"Bruce Lankford" wrote in message
...

"Keith G" wrote in message
...

"Serge Auckland" wrote


If you're selling your Technics amp and the Dynacos, what will you
drive your TLS80s with, not a SET?



I certainly can, but right this minute I have my little (50 Watt?)
Denon PMA-655R on them - I doubt many could stand the *loudness* of a
CD at half volume on that setup!

I owned TLS80 mk11s about 15 years ago. About that time I acquired a
Sugden A25. At twelve o'clock they were really loud (ok, it started ay
six!).
My second pair of speakers were MS Pageant 11's, rated at
90/watt/metre. In spite of an improvement of 5dB, the amp could not
drive them to serious levels.
My conclusion was that perhaps the IMF's were a benign load which the
amp could drive.
Perhaps efficiency isn't everything?

In any case, the IMF is a really good speaker, in the right room!



OK, using the same Oi Va Voi disk I hooked up the following amps using
the Pre Out from the Denon and made direct comparisons:

2A3 SET - fine ('normal' level of loudness for most) at 9 o'clock but
clipping by 10 o'clock.

300B SET - loud (too loud for most) at 9 o'clock but clipping by 10
o'clock again.

Dynacos - fine (but not as loud as the 300Bs) at 9 o'clock, loud at 10
o'clock, far too loud at 12 o'clock, clipping starts at about 2 o'clock.

Denon's own power section - fine (normal) at 9 o'clock, too loud at 12
o'clock, clipping starts at about 2 o'clock


My own conclusion is that, with the possible exception of the 300B SET
(a strange beast that one, but possibly my favourite), just about any of
the amps are usable for a 'normal' level of listening and that (my own
taste here) the valves offer a richer, more engaging/'natural' sound
than the Denon on its own. I couldn't include the 100W Technics
pre/power as it is put away pro temps, but I remember it to be optimum
at the 11 o'clock setting (which, I believe, the bumf says somewhere
that that is where 'optimum' is designed to be ??), very loud thereafter
and I never had the nerve to push it to clipping, given the age of the
speakers!

I agree with what you say though - where the performance of these amp
may well have followed form (in keeping with conventional wisdom) it
doesn't necessarily mean the *quality* of the sound will necessarily
follow the same pattern; in that sequence of testing. the *memory* of
the sound from the 2A3 SET (albeit at a reduced level) lingers on....