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Maybe a different solid-state amp and preamp?

Posted by AbeCollins (A) on March 16, 2019 at 10:19:09

In Reply to: Pinging Kal Rubinson, et al. - tube amp for the B&W 802D3? posted by sleeper on March 14, 2019 at 18:59:50:

My tough love says you got it all wrong! First get rid of those braided Kimber speaker cables. I had a few of those in their earlier incarnation in braided black and blue wires. They're flexible and look cool but I can just about guarantee you they kill bass. They did with every speaker / amp combo I've tried them with. I still have a few pair down in the basement collecting dust. I ran those cables when I first got started in this hobby and while others may not agree, I think they're junk. HomeDepot zipcord will sound better and at the very least, not kill off your bass. Don't believe me? Try it. It will cost you only a few bucks.

My Summary: Wrong amps, wrong linestage, wrong speaker cables. Sorry. Details below.

Comments below are with my Thiel CS2.4 speakers which do very nicely with the right tube amplification of sufficient power.

I had the Bryston 7BSST2 monoblocks in my system for only a brief few months. I thought they were powerful but a little lean in the mids, sterile, and thin compared to my preference for a more robust and full-bodied sound. I can easily achieve this with powerful tubes and come reasonably close with the right solid-state amp with a good tube linestage driving it.

I tried a couple tube linestages with the Bryston but it was an uphill battle. One of the linestages was the ARC LS25mkII which isn't known to be very tube-like. The Aesthetix Calypso was better in this regard but I was still struggling to get the Bryston mono blocks to sound the way I wanted them to. I ended up selling them.

I achieved better sonics with a pair of Class D monoblocks from Wyred4Sound, my Rogue Cronus Magnum integrated, and the Manley Neo-Classic 250 amps.

From my point of view, you have a lean sounding amp coupled to a lean sounding ARC linestage, along with speaker cables that "filter out" much of your bass.

One of my best sounding setups was the Cary SLP-05 tube linestage driving the Pass Labs X150.5 power amp. You might need more power and Pass Labs can deliver, and they sound nice too.

Just my 2-cents worth. Good luck!

My short lived Bryston setup. I tried ARC then Aesthetix linestages. Preferred Aesthetix but couldn't get the setup to sound nice

Tube rolling the Aesthetix to 'help correct' the Bryston sound.

These little Class D W4S monoblocks sound better than the Brystons but not quite there vs the Manley tube amps.

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In this setup I'm driving the less demanding Tannoy Definition D500 speakers in my office.

I also had the ARC VSI-60 tube integrated for a while. I thought that one was a little lean sounding too compared to the Rogue Cronus Magnum, and the Rogue is not an overly tubey sounding amp.

ARC, prettier. Rogue, better sound for less money

Edits: 03/16/19 03/16/19 03/16/19 03/16/19 03/16/19 03/16/19

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