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Tube amps vs solid state for large speakers

I am looking to experiment with a tube amp and currently use a tube phono-pre with a solid state amp. Problem is I am concerned that I wont be able to get enough power to drive my speakers with tubes, which are A/D/S L-1590 @ 8 ohm rated to 400W. Any thoughts out there? Also, what tube amps would you recommend to try out...under 2K used.
abruceaudino
shadorne's avatar
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shadorne
7,467 posts
 
Try biamping or triamping..use SS to drive the woofers.
larryken
537 posts
 
I don't know your speakers but with tube power the key is what db efficiency rating and what nominal impedance...if the speakers are less than 8 ohm and 90 db then tube amping will become somewhat problematic...what are the speakers specs? Shadorne's suggestion to bi-amp is a possiblity but are the speakers biwireable and it will be hard to bi-amp for your budget.
Larry
abruceaudino OP
19 posts
 
Heres the specs I could dig up for the 1290's which are similar speakers just a bit smaller:

Impedence: 8 ohms nominal
Efficiency: 90 dB SPL from 2.8 VRMS.

They can be bi-amped but need to be done so with an external crossover. If I could figure out how to do that that would be great. Unfortunately I cannot just hook another amp directly to the other binding posts.
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