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new to tubes

i have never had any tube equipment and am thinking about trying it out. i am learning slowly about it and thinking about taking a leap with a lower priced piece. i currently have a Cambridge Audio 840v2 integrated amp and a pair of Fritz Grove monitors. my only source is a Squeezebox Touch. i already plan to get an Eastern Electric Dac. my only concern is how much power is enough to drive the groves as they are only 86db efficient. my room is only 13'x 11' treated,and i dont listen past 92 db. i'm thinking on the lines of a Jolida 502b to start. trying to stay under $1000 used. any thoughts?
rayray8
learsfool
1,206 posts
 
It seems like Tvad and Al and others are backing up my concerns here, though I personally would try to solve the issue from the other direction, in other words go for high efficiency speakers instead of more amp power. But I am also of the mind that the speakers are by far the most important part of the system, so if you like those speakers, then it sounds like you should go for a higher powered amp. If you don't like the sound of your speakers, you won't like the sound of anything else in your system.
rayray8 OP
51 posts
 
my fritz groves are one of the best speakers i have heard under $4000. i dont see myself ever getting rid of them unless i hit the lottery.
bwp
114 posts
 
You could pick up an Onix Sp3 for about $500, that should give you a good low cost intro to tubes. If you don't like it or want more power you can resell it for about the same price you paid for it.
rleff
1,065 posts
 
What did the manufacturer recommend for using tubes for amplification?
atmasphere's avatar
atmasphere
7,068 posts
 
If the amplifier has an output impedance that is low enough, you can have variations in impedance that will not result in tonality issues with most tube amps, as long as the variations are not extreme. For example, a 4 ohm dip at a crossover frequency can be considered benign.

A lot has to do with the intention of the designer of the speaker- if the speaker is designed to be friendly to tubes, that is usually more important than the actual impedances.
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