LP125sa+ Revisited

[Gsam]

Greetings! New to the forum, and just want to thank the group for all the helpful and interesting information posted here. I have the opportunity to purchase an LP125sa+ amp as a dealer demo at a good price, but have some questions about speaker pairing as well as sound. Currently driving a pair of Verity Parsifal Encores (88db) with a BAT VK200 (100 Wpc) with a Hovland HP-100 preamp (The Premier Three currently idle, though beloved). Am considering changing to Harbeth 40.1 (84 db) or SHL5plus (86db) in the future, but wonder if the LP125sa can drive these speakers adequately – particularly the Monitor 40.1, which has 12 inch woofers and is relatively inefficient. Wonder if anyone has experience with CJ tube amps in that power rating with Harbeths or other monitors with similar sensitivity. I have no home experience with tube amps, and am under the impression that at equal wpc, tube amps deliver greater effective power/current than solid state, though that may be incorrect. I listen to mostly jazz, chamber/classical, opera at moderate volume. Mostly concerned about accurate timbre and musicality.
Also wonder if anyone has personal experience with the LP125sa+ - I found only one thread in the forum, and only one review online. A bit puzzled by the paucity of reviews or discussion– has the amp been poorly received vs other tube offerings? Any problems with its sonics or reliability? Will be upgrading preamp as well, and am considering ET5 to pair with it in the future. Would appreciate any experience with this amp particularly for a first time tube-amp user.

[Puma Cat]

Welcome, Gsam.

When you get a chance, please introduce yourself in the Intro forum.

I don't think you will have any problems driving Harbeth 40.1s at all. I drive fairly inefficient Dynaudios with a 70 Wpc C-J amp (LP70S) and have no problems playing at close to concert-hall levels. My understanding is that Harbeths are actually pretty easy to drive, so honestly, I think you will be just fine. Haven't heard an LP125sa+, but I am sure it is a lovely amp.

Be sure to give it a good 500-600 hours to burn in, though, the Teflon caps in C-J components take forever. My guess is an amp will take less time than a preamp, but it will still take quite a while. The key is PATIENCE! (trust us on this one!)

[AlexM]

The LP125sa is a very fine amp, albeit somewhat lacking in the bling casework department - I love mine to bits. It has plenty of grunt for a tube amp, and won't have any problems driving speakers like the harbeths to more than adequate levels in anything other than a large room. If you have one of those, then more sensitive speakers would be a better option than a more powerful amp.

I think that there simply aren't very many examples of the LP125sa out in the wild. It does give you a big chunk of the ARTsa's performance in a significantly less expensive package. Just make sure you can live with it's slightly low-rent casework.

Cheers,
Alex

[goone]

Want to like the amp, but that is ugly casae

[AlexM]

Yup - it isn't a looker.