Raven Osprey with Spatial M3 Sapphires

rex

i like all three and at this time can’t pick a favorite

the audio mirrors... being SET has most bloom and classic tubey ’roundness’ and ’meati-ness’ - lovely sweet single ended sound but with plenty of power to grip the woofers and get loud with ease and no slurring

zotl 40 is least tubey sounding -- being output transformerless it plays closest to tip top solid state... pure extended crystalline highs, very specific imaging, fast, visceral bass -- with old stock mullards (or japanese equivalents), it still gives a nice degree of luscious tubey fleshed-out lower treble and midrange that SS can never do

arc ref 75 is kinda in the middle... some more warmth than zotl, not quite as sweet as vlad’s SETs but better deep bass -- due to the greatest power reserve, there is just an effortless quality to the sound that is captivating and it has the biggest broadest deepest image - note this amp is balanced in only, so makes more demands of upstream gear

so i alternate, listen intently, still trying to figure out how i would rank them

if you are new to tubes, i would suggest:
-- very important, make sure your m3s’s are FULLY broken before you audition $$$ amps... mine were still smoothing out towards their settled in character 1000 hrs in from new
-- i would give the raven 30 wpc a shot. given money back trial offer .. my guess is that it would fall between the audio mirror and the arc ref amps -- and that to me is roughly where the tonality a ’typical’ good sounding tube amp would fall in the ’skim milk to full fat’ spectrum -- and so it is a good place for you to start and hear what good tube amplfication will do w the spatials

@jjss49 Thanks for the input. I did contact Clayton about the Osprey and his response was ..."Yes, this amp is excellent and should have a good grip on the M3s. Good choice."
That's a pretty good endorsement so I may just move towards a trial of the amp. I am also very interested in the ZOTL40. My only source that offers balanced outs is my DAC RME-ADI-2 but also offers unbalanced as well. other sources Modwright Pioneer LX500 and SPL-Phonos have unbalanced RCA's. It's a lot of money for me so I'm weighing out the cost to pleasure ratio ;-) I do appreciate everyone's input

audiosaurusrex so after a few months, what do you think of the sapphires ? I listen to similar music as you do "jazz, blues, R&B, Classical"

@lostman00771   It took me a while to dial them in with acoustic treatments, placement etc..and finally settled on the Octave V70 Class A which really is a stunning match for the M3’s. Plenty Plenty of power and the results are the best I’ve had in my 55 years of listening. I also upgraded my phono cartridges. Playing with the AT-Art9xa at the moment and the Hana Umami Red is on deck.
Highly recommend the Spatial line as well as the Octave line of amps.

@audiosaurusrex --- re: Octave V70 ... great choice! I'm in the process of auditioning some tube integrated amps to replace my Raven Blackhawk. Two amps that have been recommended highly by an individual whose opinion I value greatly are: Octave V70 and Qualition A50i. I'm trying to get an audition but it's proving to be very difficult. I would really appreciate it if you can provide some more insights on the Octave.