I'm severely scratching my head if someone wants a suitable amplifier for this or for that kind of music. In my opinion an amp has to be as linear as possible and powerful enough, hence it is capable of truly reproducing any music.
Best regards!
+1
I'm severely scratching my head if someone wants a suitable amplifier for this or for that kind of music
Best regards!
+1 again. Its kind of like buying the best stove for cooking a pot of mostly-beans chili as opposed to a pot of mostly-beef chili.
You match the amp to the speaker not the music. That 12" Audio Nirvana Super Ferrite in a large >4 cubic foot enclosure is an excellent match for a high quality SE triode amp. That speaker can reproduce the first watt very well. In fact it reproduces the first 10'th of a watt! 89db speakers dont "wake up" until they have way over 1W. Ever wonder why you cant hear the noise floor of your amps with 89db speakers? But with these Nirvana speakers their efficiency will reproduce even the noise floor if you get close. Some say the "magic" of SE triode sound is in the first 10th of a watt, so the speaker needs to be able to wake up to that.
I have this same AN speaker in a cabinet I built using the 5.6MkII plans (5.6 cu ft) (wider baffle in case i wanted to go to the 15 someday). If your wife will let you they have plans for a 13.6 cu ft enclosure too, go big or go home I say! I'm happy with single full range driver in a big box and I listen to mostly jazz (check out my favorite Catherine Russell for good program material). I do have a sub hooked up to it though just to extend the bottom, so the AN runs full range with sub. My next speaker project will be a AN 15 crossed over to a horn loaded ribbon in a bigger box, I will make the ribbon horn from wood.
For that speaker I'd go with SE triodes.
Completely correct!
The OP likes Jazz. So, use Grappelli recordings when evaluating the resulting combination. The violin and the "Fat Lady" are critical tests of any music reproduction system's capabilities. Some additional pondering suggests Fitzgerald recordings too.
I don't fully agree. Jazz is different from e.g. large orchestral music or rock. It does not need extended low frequency and high peak level. However it needs warmth, low fatigue, perhaps also low noise. Even a single ended EL84/86 could do, depending on the speakers.
I respectfully disagree. I listen to hard bop primarily and an acoustic bass is more challenging to get the right tone and depth than any electric bass except for perhaps a contra-bass guitar.
And what instrument requires more extended frequency response than brushed cymbals.
The exception to this might be electronic music .
Yes, match the amp to the speakers, not the music.
I know my EL-84 SE of 3 watt does jazz very well on the speakers i used with it. I now use a 94dB efficient Goodman Mezzo SL and that plays also hard bop and more modern jazzstyles like it should, and loud enough in smaller listening spaces. The EL-84 is a very musical tube fit for acoustic music, it only need very efficient speakers and the right config to shine. It won't give the power needed for big classical pieces with big dynamics (like Mahler symphonies and so), but for Jazz and other small band acoustic music it is perfect. That AN FR is more efficient so i guess it will fit it also.
A good prebuild example is the Line Magnetic LM-mini84IA wich is also relative cheap (800€ in Europe). But if you want to DIY, there are many known and tested schematic floating arround like suggested above...
A good prebuild example is the Line Magnetic LM-mini84IA wich is also relative cheap (800€ in Europe). But if you want to DIY, there are many known and tested schematic floating arround like suggested above...
Since you are in the US, you could buy a single ended el84 amp and rebuild it for a pretty low price. These amps come from old console stereos and most of them are below a hundred bucks. They are relatively simple circuits and are excellent choice for starting to learn how to DIY with respect to tube amps.
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