Spatial M3 Triode Master Preamp/amp choices

I own the Spatial Audio M4 Triode Masters. These are the smaller version of your speakers. I started with a Cary Rocket 88R tube amp that was good for 60 watts in ultralinear mode. I tried EL34 and KT88 tubes but the bass just disappeared when music was played. I listen to mostly jazz at normal levels so it's not like I was asking for a lot of bass. The amp was a good one but I don't think the tubes played well with the open baffle speakers.
 I then moved on to a solid state CODA 10.5R amplifier (100 watts with first 25 watts in Class A) teamed up with an LTA mz3 preamp. This combination is very good and provides all the bass the speakers can put out. The LTA MZ3 was so good I decided to try LTA's ZOTL10 amplifier. Even though the ZOTL 10 is only 10 watts, it drives the speakers as well (if not better) than the CODA amp. Even though the ZOTL is a tube amplifier, the low end frequency response is more like a solid state amp.
Given your budget, the LTA amp and preamp are going to be way over what you want to spend. For your budget, I would recommend a used quality solid state amplifier like the CODA ( I purchased it used for $1,200.00) and a new or used tube preamplifier.

Thanks @aldoallen and @jjss49 for the owner experience advice.  The guy i got my M3s from was using an LTA Zotl 10 which he highly recommended and did sound fantastic. Unfortunately, I do not have the budget for it or @atmasphere s equipment.  I'll add the Hegels to my search as well. If I go experimental and try the Microzotl w/ Purifi amp combo, does anyone have recommendations on which company is doing good implementations? I was looking at March, Nord, and Appolon.

linear tube audio is really onto something brilliant with their zotl amps

just tremendously clean extended dynamic sound with tube goodness - my spatials are not a crazy hard load but it is 4 ohms and 4x 15 in woofers and the control is outstanding - all this and 3-4-5x normal power tube life...

i have their zotl 40 reference, extremely impressed

i maybe get a touch more richness from my arc ref 75 amp running kt120's but it is soooo close, more different than better/worse

@jplunkettj   You might want to contact Clayton and ask him what sort of output impedance he expects with amps that drive his speakers. All the installations I've seen have used amps with a fairly high output impedance.


While I've heard class D amps sound very smooth and detailed, they tend to have the lowest output impedance of any amps. Clayton's speakers may not be designed for that (as seen by his use of amp with higher output impedance). The way you would design a crossover for a speaker meant for an amp of high output impedance tends to be different for a speaker meant for one with a low output impedance. For more on this topic see:
http://www.atma-sphere.com/en/resources-paradigms-in-amplifier-design.html