Build location for tube integrateds

I have Aerial 7Bs on the Krell. I have a pair of Klispch Fortes kind of sitting in my office. I'm torn between buying something that could easily power the Klipsch's like a Cary SLI or something more costly with more horsepower that could power the Aerials which I like a lot. The Aerials have more of a WAF as well.

regards, David

Trelja, I've read good things about the Stingray but I notice it's only 20 watts per channel. Also I notice some of the SET amps only 8 watts/ch. What's up with that?

I've heard people say x watts for tube is like y watts for a SS amp. Being an electrical engineer, to me x watts is x watts. Is there something I'm missing here? I'm uncomfortable using 20 watts from the Stingray to drive speakers I'm using a 200 watt SS amp on now... unless 20 watts is not 20 watts.

regards, David

I must say, I'm cooling off on the tube idea. I've researched the brands above pretty throughly and the thing that gets me, the measurements, in for example Stereophile. Have you seen those? Especially the 1 KHz square wave. Wow! The output is highly distorted.

It may sound better that way; I'm sure the tube lovers think so. But I'm having a hard time getting over knowing that the input is being distorted that way. Think of it. Everything from the lows to highs are moved all over the place. I still want to try one but I think I'll try maybe the Cary and hook it up to my Klipsch Fortes. Basically I would need to probably spend 5 grand or more to drive the Arials and I'm not convinced it's going to sound that great if I do. I've got to find a tube shop around here and listen to the equipment like I did with the SS stuff.

regards, David

Pubul, how do you use them, I mean if one sounds much better than the other why are you still using the Pass? I assume you are more in the audiophile mode with the tubes turning it on, letting it warm up, etc. and that takes more time. What speakers and source are you using with the CAT?

regards, David

I agree to an extent but with SS, which I'm familiar with, a house sound is there to one degree or another no matter which speaker is used with it. For example MF equipment always sounds the same to me. Other examples are Krell, ML, Ayre, Naim, Theta. Now within certain brands or brands that have a broad product offering I can hear differences. Probably the best example of this is McIntosh. Their low-end integrateds sound vastly different from their high-end separates. One other caveat - the speakers can't be different technologies, for lack of a better word. For example I wouldn't compare horns to regular dome drivers to electrostatics but as a generalization I can hear the brand sound pretty clearly. The difference the speakers make vis-a-vis the brand of amp is in degree not in kind.
regards, David