Ebuzz, I was in the same position as you, very curious about tube amps. That led me to change speakers, from Dynaudio Contour 5.4's, to 12" custom built Tannoys.
I briefly tried a Sophia Baby amp, which I liked, but I needed to go further. I purchased a VAC PA 35.35 EL 34 push-pull amp. That was a good match, at 35 Wpc.
I had always been wanting to try 300B tubes, but I didn't think there would be enough power. I took a chance on a very modestly priced SET 300B amp, from Assemblage Audio, which was owned by Sonic Frontiers. I had factory upgrades done on the amp, and settled in with it.
Turns out, it's the best amp I've had with my Tannoys. I just installed some fairly expensive EML 300B XLS tubes yesterday, and now I am hearing the closest thing to live music I've ever heard in my home.
You may not be willing to make similar changes, but for me, the results have satisfied, and rewarded, me with music listening in a way I most likely wouldn't have experienced otherwise.
For your speakers, something along the lines of the VAC PA 35.35 would do nicely. Thirty five watts per channel may not sound like much, but with the large transformers it has, it produces plenty of current for a good many speakers.
You will get many different opinions, and there are many, many, ways to get to the place you wish to be, musically speaking. What I've done has gotten me where I wanted to be, and searched for, for forty years. This is where I will remain.
Best of luck, have fun,
Dan
I briefly tried a Sophia Baby amp, which I liked, but I needed to go further. I purchased a VAC PA 35.35 EL 34 push-pull amp. That was a good match, at 35 Wpc.
I had always been wanting to try 300B tubes, but I didn't think there would be enough power. I took a chance on a very modestly priced SET 300B amp, from Assemblage Audio, which was owned by Sonic Frontiers. I had factory upgrades done on the amp, and settled in with it.
Turns out, it's the best amp I've had with my Tannoys. I just installed some fairly expensive EML 300B XLS tubes yesterday, and now I am hearing the closest thing to live music I've ever heard in my home.
You may not be willing to make similar changes, but for me, the results have satisfied, and rewarded, me with music listening in a way I most likely wouldn't have experienced otherwise.
For your speakers, something along the lines of the VAC PA 35.35 would do nicely. Thirty five watts per channel may not sound like much, but with the large transformers it has, it produces plenty of current for a good many speakers.
You will get many different opinions, and there are many, many, ways to get to the place you wish to be, musically speaking. What I've done has gotten me where I wanted to be, and searched for, for forty years. This is where I will remain.
Best of luck, have fun,
Dan