Axiom Home Page Forums General Discussion Stereo Tube amp for M22's

I'm considering buying a mini tube amp for the M22's. What wattage should I be looking for to drive the M22's to their fullest?

How much are you willing to spend on a tube amp?

Up to $400.00 I found this one, MP-301 MK-2, But is the wattage enough as far as tube amps go?

Hi Robert.

I tried to drive a pair of M22Tis with a 5 wpc SET tube amp. It was not a successful mating. What is interesting is that most of the time my amp is putting out less than 1 watt at normal listening levels. For some reason, unlike the M3s, the M22s need more juice. I have no idea why.

My tube amp is rated at 15 wpc in pentode mode. Still did not sound right.

I'd go with a 25 wpc or higher tube amp to go with the M22s, but that's just extrapolating from my unsatisfactory experience with a lower power tube amp.

I had a hunch that 6.5 watts would not be enough. The 22's are very power hungry. I'm currently using the h/k 645 AVR to run a 7.2 setup. I want to add a separate amp to run the 22's alone.
The 645 does have preouts to add the amp. Thanks for the great advice.

What about setting up a near-field, stereo computer setup incorporating the tube amp, M22's, a Behringer UCA 202 USB DAC and a pair of quality headphones?

Well, seems to me that if you're going to go the headphone route you won't need the M22s. I like phones, but I can tell you that a pair of M22s, a 10" sub and a decent amp will fill a room with beautiful music, if beautiful music is your preference.

Disclaimer: I have never heard one.

I would look at Glow Audio. They have one in your price range that has been well reviewed. It looks good and only uses 4 tubes so it won't cost a fortune when it come time to retube. It also uses EL84 output tubes which historically have been a really good sounding tube in push/pull applications.

I don't know if it will match well with the 22's but it would be worth exploring.

Good luck. Tube amps are lots of fun and I hope you get lots of enjoyment from whatever amp you go with.

Bob, the M22s aren't "power hungry"; they're at the average point for speaker sensitivity. To allow for the 105dB level set as the maximum "reference" in movies would require about 100 watts in a typical room at home at a typical listening distance of about 10 feet. A similar amount of maximum power capacity would be needed for brief peaks in highly dynamic music recordings, such as some classical items.

Any of the usual receivers having a rating anywhere in the 100-150 watt area would be ample for this.

But he wants a tube amp not a usual receiver. Let's help him.

Chris, the main point is the power requirement, which doesn't vary with the amplifier technology. He wants to know how many watts are necessary.

Bob, you may want to contact some local audio shops which carry tube amps. They may have a used one and could demo it for you. If you go used, you should make sure the transformers are in good shape - absence of hum.

Although some disagree, in my opinion, a good tube amp, especially a Single End Triode type, just sound beautiful with the right speakers. The M3s are an easy load for a low power tube amp. I do not know why the M22s should present a more difficult load (their sensitivity rating is about the same) but they just do, or at least the pair I had did.

Tubes not only sound great, they also glow in the dark.

Some tube amps which I've heard and like very much:

Jolida, Antique Sound Labs, Prima Luna, Cary, Hafler, some older ones: Dynaco, The Fisher, H. H. Scott, Harman Kardon.

Good luck!!

I'll take a guess and say the reason the M22s like a little more power might be due to the ~2ohm reading in the impedance curve around 4khz at least there was that dip on the older M22Ti's and I believe on the v2s as well..

Jason, of course the effect of a lower impedance at certain frequencies is to require less, not more, power at those frequencies.

Yes, but due to this ease of power flow it would be easier to hit max output with a low power amp and there is usually more distortion at max output. I think for for most people this would be viewed as the speakers require more power to avoid this situation.

Audiogon listing

You might want to look at this amp listed on Audiogon. Cayin has a pretty decent reputation but I have not heard this model. I am not affiliated with this seller.

Cayin amp

Fixed the link.

I have heard that Cayin's are good too. One thing about buying amps. Are parts and service going to be available?

Posted this elsewhere too. If you are looking for a tube sound, you can get it if you have a tube preamp instead of a tube amplifier. That way you don't have to worry about finding tubes with the power to drive speakers to their full potential.

I have a DAC with an optional tube preamp output and it adds some of the tube "magic" I like hearing. Always an option to look down that route. Plus, getting a tube preamp/DAC means you can use it for almost any setup, including headphones

For example a headphone amp like this above can also act as a tube preamp in a stereo speaker setup.