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shouldn't use my speakers with a tube amp?

brightpav

brightpav

Member
Hello everyone!

Hello.

I currently own a pair of Mourdant-Short Aviano 1's as my loudspeakers. I was curious what everyone thought about a conversation I had with a dealer at a local hifi shop today.

I'm very pleased with the speakers but I mentioned to said dealer that I was looking to upgrade my current tube amp (which only pushes 15WPC) with a more powerful tube amplifier. This guy tells me that "Mourdant Short insists that listeners NOT use a tube amplifier." He claims tube amps "don't account for damping, can't properly control the speaker and that only a solid state amp could make my Mourdant-Shorts sound "like they should."

He added that if I wanted a tube sound I should invest in a tube preamp and a solid state power amp which of course he as willing to sell me.

In fact ... he claimed I could even "call the Mourdant Short factory and they'll tell you what I just said."

I did in fact send MS an email asking the same questions I ask here but I was hoping someone on the boards could take a moment and speak to what this guy saying either for or against. My bulls*it radar was going off a bit, but then again what do I know?!

Thanks!
 
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Some speakers indeed need an amp with higher damping factors*. That leaves most tube and some SS gear out as being the best choice for the job.

*Higher damping factors help control the motion of the woofers, resulting in cleaner, less sloppy bass performance.
 
What matters is how they sound to you, not what some dealer who is trying to sell you an amp says.
 
My thoughts exactly. There's nothing I could find anywhere in Mourdant-Short documentation saying anything either way about tube or solid state.

As for my amp now, I've discussed it in detail on here and it's pretty clear I need some more power. It's fine for casual listening sitting directly in front but when I want some more volume for the apartment it definitely "breaks up" and loses all body. I'm at over 1/2 way just to get a listenable volume.

Take a look at my past threads if you're interested. Thanks!
 
i tried a pair of ms with a transistor amp mission cyrus 2 they didn't last too long .. then again it was unfair to them it was far to loud really .. my view is they are very over rated ..so some real power may just break them ..
 
Huh. That's too bad. They've treated me great with a solid state 50 WPC amp and the tube 15 WPC. I wasn't planning on going over 35 WPC tube for my new amp anyhow.
 
I always thought the same thing about Bozaks. Tubes just couldn't get a high enough factor no matter how I played with feedback. Are the cones particularly heavy?
 
Tube amps don't theoretically do a very good job at controlling speakers that are highly reactive. They can not provide the current necessary for controlling the cones of the woofers. What the guy told you make perfect sense to me and sound very "nonbs-ish" to me.

Steve
 
Pardon me, because I am a novice in the theories.

What ARE the benefits then of damping (therefore SS) and would they outweigh the (to my ears) the very beautiful reproduction I hear from tubes?

Thanks!
 
I think Targeteye and others on AK have summed it up. This may be a little extreme but, as an example, I have a homemade mono PP 6L6 amp that has horrible damping factor. While you think everything may be sounding proper it will blow woofers like no one's business! If you watch a large woofer in a ported box while it's cranked up loud it's almost like a 2-10Hz sine wave is going in the background along with the music- the cone appears to move on it's own. While it's doing that it's "wasting" power. There's some fun factor there but it affects sound quality.

Brian
 
Pity there are no Thiel owners here (myself included). With their low efficiency, fantastically complex crossovers, and demanding requirements for extreme amplifier damping, virtually any vacuum tube amplifier is almost guaranteed to fail to satisfy. Try a nice Bryston amp (4B works well) instead.
 
damping factor, from what little I know is only needed when your pushing huge speakers with big powerful amps. Even then the damping factor is just something I never look at.
 
targeteye said:
I'll leave the whole beautiful reproduction of tube amps discussion to folks that can wax eloquent about such things. IE I'm not about to step into that!

Steve
Click to expand...

I don't blame you 'cause then ya gotta clean it off your shoes and leave 'em outside......:D
 
I had a pair of tube monoblocks, 37wpc that both the amp manufacturer and the speaker manufacturer said should work well together. They didn't. I went through expensive power tubes (6550) like crazy. So, I went to a tubed preamp and SS amps, then all was well. Fantastic, actually.

If I were you, I'd wait to see what MS has to say about the match, then proceed with caution. If you want to be on the safe side----tube pre-SSamp as the dealer recommended. Ultimately, it's up to you.

Dave
 
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