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While the choice of tube has an effect on the sound it's small in comparison to the topology and circuit design used. The EE M156 is a push pull amp and the GM70 based amp is single ended, though with very good measured results for an SE amp. I had the EE amps here for a few weeks and liked them very much and really disliked sending them back. http://www.audiocircle.com/index.php?topic=59239.0I also have a pair of the Consonance Cyber 845 single ended amps. Though no where close to the power of the parallel GM70's they are still good measuring and fairly powerful SE amp. The EE and the Cyber are both very nice amps and I like them both very much though I couldn't afford to keep the EE's at the time. IMO since you have owned solid state for a long time the EE will be closer to what you are used to but there is something special about a SET amp. SET's don't measure very well (in general), don't produce much power and don't have a high damping factor but they do have a way with music that is just lovely. I have both push pull and SET, several of both actually and can happily switch between them when mood strikes. Each has a unique set of charms. Yes, I still have some SS amps but I can't even tell you the last time any of them were powered up... just a tube guy I guess. A friend had recently sent me the info on those big GM70's, that is an amp I'd love to hear.Mike
What does anyone think about the possibility of driving the bass drivers with a powerful SS amp and the mid/high with a SET amp? Or could this sound wrong using 2 different brands and amplification? What is the common power in Watts before a SET amp can go expensive?
If you can swing a little more budget, a used pair of Atma-Sphere MA-1's would be a great choice.These are killer amps and I think they would work with your speakers.George
One could. But not reccomended. An active croossover would be required and then there is always impedance issues. Set amps with power say a GM70 based amp is around $10,000. I cannot believe that the bass produced from the Cyber 211s is the culprit . I own it as well. What about a sub woofer ? You could use a high pass to the main speakers and let the sub handle from whatever down to 20HZ. That is what I do with the Pipedreams. Works very well for me.charles
PS: i can get a GM70 for less then 5000$ for 70 Watt (as the link above), are there even more powerfull single ended designs??
Wow, i would think they would work with many speakers, that many tubes? Is this really 500 Watt per channel!?! Never knew something like this existed, i'm impressed. Still, out of my budget. I'm from Belgium in Europe and i envy Americans that many components can be found there 2nd hand at some good prices at Audiogon at other sites. In Europe it is not that common and we have 230V instead of 110V. Still, the Hyperions aren't very hard to drive but 20 or 30 Watt to drive all drivers would be to uncomfotable on the edge for me.
One could. But not reccomended. An active croossover would be required and then there is always impedance issues. charles
Not necessarily true. An external x-over is required for active bi-amping, not passsive. Duck7 is asking about passive horizontal bi-amping.I have a few amps on hand so recently I've been playing around with passive horizontal bi-amping. An experienced audio buddy visited yesterday and we listened to almost every possible combination. In terms of sonic preference, we both arrived at the same exact rankings:(1) passive biamp --- tubes on top, SS on bottom(2) single tube amp full range -- amp section only of tubed integrated(3) single tube amp full range -- entire tubed integrated(4) single SS amp full rangeExcept for # (3) a tubed line stage with two pair of outputs was used.While it's true that active biamping has potential for being superior to passive, it is not without its difficulties and pitfalls, namely crossover and blending / matching issues. And while conventional wisdom says that passive biamping is not worth the time and expense and yields very little benefit compared to going single amp full range, I don't think blanket statements can be made. With the gear I have on hand, we both MUCH preferred the passive biamp setup. I guess a persuavive argurement can be made that if the $$ sunk into the two amps were put into a better single amp, better full range single amp performance would result. But like always in audio, you just gotta use your own ears. YMMV
I just recently got intrested in tube sound after years of solid state.However i still wouldn't want a compromise on the benefits of solid state sound, wich is fast punchy bass and detail (correct me if i'm wrong).That's why i'm playing with the thaught of adding a tube preamp to my solid state power amp.But maybe, this might be also worth considering...These 2 different brands of monoblocks caught my intrest...http://www.sacthailand.com/AmpGlowMasterGM70.htmlhttp://www.positive-feedback.com/Issue37/eastern_electric_m156.htmThere is also a very positive review of the KT88 tube amp from SACThailand wich made me think the GM 70 would be amazing.Anyways, i read a quote from someone that in the 70's the telefunken EL 156 tubes were the only ones actually made for audio components in contrary to all other types of tubes. Don't know how much of this is true and more of intrest, if it would make a difference if so.Out of intrest, what do you think would be the best choice??Both are in the 5000$ area for a pair.
