Parasound A21 plus a quicksilver tube preamp
Time for the Dynaco to go, Affordable Integrated or Separates for Wilson's Under $2.5K?
Hi Everyone can it be done?, At the recommendation of a few nice members here, I decided to head in a different direction and find Pre-Owned separates or a nice integrated for my Wilson Audio Watt3/Puppy 2’s. The room is 20x25 but I stit close and do not play loud, I live in a Condo. I am replacing Dynaco MK3’s and like a Musical non-Analytical sound. I am like the idea of VTL, Mcintosh, Rogue, Hegel, and AR. But open to anything. The problem is my budget. How the heck am I going to make Wilson’s sing with so little cabbage. I would like to spend up to $1,000 for the Pre and $2,000 for the Amp. The less the better. Or under $2,000 for an integrated. I have no idea why I want to spend less on an integrated. HELP, I can’t decide. The members here are awesome! Kind and willing to help. All your experience is greatly appreciated!! John
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Keep the Dynaco’s , put them in the closet . Get a SS amp . About a year from now , re cap and re tube the Dynacos . I prefer the Winged C’s for power tubes ( my taste ). I regret parting with my original pair . Years later , I wasn’t happy with my reproduction pair . I have a friend who Recently parted with two Rogue powered systems at the same time . He went Bryston 3B(2), and McIntosh hybrid . He stated both were a huge improvement over his Chronus Magnum and his M-180’s . But at your price point and power requirements, I’d go Parasound . Happy hunting , and you’ll regret parting with the Dynaco’s. Cheers , Mike B . |
@johnwahl Hi Everyone can it be done? Sorry, the answer is no. Not within your budget, and even with a bigger budget, the combination of your listening environment (Condo) and Watt 3/Puppy 2 speakers do not complement each other. My advice is to sell the speakers and start over, or continue with what have. Don’t waste your money chasing something that’s going to be next to impossible (within your budget). I’ve owned these speakers for almost 25 years, and 2 of those years were in a Condo. I can tell you based on my experience, you will not make the Wilson’s sing, and especially at low volume listening levels. Think of these speakers as rock monitors. The louder you listen, the better they sound. Unless you live in a condo with a basement, I would assume you are limited to speaker placement if this is an apartment style unit. Wilson speakers are very sensitive to placement within the room and you may not be able to set them up properly. The recommendation for the Raven Nighthawk is probably one of the worst I’ve seen on these forums. It’s a 20W tube amplifier, and Wilson Audio specs the Watt3/Puppy2 as 30W minimum. Check out Terry London’s review of this amp. He states it shouldn’t be used with low impedance speakers (" The Nighthawk only produces 20 watts per channel; however, unless you have very inefficient speakers (less than four ohms nominal/lower than 85-dB efficiency")) . These speakers dip down to 1.7ohms (check the frequency range where this is happening on Stereophile - not good for your needs). I’m not saying the Raven isn’t a great amp, but with these speakers, it’s not a good match at all. John Atkinson says " But the Puppy is definitely a woofer rather than a subwoofer, to judge by these measurements". So you won’t get much punch out of them at low listening levels. |
Thank you, everyone, really great stuff here as usual.. The Condo and set up are so important. And you are correct, these speakers sound great the louder you play them. I have a large listening room and plenty of space to move the speakers wherever I want. 23x26" open room with high ceilings. What type of speaker would you all recommend for low and medium listening levels in my environment? I sit 6-8 feet from the speakers. High Efficiency, Low efficiency, Horns, Magnepans, Towers, Large Bookshelves, Large Woofers, Small Woofers? etc...I would like to get a little bass and a nice full sound at the levels I can play (low-med) without a visit from the cops. I don't know enough to pick the right type for my space. If you recommend a specific brand, Size doesn't matter and, looks are important to me I like ZU? And others with good materials and build quality. Under $3,000 used, the less the better. Buchardt? Best, John |
The Dynaco mod you want is the driver board replacement from VTA. Do the mod they offer and you'll be more than happy. Much more. And you'll be able to do it for a small amount of money. Unless of course you WANT to drop thousand$ on something new and shiny. Two updated driver boards and parts are around $100. If you don't want to do the work, they can do it for you for $50 labor. It's THAT easy. They also have optional mil-spec caps if you want them, new speaker posts, etc. An upgraded pair of Mark III amps would actually please you better than a Mac 275. http://www.tubes4hifi.com/MK3.htm |
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