive; but I think it was more the (lack of) impedance curve that played in the music's favor. The amps were so good that I think I would have reached for more speaker sensitivity before I went for more watts; but to be honest, the resolution and completeness were so good that early on I just ate the compromise in the gain department with a huge grin on my face.

Rfogel8,I was present at that session and to be honest the Frankenstein MK2 amp was more transparent,open and dynamic than the Atma-sphere. The other listner present FWIW felt the Frankenstein better, it`s all subjective. And yes multi driver speakers can be driven quite well if designed with the intend to mate with low power SET amps.It`s in correct to equate fewer drivers with= easier load it`s not that simplistic.

Thanks everyone, now I am more confused than ever:).

After reading the replies, I took some measurements. WIth full gain (0.7 V AC input) to one amp and the other turned off, my Extech spl meter (c weighting, slow response) read only 85 dB both at 1 m from the drivers in front and at the same distance from the side mounted woofers. According to my knowledge, if the speakers really are 97 dB, then at -12 dB, the speakers are only seeing about 1/16th of a watt. Under the same circumstances a voltmeter placed across the speaker terminal read about 1.4 V AC. The current through the speaker cable was about 0.05 A AC. I am not sure if the electrical measurements have any meaning, as they were taken with an ordinary multimeter and the AC settings may only work for 60Hz. Is this an indication that I am not getting the power I should be from the amps?

The amps are original version Cary Cad 300se's. From what I can find they are somewhere between 15 and 18 years old. All tubes are new with the exception of the rectifier tube. As far as I know, the rest of the parts are original.

I would appreciate any insights.

Thanks again,

Dave