Another way to go would be to sell the benchmark and just get a tube amp so no need to mess with an external crossover at all. At 93dB and nominal impedance of 8 Ohms, depending on what the minimum impedance is your speakers might do quite well with a 70-100Wpc tube amp. That’s what I’d do rather than messing with external crossovers, volume matching issues, etc. Another consideration is that the woofer crosses over at 250Hz reaching up into the lower mids so there may be an issue of significantly different sound signatures of the Benchmark and a tube amp blending seamlessly in that area. Just some thoughts FWIW, and best of luck in obtaining more of that tube magic.
Recommend a good tube power amp in the 100 wpc range for under $4k
Folks,
I am looking to bi-amp my Fyne F702 speakers, with a solid state amp for the low end and a tube amp for the mods and highs. The Fynes are floor standing 2.5 way units with 93 db sensitivity and 100 wpc rms power handling capacity. My preamp is a Rogue Audio RP-7, and my current solid state power amp is a Benchmark AHB2 at 100 wpc. My goal is not so much more power but to put a tube amp on the middle and highs. The Fynes have two sets of binding posts, one for lower frequencies and one for mids and highs. I am looking to go active bi-amping with a Sublime Acoustic K231 Stereo 3-Way Active Crossover.
In addition to an amplifier recommendation, what else do I need to consider? For example, if I buy an amplifier with wattage output similar to the AHB2, what other factors do I need to consider? Because I do NOT want to modify the speakers in any way, do I need to consider a gain control to match level differences resulting from other factors, such as impedance differences? Or, can I just hook up the crossover between the preamp and the two power amps and enjoy the music, which is what it is really all about anyhow?
Many thanks for any and all comments.
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@soix is spot on regarding the sonic blending of the two amps on the mids. No reason to add this problem to your system. |
Want a great integrated amp for your F702s? Get the Circle Labs A200 hybrid Int amp. Tube preamp section coupled with SS output. Your Fyne speakers are a great match for the purity of this amp. This one amp will greatly simplify your system and give you the best sound. Better sound than the two amp approach you are contemplating. |
As others pointed out, gain matching will be an issue. In most cases, tube amps will have higher gains that SS amps of the same power rating. Sometimes MUCH higher. This is because they use less feedback, and also the typical input tubes like 12AX7 / 12AT7 / 6SN7 / etc provide a lot of gain. A Rogue Atlas II (or III the current one?) Magnum is a good 100W tube amp well within your budget. There aren’t too many other budget options like this without going to a no-name Chinese amp (I’m taking about stuff named like Quin-Poo or whatever, not the PrimaLunas which are good). Your Benchmark has 3 gain settings which helps, but even its highest gain will have trouble keeping up with a 100W tube amp. It looks like the Atlas will be a couple dB hotter than Benchmark’s high gain mode (see Stereophile measurements of Atlas - and they even comment that its gain is lower than usual for a 100W tuber amp!). So you’d need to either insert an additional volume control (and calibrate by ear and/or SPL meter), or re-think your strategy. Personally, I wouldn’t try bi-amping unless I had two of the EXACT same amp. I’ve even had two of the "same" stereo amp, but there were minor internal differences on the units (made about a year apart), and bi-amping didn’t convince me of any benefits versus running either amp alone. The very slight sonic differences between these units seemingly worked against a cohesive musical whole when bi-amp’d. |
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