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In Reply to: What Are Your Sources? posted by Luminator on June 5, 2016 at 21:33:50:
A friend of mine has Thiel CS3.7s and they are just as (or more) revealing as you say the 2.4s are (I believe you BTW. I think Thiel are one of the few accurate box speakers).
We have found the following:
SS amps generally don't work so well, some hybrids are ok though.
Many push/pull tube amps turn to mush on them or they sound glassy and hard when even pushed a bit.
Robust powered SETs can sound VERY nice as can some Push/pull triode amps.
From what I have heard at his place the best sounding amps we tried so far are the following:
Cayin D9084 SET monoblocks: These are pretty large 845 based monos from china but sound quite robust and with great imaging/soundstaging and bass. Tonal balance is just about perfect with a slight softness in the highs but not dark balanced. Very dynamic.
KR VA350i: Another big bottle SET (T100 tube from KR...kind of like a 211) Up to clipping superb balance of tone and separation of instruments...very big and well focused soundstage. Very dynamic
Wall Audio Opus M50 SET monos. 35 watts, parallel SET using the Russian 6C33C output tube. Sounded "ok" on the 8 ohm tap but a bit like it was out of gas. Switched to the 4 ohm tap and WHOA! Now they were rocking with great bass and a rich but natural tone and high resolution from top to bottom.
NAT Symbiosis SE: 100 watts of Pure CLass A hybrid. A 150lb. monster that runs hot as hell but after about 2 hours makes a nearly psychedelic experience. Great bass contol a true set mid and slightly soft highs. Soundstage and imaging precision among the best. Very dynamic but only after an hour or more of playing...before that a bit reticent.
VAC 30/30 MK2: One of the very best Push/pull amps I have heard. 32 watts of Class A joy. Falls just below the two above in terms of overall coherence and soundstage clarity. Tone is about equal to the best above. Great dynamics and bass and never seems to run out of steam...amazing in a 30 watt amp.
Lamm M1.1 monoblocks: Class A hybrids from Lamm. At first we didn't think these sounded all that good...there was a hardness just underneath the velvet that made them sound subtly aggressive. However, on the day of the shootout they sounded suddenly A LOT better. Maybe the time of day, power cleanliness affected these amps more than one would suspect? Still not at the level of those above but good enough to be called real high end.
Octave MRE130 monos. Very clean and detailed but tonally on the "analytical" side of the spectrum. This is exaccerbated by sources with similar character. Turned a bit hard and glassy when pushed a bit and this despite having quite a bit of power on paper. Not bad but tonally off the mark compared to those above.
McIntosh MC501 monos: Gray tone, decent soundstage, overcontrolled unthriling dynamics and bass that lacks texture and nuance. Nothing untoward but a boring listen to be sure.
KR Audio VA880: Don't know what happened here but bass was uncontrolled and the top rolled off. Simply didn't work but I am sure this amp can sound good on an easier load.
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Follow Ups
- RE: What Are Your Sources? - morricab 13:45:40 06/09/16 (0)
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