2. amps-preamps
  3. 1135578313

quandary: inefficient speakers, low-power amp

Hola fellow Agonners,

Help me figure this out. I'm running a system that presents what I guess is pretty much a nightmare scenario for one or more of the components involved: Dynaudio 50 monitors, notoriously power hungry at something like 86db/4 ohm rating, Anthem Amp 1 EL34 based power amp (40 watts/8 ohms I believe), and a Creek passive pre. My sources are Sony DVD feeding a Muse 2+ Dac and Music Hall MMF-5 w/Dynavector 10x4MkII cart feeding a modified NYAL Super It phono pre. This system sounds damn good to my ears, but I'm afraid I'm putting undue stress on the amp, speakers or both. I frequently run the preamp wide open or close to it, and it gets loud but not always as loud as I'd like.

I've considered getting more efficient speakers and keeping the Anthem (truly amazing sound for the $$$ I paid here on the 'Gon, especially with NOS 12AX7 in place)...or looking for a more powerful amp and keeping the Dynaudios (another amazing bang-for-the-buck product)...or just putting in an active pre to see if that improves matters. I really love both the amp and the speakers, but am I crazy for trying to make this setup work? I don't want to fry anything, but this combination sounds so good that my impulse is to crank it up as loud as it will go.

I wanna keep tubes in the system, so I'm thinking, either go with an active pre and keep the Anthem, or get another hybrid amp (like the modified Moscode 300 I used to have, or the Anthem Amp 2) and keep the passive one. Or hell, add a tubed one. Thoughts, feedback?

Thanks,

Jeff
jfacker

Showing 2 responses by jfacker

jfacker OP
85 posts
 
Hey everybody, thanks for all the responses. Thanks especially to 231cobra for assuring me I'm not about to blow something up. I hope you're right!

The room is roughly 15' by 16.' Thick walls, medium-length carpet, lots of furniture. Definitely not "live" sounding.

The Audience 50s are a two-way standmount with only one set of binding posts, so biwiring is not an option. If I had tower speakers with different posts for woofers and tweet/mids I would definitely look at biwiring with the Anthem on top and something like an ATI on the bottom, but that's for another day.

Popular wisdom is that you need to hit the Dynaudios with gobs of serious power, but I've run them with two different SS amps in the 125-150 watt range and I have to say, the Anthem absolutely smokes 'em in every way. I wouldn't have believed it myself -- I bought the amp at what I thought was the end of my time with these speakers, but I hooked it up to the 50s just for kicks and was stunned by the sound. Mama mia! I do like the combo so it sounds like the pre is what I want to look at replacing next.

Thanks again for all the feedback!
jfacker OP
85 posts
 
Hey guys,

Update: I got a nice active pre (Audio Refinement Pre 5) to play around with. Kazam! No problem blasting the system loud enough to peel paint. However, I found the whole sound shifted dramatically. Even the PRAT -- with the Creek passive, I was getting sort of laid back sound - the system now sounds faster, more urgent. The sound is tighter overall, more dynamic (surprise, surprise), but initially, it was unbearably aggressive to my ears, a little white and flat-sounding, very solid state-ish. So I went to fooling around with cables and tubes. Found out the biggest culprit was the Russian-made 12bh7s in the Anthem (follow the Amperex 12ax7). With the Creek the Electro Harmonix 12bh7s gave me more drive and a clearer, cleaner sound than the NOS tubes I had, but with the AR in the chain they're overkill. Swapped 'em out for some NOS Sylvania 12bh7s and the sound is quite good -- it has the richness, depth and nonfatiguing quality of the Creek, but with more slam and higher SPLs.

I still feel like I'm missing some of the depth I had with the passive setup, though. Now I'm eyeing the stock power cords on the AR and my Muse DAC. And thinking about getting different NOS 12bh7s to roll into the Anthem. Damn this hobby and its infinitely forking paths to nirvana/neurosis!
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