Being fairly new to tube amps and getting back into audio after 40 years, I was just about to post on this topic. I picked up a Jolida Fusion 3502S (50 WPC) to go along with the Polk RTi12 (90 dB sensitivity) speakers I had for a few months.
Anyway, I was pleased at the warm tube sound until I came across a few songs with sudden peaks. And it falls flat on it's face for a few milliseconds.
So what do I do now? Get a new tube amp, go back to solid state, or switch to more sensitive speakers?
1-1/2 Watts?
A friend came over yesterday and brought a beautiful boutique 45 tube amp with only 1-1/2 watts, which was really built for 100+DB speakers. We hooked it up to my Audio Note AN-Ks, which are rated at 90 DB, just to see what would happen. I have a 1 Bedroom and sit about 8’ from the speakers, which are on the long wall and not in corners. I have to say, the amp drove the speakers much better than we both expected, even on tracks with a lot of bass like Eryika Badu. Not very loud, of course, but adequate for apartment listening. I wouldn’t say it was a perfect match, but the results surprised us both. It was an interesting experience.
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- 21 posts total
- 21 posts total