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Tube Amp for Martin Logan Speakers

Hi, I love tube sound through my Martin Logan Aerius-i fronts and Cinema-i center. I currently have a Butler 5150 which is a hybrid, but it busted on me and would cost $700 to fix. I've had china stereo tube amps that were pretty good and gave true tube sound, but not enough drive for higher volumes. I live in condo, so not like I can blast music anyways but still. I got the Butler because I wanted 5 channel tube sound for home theatre (The piercing sound from my Denon 3801 receiver was not pleasant to my ears). It appears there are only three multi-channel tube amps around, from Mcintosh, Butler 5150, and Dared DV-6C. The latter two are hybrids, and the last one was one of the worst tube amps i've ever heard. I have no clue why 6Moons gave the Dared a 2010 award, but maybe it's because it produces only 65W.

So since multichannel tube amps are hard to come by, and they tend to be hybrid, I was thinking maybe it would be best to get three true tube monoblocks to power my fronts. Thing is I wonder if they will be underpowered for my speakers, and not sure which ones are decent for the price. Maybe China made ones would suffice, and they still go for pretty expensive price. I'm wondering if anybody knows of a decent powerful tube monoblock that is affordable, because I can't pay $3000 per block. or maybe best to just repair my Butler. Thing is, I'm not confident that it is reliable. The tubes are soldered in which is weird, and i've taken it to a couple repair guys who both said that the design is not good, because it's very tight inside and more susceptible to being fried from DC voltage areas. it's too sensitive.

Any suggestions for tube monoblocks, even if china made ones? the holy grail for me would be Mcintosh tube amp, but they are hard to come by. Thanks.

smurfmand70
zd542
5,339 posts
 
Maybe get a stereo tube amp for your Aerius's and a SS mono amp for your center. I'm not too into HT, but one thing I have noticed is that it is often hard for a center channel speaker to keep up with the L&R fronts. Giving the center a more powerful SS amp may sound better for theater and the tubes on your main fronts will sound better for music.

I had the SL-3's and had no problems with tubes. Yours should be easier to drive than the ones I had. An ARC VT-100 was a great match, but I ended up using my VAC 30/30. If SS is not out of the question, you would probably like a Pass Aleph 0 (if you can find one). A 5 might be easier to find, but its not quite as good. The 3 won't have enough power.
georgehifi's avatar
georgehifi
4,966 posts
 
The ML Arias dip to between 3ohm and below 2ohm between 10khz and 20khz with a not so easy phase angle of -35degrees.

This says to me you'll need an amp that is happy driving a moderately hard load.

If the amp cannot handle that load happily, it may start to sound a little rolled off in the top end as power droops off, compared to what it's doing down lower in the frequency.

eg: it will act like a bit of a fixed tone control, instead of being flat from 20hz to 20khz.

http://www.stereophile.com/images/archivesart/IIMPfig7.jpg

Cheers George
yogiboy's avatar
yogiboy
2,678 posts
 
Check out Quicksilver audio. Mono amps are all he makes.
johnc5's avatar
johnc5
16 posts
 
Just purchased the Primaluna Prologue 7's. I was using a Bryston 4B-SST. The prima's are smoother and much deeper and wider soundstage. I am using them with a pair of Martin Logan Ethos speakers and the match is a good one. Plenty of power to run these speakers. I highly recommend these amps.
russ69's avatar
russ69
179 posts
 
I use a pair of Quicksilver Mini-Monos (25 watt) on my ML Electromotion ESLs. I'm using the subwoofers crossovers to take some of the load off the amps. It plays loud enough for me and it will play loud enough for condo use but it is at the very limit. If you play louder than me it might not be enough. Quicksilver makes a 40 watt Mid-Mono amp and that may be just what you need. The Quicksilvers are very nice sounding amps and I would never consider selling them, they are that good.
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