PMC twenty and low power tube amp?

[andreelis]

Hi,

i have been wondering how PMC twenty.23 or .24 would work runned by 6W/ch integrated tube amp... :?

Thank you for your opinion. :rockout:

 

[CnoEvil]

Probably not ideal........why not contact PMC.

BTW Welcome to the fun!

 

[floyd droid]

Lol , and you know what Pmc will recco dont ya Cno.

 

[nopiano]

Of those two, the 24 is 3dB more sensitive, so would essential with such minimal output.

I guess PMC will suggest a several hundred watt Bryston?

 

[Electro]

I reckon if the OP was to ask PMC directly they would say that a six watt tube amp would not be ideal for use with the PMC twenty series and maybe point him in the direction of a more suitable speaker type . 🙂

 

[shafesk]

Hi, I've listened to the PMC .24 with an electrocompanient amp which is rated at 50 watts. I did feel the need for more power and would consider that as a minimum provided your listening room isn't huge. If you want to use a tube amp then I would suggest the Cayin a-55t which has 45 watts in ultralinear mode but is much more powerful than a 45 watt solid state. 6 watts really wouldn't do the PMCs or the amp any justice. 6 watts will probably work with audionote or zu audios though.

 

[bluedroog]

I heard the 22s with a beefy Leema integrated which had more than enough power. I didn’t get the impression they needed much to be honest but then I had it on tap, I did feel tubes might tame the sound to more my liking though and am really keen to hear my SS power amp and tube pre-amp driving them.

 

[SpursGator]

Hi,

i have been wondering how PMC twenty.23 or .24 would work runned by 6W/ch integrated tube amp... :?

Thank you for your opinion. :rockout:

It's not a good match. The speakers will still play music and it might sound OK but neither is really designed for the other.

 

[pauln]

If you want to use a tube amp then I would suggest the Cayin a-55t which has 45 watts in ultralinear mode but is much more powerful than a 45 watt solid state.

Can you explain how a tube watt is more powerful than a solid state watt?

As far as I can remember from doing an engineering degree, a watt is a unit of measurement of power, defined as strictly as a metre or a kilogram is. So long as amplifier manufacturers are consistent, accurate and honest in quoting the power output of their products, all watts are the same.

 

[CnoEvil]

If you want to use a tube amp then I would suggest the Cayin a-55t which has 45 watts in ultralinear mode but is much more powerful than a 45 watt solid state.

Can you explain how a tube watt is more powerful than a solid state watt?

As far as I can remember from doing an engineering degree, a watt is a unit of measurement of power, defined as strictly as a metre or a kilogram is. So long as amplifier manufacturers are consistent, accurate and honest in quoting the power output of their products, all watts are the same.

IMO. Watts may be the same in theory, but in practice, two 30W amps (for example) can be very different, depending on the robustness of the power supply.

 

[hoopsontoast]

If you want to use a tube amp then I would suggest the Cayin a-55t which has 45 watts in ultralinear mode but is much more powerful than a 45 watt solid state.

Can you explain how a tube watt is more powerful than a solid state watt?

As far as I can remember from doing an engineering degree, a watt is a unit of measurement of power, defined as strictly as a metre or a kilogram is. So long as amplifier manufacturers are consistent, accurate and honest in quoting the power output of their products, all watts are the same.

They are not, its because Valve amps 'clip' a lot nicer, so you can go past their rated range and it wont sound as horrible, where as SS amps tend to clip hard and sound awfull when they do.

Its also likely that a 45w Valve amp will have a much better mains transformer / Output transformers than the equivelent SS amp, with output taps to match to the speaker (4,8 or 16 ohms for example).

 

[lindsayt]

Give it a try, if you can without committing a lot of money. Keep an open mind. The combination might work well together. It might not. 2 most likely areas for sonic compromise are in bass tightness and dynamic ease at loudest volumes. Area most likely to work well is midrange naturalness, inparticular vocals.

 

[SpursGator]

Can you explain how a tube watt is more powerful than a solid state watt?

As far as I can remember from doing an engineering degree, a watt is a unit of measurement of power, defined as strictly as a metre or a kilogram is.

Not all watts are the same. You may recall from your engineering degree that a watt is the product of the voltage and the current, which are easily measureable quantities like a metre or kilo. So a given quantity of watts could be very high current or very high voltage or something in between.

In the case of tube and class A amps, people often talk about their wattage as being somehow 'more' than a class AB amp of the same wattage. In this case it's not just about current and voltage, it's about useable watts. Most SS amps depend on having lots of power to sound good, since they sound the best when taxed the least (and as another poster said, they sound horrible when they clip). Thus high-end SS amps tend to have lots of watts, to provide headroom.

Tube/class A amps have a more linear distortion profile - they operate very consistently up to their power rating and thus handle transients better, so that their sound seems more soft and organic. So a good 20 watt tube amp probably sounds decent even when you are using all 20 watts, whereas many SS amps rated for 50 or 100 watts may only really sound their best putting out the 'first' 10-20 watts anyway - driving them harder with low impedence speakers, say, and really using those extra watts may result in music that sounds harsh and fatiguing.

 

[shafesk]

If you want to use a tube amp then I would suggest the Cayin a-55t which has 45 watts in ultralinear mode but is much more powerful than a 45 watt solid state.

Can you explain how a tube watt is more powerful than a solid state watt?

As far as I can remember from doing an engineering degree, a watt is a unit of measurement of power, defined as strictly as a metre or a kilogram is. So long as amplifier manufacturers are consistent, accurate and honest in quoting the power output of their products, all watts are the same.

Well unless you are talking about Class A ss watts then I have found that tube amps of the same watt rating as solid states to sound much more powerful. As has been said, this is probably due to a beefier power supply or could also be because the distortion of tube amps is pleasant to the ear unlike solid states. In fact, when my Cayin clips you don't hear any of the usual "breakdown" you get from ss amps, it just feels like the volume can't go any further. Hope my very untechnical explanation helps 🙂