Solid state amp or integrated for LS3/5A

[rothwellaudio]

It's often said that LS3/5As need a lot of power and I have heard them sound great with a 100 watt amp (it was a kit based on Hitachi's circuit for their MOSFETs) but I've also heard them sound great with a weedy 10 watt valve amp too.

 

[MudSlideSlim]

I've also heard them sound great with a weedy 10 watt valve amp too.

It's a paradox that they can eat up a garden variety 100 watt amp and acquire a reputation of being power hungry yet they can sound fantastic with a 10 or 20 watt valve amp. God work in strange ways.

 

[FauxHall]

A century ago, I mean in the last century I heard them driven by a Bedini 25/25 and they sounded excellent. In tubes The Dyna ST70 was also a good affordable match as I recall. This amp also has 16ohm taps. I'd also be curious as to what British amps they were used with in that era.

Michael

 

[FauxHall]

At 15 ohms they need a lot of voltage
Tube amps can do that easily.

 

[mech986]

At 15 ohms they need a lot of voltage
Tube amps can do that easily.

Truly the case where tube watts are more effective than solid state watts.

 

[goonybird]

When I had LS3/5a I used Radford STA25 Tube amp which was very smooth and open, Later had a Raford STA60/100 (6550's tubes) which sounded perfect. Then compared big Radford to Revox B750 mk1 and that worked well enough to sell the Radford. The Revox B750 at the time compared well to UK Tube amps of the day eg M&A TVA 1 etc

 

[MrLem]

Too late I know but thought it might be useful for future browsers. I believe the BBC used to mostly run these off Quad 303s or custom variants thereof. In the UK you sometimes see them sold as a bundle.