Dynaudio 52SE with Cayin A88T valve amp

[Dinkar Rai]

i have recently purchased a Cayan Tube amp (A88T) and have paired it with a pair of dynaudio 52SE speakers. i was told by a friend that basically the 52SE is an inefficient speaket and should not be driven by valve amps. My valve amp uses the bigger KT88 tubes and is rated at 40 watts RMS. Is what my friend saying correct? he feels that the SE should be driven by more powerful high current amps. pls advse.

 

[Bevan]

sorry, cant answer that one, hopefully someone here can.

But I'm very interested in how the combo sounds. Can you give us any description? maybe relate the sound to any other dynaudio/amp combos you may have auditioned? I've been thinking about a Cayin for my dynes for some time now.

How does it sound when played loud? this should indicate whether the amp is up to the task(if you want to have the option to play loud that is).

Dynes are well known for liking high current amps, but i'm not sure what 40 watt class A tubes equates to when comparred next to solid state A/B power.

cheers

bevan

 

[Dinkar Rai]

very clear sound. pronounced vocals. crisp and clear. but i need to listen at med to high volume. i dont think the amp will be able to drive the larger dynas. you will need more power. but the 52SE sounds amazing. even the bass will floor you. (valve amps and small speakers are not supposed to give much bass). but this will surprise you.

very satisfied with the purchase. but pls demo them with your speakers before buying. which dynas do you have?

Dinkar.

 

[Bevan]

thanks for the description.

you didnt say though if you have noticed any sign of the amp taking strain at high volume?

i'm looking at the hybrids with a solid state power section and tubes up front. i also like my music loud and dont want it to feel lacking. got a pair of 52 and thinking of getting 52 se's and moving the 52's to the rear for a 4.0 or 4.1 setup. (i still though want to put my money into a good integrated cause i'm not prepared to sacrifice 2 channel performance by getting a receiver. will use my current nad integrated to power the rears strait out of the denon universal. means having to balance front and rear volumes each time but its a price i'm willing to pay)

are you using a sub? this might make all the difference to your 40 watts if you have the dynes crossed over at 80hz say.

i dont have a sub yet but will get when i get the 52se's, partly cause the only profesion review of the se's(by gene of audioholics) noted the woofer bottoming out at high volumes when set to 'large'. though have posted about this and have yet to hear of anyone else experiencing this same problem.

btw, got to listen to the 72se yesterday, with a rotel 1072 and gamut 200w integrated. very nice but i'd take the 52se's and a sub over it any day.

cheers

bevan

 

[Dinkar Rai]

the cayin has three speaker outs at the back for 4/6/8 ohms seperately. i have not had any feeeling of lack of power at high voumes. but i do not listen to music very loud. my emphasis is more on clarity. but they are loud enough for anyone i guess. go try the combo. it will floor you. i listen to a lot of vocal centric music including jazz. it is very good for that. i presently have the Dyna42w for rear and 42c for centre with a mission sub. but when i listen to stereo, i switch the amp to the cayin.

how do i marry the sub in my cayin setup. i have not understood. tecnically how do you do it?

gamut is a great amp.

 

[Bevan]

Dinkar, if the amp has an extra set out pre-outs it should be doable. otherwise you can get a Y adaptor which i think can be used on the speakers cable binding posts on the amp?(but i could be wrong, it may only work on the pre out if you dont have an extra pair. though the amp might not even have one pre out)

or running it from the source might be an option if you have a universal or dvd player for cd playback.

maybe ask the shop who sells the subs what to do. i'm far from an expert in subs.

cheers

bevan

 

[jaxvon]

Well, if you have a sub with high-level inputs, then you connect the speaker cables from your amp to the sub, set your crossover frequency on the sub, then connect another set of speaker cable from the sub to your speakers.

 

[Dinkar Rai]

that sounds doable. i will check the sub and revert.

 

[Lagger]

i have recently purchased a Cayan Tube amp (A88T) and have paired it with a pair of dynaudio 52SE speakers. i was told by a friend that basically the 52SE is an inefficient speaket and should not be driven by valve amps. My valve amp uses the bigger KT88 tubes and is rated at 40 watts RMS. Is what my friend saying correct? he feels that the SE should be driven by more powerful high current amps. pls advse.

Yes, what your friend is saying is correct. But if the combo works for you, why change it>? The 52SE isn't extremely in-effecient, just more middle of the road. The only plus you're likely to acheive thru a SS is more headroom for those spikes you encounter primarly in HT. Good luck with your rig and enjoy the Dynaudio's.