Help with power - newbie

[joncinland]

Hello all,

I recently purchased a pair of Ascent i and am loving them. I am currently powering them with a modified Onix SP3 35 watt integrated tube. It sounds pretty darn good, but does not seem to presurize the room like I have heard MLs do with other peoples systems. I think more power/current is in order, however, I am having trouble narrowing the feild of potential upgrades to the Onix. I would really appreciate it if you experts could lend me some experience by posting what you found to be a great match. I do not necessarily need to stay integrated, or tube for that matter, but would like to keep it under $3K (used or new).

I am especially interested if you have used tube amps and have reverted back to solid state. I am worried that I will miss the tube midrange.

In no particular order, here is are some choices I have considered in the 100 -200 watts range:
Jeff Rowland Contenra int
Plinius 9200 int
Mark Levinson no 383 int
Levinson no 27 pwr with no 28 preamp
Rogue Audio M 150 with tube Rogue preamp
Jolida JD 1000RC tube int
Manley Snapper or Stingray

Other equipment is:
Music Hall MMF-7 tt, Musical Fidelity Electra CDP (I hardly ever listen to CDs), Monster cable M 850i interconnects, DIY speaker cable (braided Cat5e twisted pairs).

Give your vote or suggest somethig else and I'll post the result.

Thanks in advance!
Joncin

 

[MOON]

Congradulations on your purchase of the Ascent i's. I have heard your speakers run with a Simaudio MOON W-5 amp and P-5 pre amp. It sounded great and is a very good match.

I run the same setup with my Oddessey's

I have also heard the Ascent i's being run with Blue Circle, a tubed pre and solid state 200 watt amp, a blissful experience as well

 

[twich54]

Hello all,

would like to keep it under $3K (used or new).

I am worried that I will miss the tube midrange.

Joncin

Welcome, Worried about "tube" midrange, SS Class "A", easily obtained on the used market in your $$ range. I'm a Plinius fan ( it's a secret so don't let anyone in on it )but there are plenty of others to choose from, Krell and so on.

In the tube realm a nice ARC VT-100 would work well.

 

[risabet]

I made the switch from SS to tubes and have never looked back. I bought a boutique amp TAD 1000's @ 100wpc. Not a household named but very good and affordable. The Plinius is a good SS amp but it won't fool you into believing it is a tubed unit. Krell, ha! The ARC VT-100, oh yeah! Consider some of the Cary amps, the SLI-80 is right at your upper limit new.

 

[twich54]

The Plinius is a good SS amp but it won't fool you into believing it is a tubed unit


How true indeed ! For it's ability to better handle the bass freq will never get you to think it's a tube amp !! When biased and running in Class A in produces the correct amount of lush midrange I desire. Now if your tastes tend to go further towards the "warm" or even "bloated" mid-freq range than yes tubes do "rule the roost", whatever floats your boat !!

One thing for sure Tube amps have far more individual character than SS and with the ability to roll tubes, the fine tunning to ones desired sound is a plus.

 

[joncinland]

Still undecided

I guess what it is coming down to is to tube or not to tube. I appreciate the amp recomendations. I think I am leaning to tube seperates because, from what you guys are saying, seems I will miss the tube sound. I'm still looking for more opinions from those who have made the switch from tubes to solid state though.

The Plenius is tempting too. I supose I can buy used on Agon and re-sell if I don't like it without loosing a paycheck. Such is the beauty of our hobby.

Whatever I decide, I'll let you know the result via new posting.

Joncin

 

[Jeff Zaret]

joncinland

Maybe I missed something along the way but do you have a preamp? If so, is it a SS or tube? This may also lend some insight on where you may want to go and the sound you want to achieve by getting a tube preamp and a SS amp. Just a thought

Jeff:musicnote:

 

[Rich]

I agree with Jeff. If you like tube sound, you might want to consider a tube preamp with a class A solid-state amp. There are many on this site who believe that provides the best of both worlds and great synergy with Logans. Ask Joey about his new Cary tube preamp and Plinius solid state amp combination. It sounds like he is pretty thrilled with it. Having said that, I imagine you would be very happy with equipment by Manley Labs, Mark Levinson, Jeff Rowland, etc. You just need to audition it to make sure it produces the synergy with your system that you desire.

Personally, I have a tube preamp with a tube power amp on the panels and solid state amps on my woofers and I am very happy with the sound.