LeoG Posted January 15, 2011 Share Posted January 15, 2011 Hello everybody, I've had this Manley Stingray (1st generation) integrated tube amplifier for approximately 10 years, and it was doing a perfect job with my ProAc 3.5 speakers. Now that I've finally purchased a 1996 pair of KHorns (going through the board and squaker/tweeter upgrades at the moment and building false corners), I've got an unexpected problem, i.e. background noise. ProAcs are great speakers (and I am going to do an honest comparison test against KHorns as soon as all my upgrade projects are over), but their sensitivity is much lower (89 dB). At that sensitivity I was hearing NO background noise from the amplifier whatsoever. (By background noise I mean purely amplifier-generated noise/squawks/rustle caused by tubes/transformers when Volume is set to 0, and there is no input signal whatsoever). Everybody was surprised that a tube amplifier can work with them at all, but the combination proved perfect... Anyway, while I expected that a tube-based Stingray is also a perfect match for KHorns, it proved wrong. While the background noise is not too strong or extremely annoying, there is always something in the background during pauses, and it is not purely uniform, but I can hear slight squawks etc. (All tubes are in perfect order and matched, and I am checking the bias regularly, so do not blame it on the amp being out-of-tune). I am wondering if anyone has a good advice on an alternative tube stereo intergated amp or a tube-based amp-pre-amp pair that is still within the reach of a person who is not insane (audiophile) enough to spend $10K on a state-of-the-art Ayon model? The idea is to get comparable quality/clarity/crispness, but less background noise. At the moment I am completely set on tubes, just as it was in the times of PWK. Also, a solid-state amp will most probably be over-powered for KHorns given their sensitivity, even though I am not purist enough to miss a good alternative... I am looking at a stereo (2-channel) amp only, and I am absolutely not interested in receivers or multi-channel amplifiers... I have an absolutely separate home theater system in another room... The problem is that the 1st generation Manley Stingray: a) is not switchable to the triod-only mode (A class) and doesn't have the pre-amp bypass mode, so I can't try out another pre-amp or DAC with the same amplifier. (Most noise typically comes from the first cascade...) Thanks a lot for your kind thoughts! Leo Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ski Bum Posted January 15, 2011 Share Posted January 15, 2011 'Alternative' tube stereo integrated? This should have you covered: http://www.decware.com/newsite/TORII.htm As far out as that thing seems, it has everything you requested. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
russ69 Posted January 15, 2011 Share Posted January 15, 2011 Maybe give Eve Anna a call at Manley and see if they can reduce the noise floor to work with your horns (reduce gain). If not get a pair of Horn-monos from Quicksilver, they are sweet. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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