What are the MOST DYNAMIC Tube Amplifiers and Integrateds out there?

caesar

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May 30, 2010
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Much of tube gear gets to the tonality elements of Realism, but usually sucks at dynamics, even for stuff spec'd as 97 efficient...

The most impressive I have experienced are CAT and Zanden. You?
 
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shakti

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May 9, 2015
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love my CAT JL3 Statement!
but VTL Siegfried and VTL S-400 can do a good job as well :)
 
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ddk

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May 18, 2013
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Much of tube gear gets to the tonality elements of Realism, but usually sucks at dynamics, even for stuff spec'd as 97 efficient...

I wonder what you've been listening to Caesar but that hasn't been my experience specially with real 97db efficient speakers that you suggest, not that I know of many these days. You need to be more specific about the speakers and the electronics you heard them with to get a realistic dialog going otherwise you'll just end up with a bunch of prejudices.

david
 

caesar

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May 30, 2010
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Hi DDK,
Thanks for chiming in. My thoughts are based on the well-marketed gear one finds in the USA that I have heard or aware of. After all, vast majority of people purchase gear that they find in magazines (authority based persuasion), read about in forums that others chat about (social proof based persuasion), that their friends have (multiple persuasion principles acting in combination: liking, authority, likely social proof proof), get from a dealer with whom they share their taste or trust (authority, liking, and reciprocity based persuasion), googling something they have heard of, a brand they have a romantic connection to or resonates with who they are, etc.

But you and I may not cross too many social networks outside this site, so you may be aware of stuff that others do not get a chance to be acquainted with. Out of curiosity, and based on your highly enjoyable turntable installation threads, are there any speaker/ amp combinations one can actually purchase today that you would recommend? Thanks
 

jeff1225

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Jan 29, 2012
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love my CAT JL3 Statement!
but VTL Siegfried and VTL S-400 can do a good job as well :)

I'd love to hear the CAT amps in my system. I'll always remember the way they handled the impossible load of the MBL's at CES a few years ago.
 

Al M.

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Sep 10, 2013
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I'd love to hear the CAT amps in my system. I'll always remember the way they handled the impossible load of the MBL's at CES a few years ago.

CAT are great on dynamics, and so is my Octave RE 320 amp, at least on my 92 dB sensitive monitors.
 

ack

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May 6, 2010
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CAT are great on dynamics, and so is my Octave RE 320 amp, at least on my 92 dB sensitive monitors.

+1 on both, at least with high sensitivity speakers
 

DaveyF

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Jul 31, 2010
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CAT amps are the best on the market when it comes to dynamics...and a lot of other things as well. I really like my new Jadis amps, they can portray dynamics like few others IME. A lot less heat than the CAT amps, and a little more in the way of midrange magic.
Depending on the set up, I would go ..and did go, with the new Jadis models.
The new KT150 tubes are superb at recreating dynamics.
 
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marslo

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May 2, 2014
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Ayon Crossfire with 52b tubes.

Horning 520b.

Wavac 838.

Kindest regards,G.
Ayon Crossfire with my AG is really dynamic, but it seems that it sports A62B tubes , isnt’it?
 

KeithR

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May 7, 2010
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CAT amps are the best on the market when it comes to dynamics...

I think if you put them on AGs, this statement wouldn't be accurate. They are good at driving inefficient speakers properly for a tube amp.

This whole thread makes no sense to me. Dynamics are significantly impacted by speaker/amp match.
 

ddk

Well-Known Member
May 18, 2013
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Utah
Hi DDK,
Thanks for chiming in. My thoughts are based on the well-marketed gear one finds in the USA that I have heard or aware of. After all, vast majority of people purchase gear that they find in magazines (authority based persuasion), read about in forums that others chat about (social proof based persuasion), that their friends have (multiple persuasion principles acting in combination: liking, authority, likely social proof proof), get from a dealer with whom they share their taste or trust (authority, liking, and reciprocity based persuasion), googling something they have heard of, a brand they have a romantic connection to or resonates with who they are, etc.

But you and I may not cross too many social networks outside this site, so you may be aware of stuff that others do not get a chance to be acquainted with. Out of curiosity, and based on your highly enjoyable turntable installation threads, are there any speaker/ amp combinations one can actually purchase today that you would recommend? Thanks

Hi Caesar,

I'm not on any social media for audio nor have I read an audio magazine in over 15 years so I have no idea which tube amps you heard with 97db speakers that sucked. I'm curious about your experiences, specially when you say much tube gear, how many failed amps with efficient speakers are we talking about here? As far as my own resources go I really don't know of any with that type of efficiency made today. My experience with tube amps is different from yours.

david
 

DaveyF

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Jul 31, 2010
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La Jolla, Calif USA
I think if you put them on AGs, this statement wouldn't be accurate. They are good at driving inefficient speakers properly for a tube amp.

This whole thread makes no sense to me. Dynamics are significantly impacted by speaker/amp match.

Keith, I think the CAT's would still be excellent even with the easy to drive AG's. So, I don't really agree with you, the easier the speaker is to drive, the easier time a powerful amp like the CAT is going to have controlling it.
 

JackD201

WBF Founding Member
Apr 20, 2010
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Manila, Philippines
Much of tube gear gets to the tonality elements of Realism, but usually sucks at dynamics, even for stuff spec'd as 97 efficient...

The most impressive I have experienced are CAT and Zanden. You?

Are you referring more to rise time/speed or overall muscle?
 

bazelio

Well-Known Member
Sep 26, 2016
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California
CAT amps are the best on the market when it comes to dynamics...and a lot of other things as well. I really like my new Jadis amps, they can portray dynamics like few others IME. A lot less heat than the CAT amps, and a little more in the way of midrange magic.
Depending on the set up, I would go ..and did go, with the new Jadis models.
The new KT150 tubes are superb at recreating dynamics.

Yeah, agreed on KT150s. I've heard one of the Lyric KT150 integrated units driving Voxativ Zeths. The dynamics were superb.

But to Keith's point... I heard the Triangle Art KT88 amp (I wouldn't normally associate this tube with high dynamics) driving the Angel City Audio TOTL speakers, and the combo knocked my socks off. Those transmission line speakers with that amp do dynamics like nearly nothing else I've heard to date. We listened to mostly jazz, and the sax on something simple like Gene Ammons Boss Tenor cut right through me like a knife (in a good, realistic way). I actually still don't know how that sound came out of that amp. I wonder what its tube life expectancy is.
 

KeithR

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May 7, 2010
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Keith, I think the CAT's would still be excellent even with the easy to drive AG's. So, I don't really agree with you, the easier the speaker is to drive, the easier time a powerful amp like the CAT is going to have controlling it.

Davey- in my experience with 101db speakers (from Vac high power tetrode to 300B and everything in between), there isn't much correlation to dynamics at all with higher power or muscle like a CAT would provide. Sure, some 2 watt jobs are limited even at that efficiency, but once you moved past 15 watts or so even in my large room (600sf) that wasn't the sonic limiting factor.
 

DaveyF

Well-Known Member
Jul 31, 2010
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La Jolla, Calif USA
Davey- in my experience with 101db speakers (from Vac high power tetrode to 300B and everything in between), there isn't much correlation to dynamics at all with higher power or muscle like a CAT would provide. Sure, some 2 watt jobs are limited even at that efficiency, but once you moved past 15 watts or so even in my large room (600sf) that wasn't the sonic limiting factor.

While i don't dispute what you are saying above, the fact is that i still believe that the CAT amp would sound fine on any of the 101db speakers...a great amp is always a great amp, regardless of the speaker it is attached to.To put it another way, there is no reason to believe that the CAT amp would have less dynamic ability with very efficient speakers.
 

KeithR

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May 7, 2010
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While i don't dispute what you are saying above, the fact is that i still believe that the CAT amp would sound fine on any of the 101db speakers...a great amp is always a great amp, regardless of the speaker it is attached to.To put it another way, there is no reason to believe that the CAT amp would have less dynamic ability with very efficient speakers.

It very well might be, but there are other, potentially better options that aren't designed to be delivering high current at 2 and 4 ohms like the CAT with lots of tubes that high efficiency speakers don't need.
 

shakti

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May 9, 2015
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my speakers are Horns Universum III, 100db. (106 db for the horn section, 100db for the bass)
I do run the VTL S-400 stereo amp (12x KT88, 200w triode mode) on the Horn section,
the CAT JL3 Statement mono amps (2x 16x KT150, 200w triode ) on the Bass section.

No noise, great amps!, great dynamics, a lot of headroom :)
 

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