Raven Blackhawk LE... am I going to be disappointed?
"I was really curious what 95+db speakers were like so I borrowed a pair of whatever klipsch’s... RF3’s? He picked them up for $200... they mopped the floor with the salks and they are not even close to the same level as the Salks, so it was the sensitivity / synergy that was doing it for me." Did you try using the Belles Aria with those speakers? |
Interesting path. You had Carreras and then Salks and the Belles Aria wasn’t doing it so you got a 20 watt tube amp to go with the speakers; but it wasn’t enough power so you’re now getting rid of the speakers to go with the amp? Is that what happened? My path was different. After a lot of research on speakers, I chose Salks which were 83 db. Huge mistake because I learned what it would take to drive them. So, I asked Salk to swap me out for more efficient speakers in that line -- 90 db. I used a number of online calculators including this one: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=itKqSWH07_Y&ab_channel=TheHansBeekhuyzenChannel and forum posts to figure out which amps would be adequate -- e.g., here. https://forum.audiogon.com/discussions/speaker-sensitivity-impedance-and-calculating-amp-power/post?... At first, I was looking at 20 wpc and 40 wpc tube amps. Not enough. I consider 80 or more tube amps (Octave, Quicksilver, Atmasphere, etc.) but they were too expensive. So I settled at 60 wpc. Preamp and amp for about $4k. Turns out, 60 is fine for my Salks. I drove them recently with 225 wpc and they did not improve overall (they were solid state watts, so better bass but not better midrange, soundstage). So, choice of speakers, first; amp to match, second. In your case, I see that you’re seeking synergy by going with a very well regarded amp. I don’t know how the Tektons and the Salks compare in sonic character, quality of parts, looks, etc. That would have been a comparison to make early on with an amp that could drive both of them, ideally. But you are where you are, and good luck! I really do not see the need for such sensitive speakers. It’s one kind of synergy but there’s so much testimony about other synergies that work equally well, listener-relative, of course. As a parting comment -- which I expect people to disagree with -- I don’t see the choice of a tube amp in this price range to be all that critical. I see the speaker choice as much more important. I mean, couldn’t one get a number of really good tube amps in this price range to do justice to a speaker in the 87 db and up range? Could it really be that hard? (Looking new or used, might a match not be found among Aric, Cary, Modwright, Octave, Quicksilver, Supratek, Raven, Rogue, Prima Luna, et al.?) |
It’s not just sensitivity but load. Easy load means more mileage out of however many watts. That’s the forte of the not particularly sensitive Fritz that makes them a more viable choice than most stand monitors for use with most tube amps. I’m still confused about the sub out on the Raven. Would be a show stopper for me as described. Fixed level means sub level is the same at all volumes of the mains regardless of how the sub is adjusted. You want the sub level to go up and down with volume just like the mains. Raven product manual online offers no insight on how the sub output works only the filter adjustment. |
