Amplifier suggestions for Tannoy Stirlings

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McShads

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Hi, I'm new here but have read quite a few threads and there seems to be some knowledgable people here.
I would welcome any suggestions for amp's to drive Tannoy Sterlings. (Is the Stirling the best of the 'small' and reasonably priced Tannoys?) My room is 10x16' max. Stirlings are 91 dB. I would consider valve or solid state, preferably integrated and preferably with remote volume. Budget pretty flexible maybe up to £3K-£4K. Must be good with all types of music. I have always used valves in the past (mainly SET's) along with a Sugden A21, but not with these speakers, no experience of other solid state. An Ayre AX7e has been suggested, fits the bill but never heard one, any thoughts? Regards
 
ive grown to love the big accuphase class A amp's these days, smooth, clean and very controlled sound. I have not heard much that can beat them, esspecially into fairly efficient speakers. The E-550 would be worth looking at, but at the very very top end of your budget for a used one.
 
As the Stirlings use the pepperpot HF, tube gear tends to be the preference in most circles for taming the subjective presence peak.The wrong choice of ss gear could have you running for cover.
 
How about some sort of hybrid amp? I'm using a Unison Research Unico hybrid and swapping between a pair of monitor golds (pepperpot hf) and a pair of system 10 DMT's (tulip waveguide hf) and it's sweet as a nut with both.
 
Probably should have said they where Stirling SE's. Don't know if it makes any difference to the tweeter. Don't know much about Tannoy's yet...
 
Is the Stirling SE the best of the 'reasonably small/reasonably priced' Tannoy's? My dealer, who I have a lot of time for, recommended them without a second thought but I would be interested in others opinions.
 
I've not heard the Stirling SE but I am generally a fan of the DC speakers, especially the "pepper pots". Match it with a good valve amp and just sit back and enjoy.

This amp may be of interest. Heard a few people rave about them.
 
Yes, someone else suggested the Berning, never even heard of them before, will investigate. Can it really be as good as some people say?
 
I've always enjoyed the SET's I've owned, do you think 10w of single ended 300B would be sufficient to drive the Stirling's in my 10' x 16' room? I don't want to shake the walls but I do listen at an appropriate volume for the music, or as my wife would say 'that's really loud'!
 
Although the 10-watt set will probably sound great, bass might be under-damped. For the correct resolution of fine detail and dynamics, I'd be looking at an amp with sufficient voltage swing. A KT88 / 6550 amp or the Sugden should work well, as might something even more powerful (Tannoy recommend 30-150 watts). You should definitely try a few amps, keep an open mind and take your time.

Edit:
For 300b, try parallel s/ended (18 watts), such as an Audio Note Conquest, or 300b PP from the likes of Canary.

McShads said:
I've always enjoyed the SET's I've owned, do you think 10w of single ended 300B would be sufficient to drive the Stirling's in my 10' x 16' room?
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I've got the Stirling's here on demo now and they don't sound great, what am I doing wrong? They sound lean and very artificial! I'm using the sugden a21 and the stirlings are almost in the room corners, the only thing is I haven't spiked them yet as I'm moving them around so much but I don't think that can be making them sound so bad. The bass is nice and they sound effortless but quite lean and very artificial. Any ideas anyone? Maybe it's just a miss match with my room.
 
McShads said:
I've got the Stirling's here on demo now and they don't sound great, what am I doing wrong? They sound lean and very artificial! I'm using the sugden a21 and the stirlings are almost in the room corners, the only thing is I haven't spiked them yet as I'm moving them around so much but I don't think that can be making them sound so bad. The bass is nice and they sound effortless but quite lean and very artificial. Any ideas anyone? Maybe it's just a miss match with my room.
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7-10 ft apart ,toed in so the horn axis crosses 1ft infront of your nose, 2 -3 ft away from wall boundaries and make sure you've got them in phase......
 

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