Martin Logan Theos driven by a 12 watt SET amp???

Hi all.

We see so many thread questions asking about how much power one needs to drive a pair of Theos effectively. So, after spending two days revamping my room from the short wall to the long wall, big job, I took the liberty of setting up the ML Theos with the following audio chain:

Dennis Had Inspire Fire Bottle KT88 SET amp - 12 watt SET amp
Dennis Had Inspire LP2 preamp
Martin Logan Theos
Martin Logan Depth i
PS Audio PerfectWave DAC II, sampling music via iTunes attended to by Channel D's Pure Music 3

As you can observe, preamp volume setting is only at 10 o'clock, and even at that there's far more volume than I'm accustomed to for my normal listening level.

Before trying this experiment today I suspected the amp would drive the Theos adequately, as years ago I did a similar experiment driving a pair of CLSiiz's with an 8 watt SET integrated. Crazy I know. But it works.

Small watt tube amps and ML's work for jazz...I've never conducted a sampling of rock...so ymmv...same goes for demands presented by home theater listening...but keep an open mind. Tubes and 'stats have always been a match made in heaven.

By the way...Dennis Had, former originator of Cary Audio fame, retired a few years ago and Dennis has been creating these small chassis Inspire "fire bottle" KT88 amps in retirement. He lists them for sell on ebay. I bought this pre/amp combo 2 years ago and they've been collecting dust as I'd only bought them to drive a pair of Cain&Cain Abby speakers, which has its own sub, known as a "Bailey."

Dennis has an Inspire model that utilizes the KT120, KT150, and pair of monoblocks as well...for those of you who think you need more "power."

Any questions, fire away.

My apologies for the messy room...between Xmas, and revamping a wall full of gear from one wall to another it's been a big job...The video was quickly done via an iPhone.

Cool post.

I don't think you'll be hitting 100DB with some serious rock/electronic music though

User211 said:

Cool post.

I don't think you'll be hitting 100DB with some serious rock/electronic music though

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You just might if speaker sensitivity is 90dB/1W which ML most likely are not.

If your ears tell you that there are no stress and you have a clean sound, I do not see a reason of why you should not use only that small power. I have customers using only 22 watts/channel with excellent results too, and they do not need more power. The stage is steady, clean with very good resolution. The size of the instruments are projected nicely, and the overall sound is very enjoyable. The new stat panels from ML, are that easy to drive. On the other hand, the old technology, you do need a lot of power to make them to sing. If you are happy, that's the way to go. Happy listening!

I'm not surprised. I am using a pair of 20 Watt 6c33c monoblocks to drive my Vantages, and it works brilliantly. My musical taste is very varied with rock, jazz, classical, opera, pop. All of it sound very natural to my ears.

Very nice. What was the musical selection, please?

slowGEEZR said:

Very nice. What was the musical selection, please?

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Steve put Shazam on your phone - which says it is Estate by Eric Alexander.

Obviously someone has not read about Chinese zodiac signs.

Awesome. Most giant kW amps would be idling along at 1-2 watts with most music anyway.

I'm sure it could do a pretty good with some loud rock music Justin

User211 said:

Steve put Shazam on your phone - which says it is Estate by Eric Alexander.

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Ha ha, I have it and soundhound, which does the same thing. I was too lazy to get out of my chair and go get my phone. Thanks for the answer.

slowGEEZR said:

Ha ha, I have it and soundhound, which does the same thing. I was too lazy to get out of my chair and go get my phone. Thanks for the answer.

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The album is one of the best by Eric Alexander. 'the second milestone'

Nice to hear that others are going "small" too. Small tube SET amps rule. These ears can't handle more than 10 on the preamp volume dial so small is good