Axiom Home Page Forums General Discussion Stereo Tube questions/discussions (2x6 help)

Since we're talking tube amps...

How many "TUBE WATTS" would one need to comfortably power a pair of M60's

Thanks, Jag

I'm no tube expert, that's for sure, but I do prefer a good SET tube amp for stereo music listening. I've litened to both M3Tis and M22Tis with this 5 wpc tube amp, and I think the M3s are a great match. I currently use a pair of M50 like Michaura M66s and think they are a magical match for the ASL MG S1 15DT, same for the Michaura M55s (very much like the M22Tis). I've tried both M22s and M50s with the 5 wpc tubie and interestingly, neither is magical match. Dunno why.

I haven't listened to the nOhr tube amps, but Enjoy the Music a decent reviewer didn't like the SE9. http://www.enjoythemusic.com/magazine/archives/

Kcarlile,
I've been around this board for a long time mostly reading Posts, not posting unless I have a significant question or answer that needes to be addressed.

Jag,
Thanks for the information I appreciate it.

I believe kcarlie was making an attempt at humor so don't be offended. It's hard to get 2x6 to shut up about his "Axiom-like Micauras".
Seriously, though they sound alot like Axioms but with a more subdued tweeter and possibly a little less upper midrange. They look great with their high gloss finishes - maybe Axiom should make the high gloss finish a std feature?

Dry humor... gets me in trouble all the time. Yeah, I was joking about 2x6 being a tube aficianado. He is. Very much so.

Didn't mean to make you feel unwelcome or anything like that.

Kcarlile,
I was not upset I was just making a statement. I am curious how the Antique Sound Labs MG SI 15DT sounds with M80Ti'S? Thanks

Lee, since no tube experts have addressed your specific question, and since the application of basic audio engineering principles should be adequate, I'll give it a try. The bottom line would be that although the 15DT can't of course improve the sound of your M80s(despite the fact that it uses Russian KT 88s, Rachmaninoff won't sound any better), neither is it likely that it would be audibly degraded at moderate listening levels. Although the 15DT has an extremely low damping factor of about 1.3(compared to typically around 100 for solid state amps), as speaker designer Dick Pierce explains in this excellent article,even such a low factor has relatively small negative effects. This would especially be the case when a speaker has a relatively flat impedance curve(as the NRC results show for the M80)and the amp wouldn't have to "follow" it much up and down.

Of course there's a possible distortion problem with low powered SETs if an attempt would be made to play at very high levels(see the discussion by John Murphy linked in an earlier reply). However, 5 watts is adequate most of the time(1 watt supplies a comfortably loud basic level)and distortion wouldn't be a significant problem if the listening is confined to moderate levels with material that doesn't have a very wide dynamic range.