Bi-amping Sequel ii's

[moorzo]

I just brought my new sequel ii's home and don't have an amp for them yet. I'm looking for suggestions on how to set these speakers up.

I would ideally like to Bi-amp, having an SS amp for the bass and a tube amp for the panel. I'm just not sure if a tube amp would be best for my genres of music.

I mostly listen to alternative rock, pop, and hip hop, but i do listen to a little of everything including country and classical.

I mostly play music from my laptop and would also need to purchase a dac.

What I am not sure of is how many watts are actually recommended for a SS amp for bass and how many watts per chanel is recommended for the tube amp driving the panel.

I would love to have more than enough power but I'm also on a budget and will be buying everything used.

Any suggest would be great. Thanks

 

[Spike]

Hi Moorzo,
While I am all for bi-amping the Logans with tubes on the panels & solid-state on the bass, I am not sure whether tubes will be the best fit for pop & hip hop. Other members will have better insights for these music genres. As for classical and other musical genres involving vocal clarity (country, jazz, etc...) I can emphatically say that tubes will be superb on the panels. If you find that tube amp is not the best fit for your taste, you should consider a clean solid-state amplifier. Sitting at the top of my solid-state list are Pass Labs, B.A.T (Balanced Audio Tech), Krell, Threshold, Plinius. I am sure there are many others, but these are the ones which come readily to mind.

As far as a rough starting point, 200 watts of clean power per channel is a good starting point (even for full-range). If you're running tubes on the panels, my sweet spot is 50 - 75 watts per channel. The rationale for this power range is to strike a balance between circuit complexity (high power) and maintaining signal purity with simpler circuit. I currently have 50 watts of tubes on my panels and I feel that they are more than adequate, even at loud levels ~ 97db.

Good Luck,
Spike

 

[repman]

I had good luck bi-amping my Sequel II with a Sunfire cinema grand amp using the current source to emulate a tube sound and voltage on the woofers not the best amps in resolution but certianly powerful and musical at the price point. You can find them on the GON for 800-1000 bucks good bang for the buck

 

[moorzo]

Thanks for your input!

Due to my genres of music, I think I will just start with a good Solid State amp and see how it sounds. As much as I would like to run a Krell or Plinius, they just aren't in my price range right now. I will be keeping an eye on the gon for a Sunfire, I have read lots of happy reviewers with Sunfire powering their Logans, I will hopefully be the next.

Spike thanks for your input on tube output power. Although I don't think I will be Bi-amping as soon as I thought, I'm sure I will find myself experimenting with tubes in the near future.

 

[cyclone]

I ran an ARC D400 with my Sequels which is 200 watts a channel and it did well. You can find these for around $1500.00. I would also think the Classe amps would be do well also and are priced right.