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infinity 1b's- should i go tubes for top end???

audio friends,, i have infinity 1b's. a parasound 3500 for the bottom end and a rotel 1090 for the top end. the sound?? i think it sounds great. smooth and clean with great power. everybody says tubes for the top. to do this would mean selling the rotel for maybe $1000 and having to put out another $1000 to get say a 100wpc setup. amps in my range would be something like rogue 150's, audio research vs110's, cary slm100's. lets face it, i would want at least 100 wps for the mid/tweed panels. the BIG question is on just how much of an inprovement in sound is there going to be??. everybody says the rotel 1090 is a great amp, i tend to agree, and it does sound good. i would just hate to spend the time and money without decient results. and the reliable factor. the rotel probable will last for years. tubes?? how much up keep will they be just to get a decient year out of them. can someone convince me either way.
tomtab

Showing 1 response by johnhaines

johnhaines
32 posts
 
I have used Bryston 4bs with Infinity RS1-a's and found the bass to be amazing and there to be impact and detail on the high end- particularly with complex passages and very little compression. I also had the 4 towers flanked with a pair of SW-1 Entecs (3 10 inch serve controlled woofers with a 500watt amp per side). Ran it with a Wadia 860.

I like tubes- but my experience so far with an Audio Research VS110 was that there was no slam or impact or clarity at higher levels. It is possible the unit was not broken in- and I have sent it back for a look through as GNS did a mod to improve it. At low levels... it is engaging. I did feel I could not play the system very loud at all without compression...and of course this is one of the amazing things about the Infinity RS1b is that you can get live sounding levels. So I am hesitant to give up the "live sound levels" in exchange for good sound at lower db.

I have two sets of RS1b's now and need to find a great amp combo.. I was thinking of a Audio Research VT200 as I loved the sound of the VT100MKII and found it played quite loud and clean on several other types of speakers.
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