AudioCircle

Audio/Video Gear and Systems => Owner's Circles => ACI => Topic started by: kimchee411 on 9 Oct 2010, 02:25 am

Title: Sapphire III with low power tubes?
Post by: kimchee411 on 9 Oct 2010, 02:25 am: Hi, I know this is kind of vague, but are the Sapphire IIIs very efficient? I just picked up an Almarro A205A single ended pentode tube integrated that I couldn't resist, which puts out 4.8 class A watts, to go with my Sapphire IIIs. I think the speakers do fine with my little Trends TA-10.1, which I think is 6 W class D into 8 ohms. Have I made a mistake? Loudness doesn't matter as it's for the bedroom.

Thanks.
Title: Re: Sapphire III with low power tubes?
Post by: kimchee411 on 9 Oct 2010, 02:32 am: Just for kicks, would my Sapphire XLs work with this little guy? Their 85.5 db rating tells me "$#(*&% NO!" but I've also read that they are still easy to drive.
Title: Re: Sapphire III with low power tubes?
Post by: poseidonsvoice on 9 Oct 2010, 02:36 am: Quote from: kimchee411 on 9 Oct 2010, 02:25 am
Hi, I know this is kind of vague, but are the Sapphire IIIs very efficient? I just picked up an Almarro A205A single ended pentode tube integrated that I couldn't resist, which puts out 4.8 class A watts, to go with my Sapphire IIIs. I think the speakers do fine with my little Trends TA-10.1, which I think is 6 W class D into 8 ohms. Have I made a mistake? Loudness doesn't matter as it's for the bedroom.

Thanks.

There isn't a whole lotta difference between 4.8 watts and 6 watts to be honest. And besides, tube watts tend to sound a little more 'robust' in their presentation even though from a measurement standpoint the wattage difference is insignificant. If you found your Class D Trends TA-10.1 to be fine in your bedroom with the Sapphire III's you don't need to worry about their real efficiency. I remember the original III having a Focal 7K4211D dual voice coil kevlar midwoofer and Scan Speak 9300 series tweeter, I would guess they are about 87-89 dB sensitive at 2.83V/8 ohms (or about 87-89dB efficient at 1 watt/8 ohms). Best to verify with Mike Dzurko.

Anand.
Title: Re: Sapphire III with low power tubes?
Post by: Mike Dzurko on 9 Oct 2010, 10:23 pm: I'm betting that it will work, but only you can decide if it's good for you or not. I remember one time the rep for a tube amp company with a 5 or six watter was saying there is NO way that the amp will drive the Sapphire XLs. I just smiled and said, well let's hook it up and see. He couldn't believe the results. No, not for head bangers, but a very nice and surprisingly dynamic presentation at low and moderate levels. We always tried to make every design to be "an easy load". I think most would agree that all Sapphire series played more efficiently than the spec alone would indicate.
Title: Re: Sapphire III with low power tubes?
Post by: Capt. Z on 10 Oct 2010, 07:57 pm: I believe the original Sapphire III had a 90 dB / Watt efficiency.
Still got my Sapphire IIIs
Title: Re: Sapphire III with low power tubes?
Post by: jparkhur on 11 Oct 2010, 12:51 am: My old sapphire iii did fine with my sonic frontiers sf 40. Nice sound
Title: Re: Sapphire III with low power tubes?
Post by: Mike Dzurko on 2 Nov 2010, 03:25 pm: Kimchee, how did it work out with the Almarro?
Title: Re: Sapphire III with low power tubes?
Post by: kimchee411 on 9 Nov 2010, 01:19 am: I haven't been able to try them out yet since I'm between homes right now and everything's in boxes, but I'll post a reply once I get em set up!
Title: Re: Sapphire III with low power tubes?
Post by: kimchee411 on 7 Apr 2011, 11:45 pm: So I've been using the Sapphire IIIs with an Almarro A205A and now A205A MK II for a little over a month now in my bedroom. The combination is really detailed, transparent, and sweet but I feel it lacks dynamic drive and punch/slam. Maybe it's the room/placement or just the character of the amp, but I'll probably try some more efficient speakers sometime down the line. Still, I enjoy it a lot.