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Tubes and Rock and Roll, Can they go together?

I just got back from Harvey Electronics in New Jersey. I demo-ed 2 sets of equipment:
Set 1
McIntosh MC-2102
McIntosh C-2200
McIntosh MCD-205
Sonus Cremona
Set 2
McIntosh Mc-402
McIntosh C-45
Marantz SA-11s1
Martin Logans

The CD's that were demo-ed were Various Artist. I enjoy easy listening music, but I do have a number of CD's that are classical rock (80's Rock Bands) The tube set up was incredible on Vocals and solo instuments, not to mention their stunning looks. Probably the very best I have heard to date. The problem was when I put in some classical rock, the sound became less enjoyable and almost seemed like it lost definition and it's musical appeal. When I listend to the solid state set up, it sounded better with the Rock, but it lost it's enjoyable appeal. The tubes set up, I felt I could have listened to soft music all day. Besides buying the new 15K McIntosh tube/solid state pre, is there away I can enjoy classical rock from a tube based system? Would changing speakers help? Thanks!
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Showing 2 responses by audphile1

audphile1's avatar
audphile1
4,159 posts
 
I was at Harvey in Paramus and listened to the Logans and Cremonas.
In my opinion what doesn't go together is rock&roll and Martin Logan speakers. They are not for rock&roll and I haven't heard a pair of Logans to date that played rock music good. I think the Cremonas with a right tube amp and a tube preamp can repro rock as well. You demoed speakers that are pretty laid back(Cremonas) with dark sounding electonics(Mac). Not exactly a good match, especially for rock music. You need something more lively than the Mac to go with Cremonas.
Try Cremona speakers with Krell. Solid state, I know, but this will wake the Cremonas up and get them all ready for that rock&roll music you wanna hear. And then you can get a nice tube preamp to go with that Krell amp.
audphile1's avatar
audphile1
4,159 posts
 
B&W 805s will not give you the bass you want for rock music and you'll need a sub.

I think the combo you will really like is Mac and B&W 803D.
This system will play anything from classical to jazz to heavy metal. Go to Stereo Exchange in NYC to listen to this.
or go to Rabsons on rt4 in Paramus to listen to 803D with CJ equipment, which will also give you some idea about the B&W D series.

MLs are not bad speakers, they're just not for you(and not for me either). They are good for certain types of music and certain type of listener, that's all.
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