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SET for my Tannoy Turnberry speakers

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Posted on October 10, 2014 at 04:14:32
Plinius_Fan
Audiophile

Posts: 422
Location: Singapore
Joined: August 4, 2006
 Presently I am using a Wavac 300B which puts out superb 10 watts. Just that sometimes I feel the headroom could have been better. Dynamic compression sets in at least 40% of the time so I am now looking at other options.

Unison Research Performance is a KT88 SET with 40 watts of power output which is rather humongous for an SET. Has anyone heard it ? I dont see many user reviews about it. Any information would be helpful.

Other options I have are mostly in the push-pull territory:
Quad II forty
Jadis Defy 7 mk4
Pass Labs F6

Tannoys have always been a mystery to me. They sound wonderful with almost any good amplifier but to find an ideal one is not easy. Many prefer them with conventional SS amps also. Coming from a Wavac EC-300B, it is difficult to find an SS amp that can keep me happy. Probably the Pass F6 which I may try.

But at the moment I am looking at Unison Research Performance.

 

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RE: SET for my Tannoy Turnberry speakers, posted on October 10, 2014 at 06:19:22
Johno
Audiophile

Posts: 388
Joined: June 9, 2002
 Hi there, my 2c worth.
Agree Tannoy vintage 8 ohm & Prestige range dual concentric speakers need a amp with good damping factor. Typically a 8W 300B SE amp is left wanting. I have 2 amps which I use with 15" Tannoy HPD series 8 ohm drivers in 250L bass reflex enclosures. A EML 520B single ended amp this has a plate resistance half that of a 300B which provides 25% better damping factor & a PSE 6L6 amp which has 20db of global feedback. Both amps drive the Tannoys wonderfully in room size (8m x 6m)
If I was doubling the room size to (16m x 12m) I would be looking at a amp double the power rating (40W)

Cheers Johno

 

RE: SET for my Tannoy Turnberry speakers, posted on October 10, 2014 at 11:34:32
Mr_Steady
Audiophile

Posts: 2042
Location: North Florida
Joined: August 19, 2014
 Wow, that Unison Research is pretty cool.

I would suggest the Coincident Turbo 845SE. Reason being that I think it has a high primary impedence on the OPT, which would give it balls-to-the-wall damping factor. 28 wpc. Never heard anything but good about Coincident.

Jamie


Big speakers and little amps blew my mind!

 

Look at the Art Audio Jota HC, posted on October 10, 2014 at 12:03:10
Jay Buridan
Audiophile

Posts: 10271
Location: Michigan
Joined: January 21, 2004
 24 WPC with 300B XLS or 520B v3.

"Horse sense is the thing a horse has which keeps it from betting on people. "
― W.C. Fields

 

RE: Look at the Art Audio Jota HC, posted on October 10, 2014 at 20:03:29
Plinius_Fan
Audiophile

Posts: 422
Location: Singapore
Joined: August 4, 2006
 I already have the Jota on my radar. I am also looking at Ayon Crossfire III.

 

RE: SET for my Tannoy Turnberry speakers, posted on October 10, 2014 at 20:06:35
Plinius_Fan
Audiophile

Posts: 422
Location: Singapore
Joined: August 4, 2006
 I do not like 845. Never have I heard an 845 based amp that has impressed me. Even voices sound huge on them. That's not real

 

RE: SET for my Tannoy Turnberry speakers, posted on October 11, 2014 at 02:03:20
Joao
 Use Leak amplifiers with the Tannoys, they build a dream team.... another way to go would be a Push-Pull design with DHT (direct heated triodes).

 

RE: SET for my Tannoy Turnberry speakers, posted on October 11, 2014 at 11:12:42
Frihed89
Audiophile

Posts: 15703
Location: Copenhagen
Joined: March 21, 2005
 A 211 or GM70 amp should work. Look at the GM70 model the Lampizator sells as it is not ridiculously expensive and has above-average audio quality.

 

KR Audio SX or Ayon Crossfire III, posted on October 13, 2014 at 15:03:16
morricab
Distributor or Rep

Posts: 9175
Location: switzerland
Joined: April 1, 2005
 Both have quite a lot more umph than your WAVAC and are superb sounding.

 

Heard the Unison Research Performance, posted on October 13, 2014 at 23:38:34
Plinius_Fan
Audiophile

Posts: 422
Location: Singapore
Joined: August 4, 2006
 Lucky me, I got to audition this rare beast, the Unison Research Performance at an audiophile's place and incidentally he was also driving a pair of Tannoy Turnberry SE with it :-). It could not have got better in terms of hearing the amp as it would have sounded at my home.

Overall the sound was very nice. It has very good PRAT. Music just bounced from note to note freely. This amp is an SET and it absolutely sounded like one in terms of coherence and musical connection. Mostly the music was free of any apparent colouration. The bass was not very tight though. It was a bit rounded. It is not one of those amps which will control bass like a 845 or 211 or a push-pull amp. But there is still ample control for music to sound focussed. One thing that stands out is smoothness. It is buttery smooth presentation and this is exactly where I was a little dissapointed. Even though it is nicely detailed its smooth presentation glosses over the textural resolution of the instruments a bit (compared to my Wavac at least). You hear the strings but the stringy texture is slightly polished. The attack and decay is perfect which makes listening music very enjoyble. But if you are accustomed to higher resolution amps like Wavac and Audio Note, you may end up finding the last bit of resolution being glossed over. I guess it is mostly coming from the output transformer, which though has very good bandwidth, is less resolved compared to higher end transformers like Tango, Audio Note or Hashimoto.

Nice all rounder anyway.

 

RE: Heard the Unison Research Performance, posted on October 16, 2014 at 07:11:40
danlaudionut
Audiophile

Posts: 5480
Location: Schenectady
Joined: June 6, 2002
 PF

Sorry but it is single ended parallel ultralinear.
3 KT88 in parallel makes it a SEP not SET.
Parallel tubes and feedback may be what you hear
as far as the loss of details.

DanL



 

RE: SET for my Tannoy Turnberry speakers, posted on October 17, 2014 at 06:16:01
RGA
Reviewer

Posts: 15177
Location: Hong Kong
Joined: August 8, 2001
 I'd find speakers that will open more doors to amplifiers.

This is EXACTLY why I would not buy harder to drive speakers - yes they can sound good but you're always going to be in that mode of "I want a bit more headroom or taught bass etc." SS is basically worthless once you know what good SET/SEP sound like and like you I have liked some KT88 amps but I'm always thinking - yeah but it's not quite right. It has that "shell" of the music quality that impresses me for 10 minutes and then I want to go listen to my OTO instead even with its shortcomings.

Low powered SET amps tend to sound the best in the tube audio world. The exceptions tend to be ridiculously expensive $120,000 Ongakus kinds of things. Though I do like my Line Magnetic 219IA which is a dreaded 845 output but reigned in by 310A and 300B. The preamp stage represents the larger sway on the sound - which is why I am looking at some preamps.

The M2/Quest a couple weeks back impressed me to no end it was the bass and taught control that impressed me (the Dac 3.1X might have been responsible but it;s hard to imagine it being THAT much of a step up over the DAC 2.1x. Strangely I liked it a LOT more than the Meishu which is kind of the same thing in one box form.

Melody Audio makes a somewhat sanely priced 211 amp

 

RE: SET for my Tannoy Turnberry speakers, posted on October 21, 2014 at 01:37:07
Plinius_Fan
Audiophile

Posts: 422
Location: Singapore
Joined: August 4, 2006
 Thanks RGA.

You are probably very right there. Once one has lived with a good SET it is hard to live with other amps. Among the push-pull designs probably a McIntosh MC 275 (current generation or even the vintage) is one that I liked. I am interested to hear the Quad II forty. Ultimately only some really legendary push-pull and SS amps can probably satisfy us and they are between far and few (if at all affordable).

I have heard the Melody, didnt quite like it because it is low in resolution . Line Magnetic is much better.

 

May be a First watt F6 ?, posted on October 21, 2014 at 01:38:32
Plinius_Fan
Audiophile

Posts: 422
Location: Singapore
Joined: August 4, 2006
 It is also on my list.

 

RE: SET for my Tannoy Turnberry speakers, posted on October 22, 2014 at 08:09:48
lokie
Audiophile

Posts: 1988
Location: Georgia, USA
Joined: January 28, 2003
 My pick for a 15" Coax Tannoy would be:

OTL 30 watts or better

or

A good pimped out vintage el84 amp... maybe HeathKit, Acrosound,
Eico

I lived w a 15" Gold for a few years. The cabinet is as important as the amp. Overall a very fun speaker


 

RE: SET for my Tannoy Turnberry speakers, posted on November 2, 2014 at 08:40:17
horn kid
Audiophile

Posts: 128
Joined: November 2, 2014
 Get a BIG SET, Tannoys like the control and it would be usable with many other speakers.

http://www.nataudio.com/products/all-products/vacuum-tube-power-amplifiers/item/27-transmitter.html

 

Many times the power supply runs out of gas before the output tubes/section, posted on November 6, 2014 at 14:48:25
darkmoebius
Audiophile

Posts: 18780
Location: Los Angeles, California
Joined: December 28, 2000
 As mentioned below, Art Audio amps were famous for their stout, over-built, power supply - including transformers. I had an Art Audio Jota for a short period of time before realizing that that their 6 wpc PX-25 was enough to wonderfully drive my 95dB/8 ohm Cain & Cain IM-Bens. Obviously, your Tannoy's 10" dual-concentric ring driver is harder to drive than the Fostex 168 mm (6.6") Sigma in my speakers. But, I think the Jota might surprise you with what it can do - especially the Jota monoblocks.

Since you are already considering Art Audio, it might be better to look into the AA Concerto II PP amps. They were designed to have a SET-like quality with 60-80 wpc output(depending on output tubes). They use KT-88, KT-90, and even KT-120 tubes. They even made concerto monoblocks, I think

Another curveball to throw your way is OTL. Specifically, it might be worth looking into used Atma-Sphere S-30 or S-60. They drive a lot of more difficult speakers and have clarity and pureness that is equal to SET in many situations.

 

RE: Many times the power supply runs out of gas before the output tubes/section, posted on November 7, 2014 at 05:01:40
horn kid
Audiophile

Posts: 128
Joined: November 2, 2014
 Atma-Spheres are not in love with driving Tannoy. Maybe 16 ohm Tannoy, but not 8 ohm. A lot of the bass goes missing. Not a knock on Atma, just a fact.

 

Interesting. I wonder what causes that?, posted on November 7, 2014 at 11:24:34
darkmoebius
Audiophile

Posts: 18780
Location: Los Angeles, California
Joined: December 28, 2000
 Is it the dual concentric ring magnets?

 

8000J of Energy Storage??, posted on November 7, 2014 at 11:52:19
Maxamillion
Audiophile

Posts: 856
Location: New Jersey
Joined: May 26, 2006
 From the Nataudio site: "Equivalent energy from power supply is huge, example for bass response down to 20Hz, it is equal to no less then 8000 Joules (8kJ) of related capacitor type energy"

Huh? 8000J is a ridiculous number. Even if B+ is 2000V, they would need 4mF of capacitance to achieve 8000J. Try building that up from series/parallel 450V electrolytics!

If they went the alternate route and ran B+ at 400V, they'd need 100mF of capacitance to reach 8000J. That's 100 1000uF, 450V caps!

 

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