Axiom Home Page Forums General Discussion Stereo Axiom and Tube Amp? (M22Ti and Jolida 302b)

I'm just about to buy a used pair of M22Ti's, and will next be looking for suitable amplification and subwooferage for it. The Hsu subwoofers look lovely, but I'm a bit more confused about amplification. I currently have a simple, 2-channel, Onkyo amp, but will likely want to get something with a bit more fidelity.

Does anyone have any experience combining M22Ti's with a tube amp? One of the amps that I've heard well of is the Jolida 302b, and I imagine that its slight warmth might work really well with these speakers. Also, would the addition of a subwoofer confuse this picture too much?

Any opinions would be welcome.

Thanks,

Adding a touch of "warmth" to the M22's would probably be a nice match. As far as adding a Hsu with the M22's, you'll be a very, very happy fellow.

Kirby, you didn't describe your Onkyo amp, but in general I wouldn't know of any reason why it wouldn't have all the "fidelity" that you need. If a tube amp adds any "warmth" other than the heat rising from the tubes, then that amp has some problem with its frequency response.

If you want a new receiver because of new features(you didn't indicate this)consider one of the fine receivers available in the $300 area, such as the Pioneer 912 or JVC 8030.

Thanks for the comments spiffnme and JohnK. I didn't specify my Onkyo model (I think it's RA-1?) b/c I'm not at home where I can look at it.
I apologize for bringing fidelity into it . Though I think there's some good data that a $2000 amplifier has sonic advantages over a $200 amplifier, that isn't my driving reason for considering a change.
The warmth that I've run into on tube amps is certainly not a sign of higher fidelity (it's actually lower fidelity strictly speaking), but nevertheless, in some setups, with some music, it's a sound I enjoy. Axiom's speakers have a reputation for being extremely clean and accurate, and it seems like the character of some tube amplifiers might work quite well with them.
I understand that there's a big debate between the solid-state and tube amp camps, and I'm not interested in inflaming that; instead perhaps additional people who like the sound of tube amps could tell me whether the Axiom M22Ti's are well suited to them (as spiffnme did).

Technically speaking, the perceived "warmth" in the sound of many tube amps (besides the psychological effect of the beautiful heaters ) comes from their high output impedance (low damping factor). When amp's output impedance is high, the overall frequency response is biased toward the speaker's impedance curve. Most speakers exhibit large peak(s) in impedance curve at bass frequencies. So, when driven by a high-output impedance amp, these bass frequencies are enhanced, resulting in the perceived "warmth."

A nice 5 watt per channel SET tube amp can drive the M22s very, very sweetly. I have a collection of amps in my systems, but my favorite and best sounding is an Antique Sound Labs MG S1 15DT integrated 5 wpc in triode mode (15 wpc in pentode which I don't use), a pair of M22 like speakers (Michaura M55s), a Vance Dickason Titanic 10" sub, and an Ah! Njoe Tjoeb tube output CD player.

My high powered solid state amplified systems certainly sound louder, and they sound very good in their own rights, but for high fidelity, easy to listen to music reproduction, I'll take the low powered single end triode integrated tube amp system.

BTW, in one system, I use 3 Onkyo M282 2 channel amps (100 wpc) and a Sony STRDB 1070 for processing, a Toshiba SD9200 DVD Audio player for source, 4 M22 like Michaura M55s, an Axiom made Merak MC6H center speaker, a Dahlquist 15" PDQ1500 sub and a 1640 watt Klipsch LF10 sub.

The other solid state system uses an Anthem PVA-5 120 wpc x 5 amp, and a Kenwood KA9100 2 channel for channels 6+7, an Onkyo 797 used as a processor, a Philips SACD 1000 source, a giant Klipsch KLF-C7 center speaker, a pair of M60 like Michaura M665s up front, a pair of M50 like Michaura M66s on the sides, and a pair of Mission 77ds back surrounds, an SVS 20-39 sub and a Velodyne CHT100 sub in stereo arrangement through an Outlaw ICBM-1 bass manager.

Most pleasant to listen to? They're all great and I enjoy each system very much, but the best of the bunch for music? the 2 channel tube amped system with a pair of M22 like speakers.