Amp pairing with Tannoy Turnberry?


Hi all!

Going to be picking up a pair of Tannoy Turnberry speakers in the near future, and was looking at some various options for integrated amplifiers. There are a couple on my radar and was wondering if anyone who owns the speakers has any insight. 

1. Primaluna EVO 300 or 400 - torn on whether the extra $ warrants going for the 400 over the 300. I had a Primaluna + Tannoy pairing some years ago and loved it, so immediately thought of this one.

2. NAT audio single HPS v2 - this is at the very top end of what I could consider budget wise. I have heard this amp, but not with the tannoys. It sounds incredible to me, but I'm not sure if it would play nice with the Turnberry speakers and don't have the ability to test one at home. 

From what I've hard of the NAT, I'm thinking it may be the better option, but maybe there is a better solid state in the price range I'm looking at. Ideally, I'd like to stay in the 5-6k range, but willing to stretch a little bit more for something I will be happy with for the forseeable future. 

Thanks for any insight.

128x128mmcgill829

@lalitk 

I can see the GM 70 NAT amplifier being a more suitable choice compared to a 300b SET. 50 watts class A versus 8 watts certainly provides greater margin and reserves. The OP hasn’t listed his room size, usual listening levels or music genres listened to. I recognize that we are engaging in open forum speculation and “what ifs”. But it’s fun.😊

Charles

now for something completely different....I'm using the new Atma-Sphere class D monos with my Stirling GR's and think it could be something you might like.  My listening session last night was memorable I'm not sure anything could better it except other distortion flavors which might be preferable in some cases.  These amps have none that I can detect.  

I’m using a Benchmark AHB2 with my Turnberries. Results with a Pass XA30.5 were not wonderful. McIntosh MC275 was OK. I think they need power, if you listen to orchestral, prog, etc. This is in a 20’x15’ room, on long wall, sitting about 12 feet away, toed in almost 45 degrees. No complaints with AHB2 (and HPA4). 

Having said that, looks like audio gods are smiling upon you. Once you get your Tannoy’s, reach out to Mike Powell (NAT distributor) for in-home audition of HPS, he lives in ATL :-)

As an alternative to tubes, consider Accuphase Integrated, something like E-480 or E-650, both can be had for a good price on used market. 

I do have Mike's website bookmarked, but unfortunately I live in the Dallas, TX area nowadays, so would probably be difficult to get an in-home audition with it, I'd think. Once I am ready to buy, I may discuss if he has a window of return if necessary if I decide to give that one a try. I was seriously impressed when I heard one before, but it was on Kensingtons and not Turnberry speakers, and I don't recall what phono pre they were using. 

I did read somewhere that the Accuphase E650 can be a good match to the speakers, so that could be a consideration as well. 

I suppose I neglected to mention some important details here in my initial post that many have touched on - notably, what I listen to and what kind of sound I like. 

I typically listen to primarily Jazz music on my system, but do mix it up with some different genres here and there - like classical, folk, or soul. Primarily, Jazz is the most important genre to get right for me, though.

I used to have a Primaluna integrated a few years ago and I enjoyed how the pairing of the Primaluna and Tannoys I had at the time sounded. However, the current price of the EVO 400 in particular puts it in the price range of so many other great amplifiers, so I didn't want to jump the gun and go right for that just because it was familiar, especially if upgrading to nicer speakers.

I am using a hybrid integrated now as a band aid (vincent sv237mk) that sounds pretty good for an off the shelf, low fuss amp, but does not have nearly the soundstage that the Primaluna had, which makes a big difference in how immersive the music is for me. It kind of floats in a weird middle ground for me - warmer than *some* pure solid states I've heard, but not as warm as an all tube setup. So I don't really love it for what I listen to.

I like vocals to be clear when present, without being grating. Sometimes I've heard various amp combos that do well with vocal clarity but get a little tiring to listen to after a bit. Or, I've heard systems where the vocals can sometimes feel like they are 'behind' the band instead of in front, which can be a little strange.