Tube friendly minimonitors?


Hi there, I am in search of minimonitor speakers that mates well with Conrad Johnson CAV50 integrated amp. Locally available brands are Aerial and B&W, but Aerial seems tough to drive for tubes and underimpressed with B&W (too prominent treble and slightly muddy bass for my taste). I plan to drive 100 miles to LA area and audition some other ones, and so far joseph audio, sonus faber and proac lines are on my list. If you have any other suggestion, please let me know! Regards, JL
jlee
They are a little pricey but the proac 1SC's are awesome with tubes. I've heard them with CJ gear it was heavenly.
the solilquy speakers are superb. also are the aliante speakers from ITALY. I carry both brands. please call me to discuss at, (949)362-6080. brian
I would suggest you try the Legacy Audio Studio ($1,000/pr) minimonitors before you buy. I have a 35 watt integrated tube amp and had the same concerns about the ability of the tubes to drive speakers. I am amazed how good these Legacy Studios sound with my tube amp! Check out their website at www.legacy-audio.com. Legacy is mail order only, but they allow you a 30 day in home audition period before you decide to keep them. You may also be able to trade in your current speakers for some credit toward your Legacy purchase. The Studios are a 2 way system with a 7.5" kevlar midwoofer and a 1" titanium tweeter rated at 90.5 dB Sensitivity. They come with a switch on the back to attenuate the tweeter output to your liking. Frequency response is stated at 44-22kHz +-2dB, and that is a fairly strong 44Hz. They recommend an amp between 25-300 watts. I find them to be very open and transparent sounding with very good imaging and great soundstage depth. They can really rock when called upon to deliver some solid bass too, - concert bass drums sound and feel like a concert bass drum. The highs are not bright or etched, but clean and detailed, and the rear mounted switch gives you 2dB of attenuation should you need it. The mids are very liquid and open and should be a great match with your cj tube amp. Also you might check out the Paradigm Reference monitor. I think its in the $900 to $1,100 range. I heard the cj CAV50 with these Paradigm speakers and was very impressed with them also.
...check out Soliloquy 3.0, somebody is selling them on this pages for 600$(1200$) recomm. amplification 8-300w. I am going to try them myself sa a get into "tubes"...Good Luck!