Tube amp for "difficult" speakers,,,

I'm also looking for a tube amp for my Dynaudio 52SEs... impedance curve can be found here:

http://www.audioholics.com/reviews/speakers/bookshelf/dynaudio-52se/page-3

Any thoughts about whether these would be difficult to drive with glass would be appreciated. I'm looking at the Primaluna Dialogue and Melody I880.

Dear respondents,

Dev - thanks for the advice, I will follow up, but not sure if the CAT has enough drive to give the speakers the needed "song and dance" capability. Which my more powerful s-state amp gives even if it isn't tubes.

Robtym - it looks like your 52SE's dip down to 5 ohm in the 20-200 herz region, while my Consequences go down to 3.6 ohm. So a 100-200 watts amp may be enough, in your case (just guessing, i am no expert in this). To my amazement (thinking Dynaudio = difficult load), I recently heard a small Cayin tube amp drive a pair of Dynaudio 140 monitors to great effect, the sound was all over the place, speakers disappearing (a very well-damped room, though).

Since no-one, so far, has come up with a solution based on experience of a good tube amp driving the Dynaudio Consequence speakers, and I like their sound, I am trying various other things (damping, footers, cables).
Oystein

It's not a question of having enough power to drive the Dynaudios to a proper level, it's a question of frequency balance. Since the Dynaudios dip to 5 ohms in the bass region, and have an 8 ohm nominal rating, I believe it's probable the bass will have less volume than the highs, and therefore the speakers may sounded "tipped up", although it won't be the fault of either the speakers or the amp, but rather the result of a speaker/amp mismatch.

Chapter 15 of Robert Harley's book "The Complete Guide to High End Audio" has a good explanation.

I recently did an in-store audition with the Primaluna Dialogue (38W) on a set of Dyna Focus 120s (4ohm, 86 db, impedance dips below my 52SEs). The Prima is the best amp I’ve heard, for my taste, since I’ve started the upgrade path... which is starting to look more like the opening chapter of an epic journey.

As for SS, I’ve listened to the Exposure 2100, Bel Canto 1000 and Ayre V5-xe, but wasn’t feeling it. The McIntosh MA6900 came close, but didn’t seem to have the presence and life I felt with the Prima... the engaging sense of decay... plus a little aesthetically show-offy for me, to be honest.

I threw a wide range of sounds at the Prima/Dyna combo -- Black Keys, Stereolab, Brad Mehldau, Count Basie – and went louder than I typically do at home (have a 40w Rotel that never goes past 12). Either I didn’t push far enough or don’t have refined enough ears to sense when the sonics are degrading.

It has been suggested to me (by those who know the Prima but have nothing to gain from the sale) that I shouldn’t have problems with my 52SEs as the Prima plays ‘bigger’ than it’s 38W power rating... but I’m still not ready to pull the trigger because of the various concerns I’ve been reading.

I’ll probably go back and push the Prima/Dyna combo a little harder... if anyone can suggest music to help spot deficiencies and/or point out what I should be listening for... I’m all ears.

As I dig deeper... I keep uncovering compelling SS alternatives to glass. The one that seems to stand out is the Red Wine Audio 30.2... so may have to give that a listen as well.

And have also heard good things about Simaudio, Music Fidelity, Van Alstine, Accuphase... all more or less in my budget, available for audition and totally off topic here.

Oh, dear...

If you try your speakers with a tube amp you may want to check out the Speltz zero autoformers. The zeros can double the impedence that your amp will see changing your 4 ohm nominal speakers to 8 ohm.