Tube amplifier for Avantgarde Duo Mezzo XD

[Marslo]

Marslo -
Very nice upgrade both speakers and amps!. Wish i had the room for Trios.

Is your Crossfire the stereo version or the mono blocks? I don't think I've ever seen the Crossfire monos for sale used, which is a generally a good sign.

My Crossfire III is integrated. There is also Evo version of both integrated and monoblocks.
I want to keep 3 sources and integrated amp is the best solution in my living room.
I tried many different SS amp designs , PP tube and even OTL, power amps and monos and I liked Crossfire III . Also because of the fact that my system is tuned carefuly with this amp .
As far as I know Caelin Gabriel uses Crossfire Evo monos in his system.

Amplifiers – Ayon Audio

 

[essrand]

Have you asked your friend why he is particularly interested in tube SETs? I use Avantgarde Duo XDs and moved away from tubes to SS 3 years ago and no regrets for doing so. I now listen to far more music and the sound is at least as good as from my SETs. He should keep an open mind regarding amplifier type and (this is hugely important) he should arrange home trials of a dozen or so amps of various technologies before deciding which sounds best with his Mezzos. In my own case I borrowed several amps but bought used examples of other likely candidates, so lost little if anything on resale. I doubt he will settle on SETs. If he does, perhaps those with 845 or 211 output tubes will offer excellent sound. Very low power ones (PX-25, 45, 2A3, etc) may sound great (perhaps even sublime) with relatively light music, but may be out of their depth with big orchestral stuff.

This is my friend's reply:

"I’m presently using a First Watt F3 amp and find the sound thin and the highs a bit too hot and over the top. My pre is the erstwhile top of line Pass XP-30 not 32 but that’s a v. minor difference there. I’ve tried my 20 yr old Audio Note parallel 300B P4 upgraded (then) SET monos outputting 17w but find the noise level (hum) too high to live with at 107 db. The sound is a bit bloated too.
I’ve tried my DIY SET 2A3 monos (based on the Baby Ongaku Gordon Rankin’s design (but unfortunately with a non silver Magnaquest output transformers). They sound better but the same hum problem exists.
The Musical Engagement factor ME as Jim Smith says is more important to me than technical accuracy and my tastes are primarily Classical Music, voice and some easy Jazz."

 

[Hear Here]

This is my friend's reply:

"I’m presently using a First Watt F3 amp and find the sound thin and the highs a bit too hot and over the top. My pre is the erstwhile top of line Pass XP-30 not 32 but that’s a v. minor difference there. I’ve tried my 20 yr old Audio Note parallel 300B P4 upgraded (then) SET monos outputting 17w but find the noise level (hum) too high to live with at 107 db. The sound is a bit bloated too.
I’ve tried my DIY SET 2A3 monos (based on the Baby Ongaku Gordon Rankin’s design (but unfortunately with a non silver Magnaquest output transformers). They sound better but the same hum problem exists.
The Musical Engagement factor ME as Jim Smith says is more important to me than technical accuracy and my tastes are primarily Classical Music, voice and some easy Jazz."

I've never had very costly amps in my system but of the dozen or so solid state ones in the £3-8K range I've bought or home demo'd recently, I found the best sound and highest ME factor from the relatively inexpensive NAD M33. This is an all-in-one so it's a bit of a bargain in my book. I'm sure I could better it, but probably I'd need to spend £10+ on the amp alone and goodness knows what on the DAC, streamer, DSP (which I prefer not to use), etc. With my Duo XDs, there were other amps I liked but for one reason or another, I settled for the NAD. Peter

 

[essrand]

This is my friend's reply:

"I’m presently using a First Watt F3 amp and find the sound thin and the highs a bit too hot and over the top. My pre is the erstwhile top of line Pass XP-30 not 32 but that’s a v. minor difference there. I’ve tried my 20 yr old Audio Note parallel 300B P4 upgraded (then) SET monos outputting 17w but find the noise level (hum) too high to live with at 107 db. The sound is a bit bloated too.
I’ve tried my DIY SET 2A3 monos (based on the Baby Ongaku Gordon Rankin’s design (but unfortunately with a non silver Magnaquest output transformers). They sound better but the same hum problem exists.
The Musical Engagement factor ME as Jim Smith says is more important to me than technical accuracy and my tastes are primarily Classical Music, voice and some easy Jazz."

A minor correction here. The amp he currently owns is First Watt SIT3 no the F3.