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valve amp power output
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I want to buy a modern integrated valve amp that can comfortably
drive my existing speakers.
The speakers are a set of Kef Concertos, rated at 30W or a set of IMF
ALS40 rated at 40W.
The price of the amps seems to relate quite closely to the power
output, all other factors being equal. Could anyone advise on what
sort of power would be needed and whether any particular valve type
would suit this type of speaker setup. EL34 or 300B or KT66 etc ??
I have a few 70"s and 80's solid state amps and have nothing but
respect for them. I am just curious!
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I would say an amp delivering around 25 ~ 40 watts rms would be suitable. I
have a set of 15" Tannoy Monitor Red's in an infinite baffle arrangement
that I run from a stereo Williamson amp that I built and rebuilt and rebuilt
etc! - uses KT66 and outputs 25 watts rms.
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If you can find your speakers' efficiency rating (something along the
lines of 90dB 1W/1m) that should be more useful in choosing your amp. If
it's not on the back, you will probably be able to find it on the net
somewhere.
If you're lucky and the speakers are 90dB+ you might be able to get away
with a fairly low-powered amp.
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**The Concertos possessed a horrible, boomy bottom end, which will sound
much worse when connected to an amplifier with poor to average damping
factor (IOW: The vast majority of valve amps). The IMFs will fare somewhat
better. However, your question merely begs even more questions. Valve
amplifiers come in many different flavours. They're all different. Why
restrict your choice to one type of technology? Just listen (asking other
people which amp to buy, just inflicts their listening/purchasing bias on
you) to a range of different amplifiers (Triode. Pentode, SET, BJT, MOSFET,
etc) and make your own mind up.
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