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In Reply to: Re: Thiels and tubes are like bacon and eggs. posted by Eli Duttman on March 25, 2004 at 06:44:05:
You need at least a couple quads going push-pull to do it right. And the Thiel will eat smaller drivers like EL84s for breakfast. KT-88s, KT-90s, 6550s, or EL-34s (if you have enough of them). It's all about sustained current delivery with Thiels, and not just watts. Plenty of current - and top of line current at that. Unfortunately, that's more than most folks can afford.I can't cope with all the maintenance, heat and space required for proper tubed outputs, and run a Classe CA301 on a dedicated circuit to drive mine. There's a vintage pre up front stuffed full of great old bottles, so it's a very happy ending.
Properly partnered (and so many are not, fueling all the "brightness" complaints), these can be magical drivers. And that means tubes somewhere along the line.
Follow Ups:
I'm using a quad of 6550s per channel to drive Thiel 2.2s and the result is very nice. There's also about 10db of global negative feedback in the amp which helps a lot. I've run the amps without the feedback and the bass really suffers.
If I had the cash and the space, I'd use the AVA FET-Valve on Thiels with a nice tube preamp up front. Tubes end to end except for the "finals".FWIW, I've had an opportunity to try my amp at a dealer that sells both Thiels and Martin Logans with MLs. It sounded DANDY. BTW, that dealer sells Bryston and Classe. It would be pretty easy to live with any of the GOOD SS amps, fronted by tubes, and the quality speakers.
Eli D.
. . . the older Classe amps are buttery smooth and plenty beefy to drive the small to mid-size models. These were the standard Thiel "show" and dealer demo amps for many years.And, of course, the great old Thresholds are just incredible.
Boy, I just loved those amps. Built like an aerospace instrument, too. They're getting much harder to find, though. And even harder to service.
These two makes are the most tube like of the SS muscle amps I've heard. Levinsons are simply a darker sounding SS amp, in a less "tubey" sort of way. And overpriced.I think if a minty big old Threshold came along at the right price, I might ditch my Classe for one of those.
OK, that's enough SS talk around HERE for one thread.
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