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Tube amps you have heard with Quad 989

I listened to Quad 989s being driven by the new Plinius SA 102 amplifier, a 125 Watt high current SS design. The combination was pretty special, and belies much of what has been written about the Quads. These speakers were astonishingly good to my ears.

I would like to find a tube amplifier that works better than the Plinius, if there is one. The 989s can sound hard and unpleasant when paired with the wrong amplifier - innersound being a case in point.

Has anyone heard the 989s with tubes and liked them?
Are atma-sphere 60 watt monoblocks a possibility?
Has anyone heard them with the Wolcott Presence?

If you have any listening experience, you could save me some steps.

Thanks
judit
gregm
3,021 posts
 
Auditioned 989s (single pair) with the folowing gear thru a digital source (music: concerti & lieder only):

* their own tube electronics
* KR 8000 mono + KR pre/CAT Ultimate pre (preferred CAT)
* Pathos mono + pathos pre/CAT Ult. pre (ditto CAT),

* some SS gear (S-Line & Burmester) but NOT your Plinius so I can't compare, sorry! So, & for what it's worth:

My experience with the KR was the most fulfilling (esp. in louder orch passages). The Pathos was charmingly musical but (uncharacteristically) made me think of adding a sub to the system...
Strangely, the best sound overall to my ears in THIS experiment was with ss gear!
judit OP
217 posts
 
Gregm,

I am not surprised by your comment about SS. I couldn't get over how well the Plinius sounded with these speakers.

Judith
sbank's avatar
sbank
2,038 posts
 
I've heard a nice demo w/ CJ Premier 8s. Heard the Spectral dma-150 at the same store, but wasn't impressed with the match.
Eventually, I bought a Cary Rocket 88 to drive my ESL-63 USA Monitors, and are very happy with the combo in a moderate sized room. Good luck.
ivanj
640 posts
 
Judit, I used the 63s for years with the Pass Aleph series with great results. Other correspondents have commented on the similarity of sound of the Plinius with the Aleph, perhaps with better bass.
judit OP
217 posts
 
Sbank, Interesting comment. I heard the spectral amps driving Avalon Opus speakers and they were WAY too sterile and analytical. Sounds like this characterstic holds across other speakers as well.

Ivanj, interesting comment on the pass stuff. In researching these speakers, pass labs is the amplifier that comes up the most frequently as associated electronics. The comment on bass is pertinent too - the bass I heard come out of the 989s was REALLY powerful. It seemed like overkill to even consider a sub.
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