Dave, 16 KT88s/6550Cs will heat up any room in a hurry. Perhaps a perfect pair of winter amps if I leave the basement doors wide open in the middle of the winter before the listening sessions. I think even the 12 tubes of the S-400 stereo amp are somewhat of a concern with heat...

I guess I really should include the MC2301s in my search for a tube amp.

I'd still vote for the Lamms M1.2s to drive the S3s.

That's too easy. In the grand scheme of things, I realize that just about everything out there will be somewhat of a compromise or a deviation from what a truly natural and musical amplifier should sound like. Oh, sure some amps may do certain few select things just a bit better but nothing I've heard yet gives you such a balanced and natural presentation. Harmonic content of a great tube amp with power and finesse of solid state muscle coupled with the musicality of a MOSFET output stage. Combine the M1.2 with an LL2.1 all tubed preamp and it is simply magic...

Still, this being primarily an analog room and knowing that TTs and cartridges can sound day and night different from each other, I am already deviating from that perfectly neutral and accurate as digital goal and I am willing to accept some artificial warmth/sweetness/darkness and a variety of different flavors as long as the overall synergy pleases me. The Sophia 3 like the Sasha is a chameleon of a speaker taking on the color and sonic flavor of the gear behind it. It will be fun to experiment and see where I wind up.

Well Serge what can I say your reviews are fun to read and informative. I like the color you picked , does it look like the porsche macadamia nut brown ? I can't wait to Check out your home theater and 2 chanel room . I may be moving my sf elipsa's into the home theater when the fortress seating arrives. Who knows the 501's may also move to the HT allowing me to start over in the 2 channel room. I'll wait till I hear your robots , I mean S3

Congrats Serge... The 3's are the best looking of the bunch for sure.

I have contacted my dealer, it will be a little over a week til I can here his pair... he is remodeling the showrooms...

He is demoing them with a McIntosh 275... I was hoping to hear them with a Jadis EL-34 amp...

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Shindo/DeVore Super 8's

One good thing about music: When it hits you, you feel no pain.

Bob Marley

That's the beauty of Sophia 3s , they can mate well with anything from tubes to solid state to hybrid amps. Looking forward to spending time with them in the near future.

Of course I'd recommend an audition with the MC2301's () and also recommend the David Berning 200w ZOTL Quadrature Z monos (out of Maryland).



Tube amplifiers for high-end audio by The David Berning Company

Bob

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Amps: MC2301 tube mono's/dedicated 20A breakers.
Preamp: C500C/C500T
Digital Source: MCD1100 CD/SACD
Analogue Sources: SME 20/2 w/SME V arm and Palo Santos Presentation Cartridge & Akai GX-400D Reel-to-Reel w/relapped heads by JRF Magnetic Sciences.
Vibration Control: Nordost "TC" Sort Kones under CD/SACD & C500 and "AC" under amps. Shakti stones on amps.
Speakers: Sonus Faber Stradivari
Power Isolation: Isoclean PT-3030G III 3KVA Isolation Transformer w/Isoclean Super Focus In/Out Cables.
Power Bar: Isoclean ICP 206 Non-Filtered Power Bar.
Power Cables: Wireworld Platinum Electra on amps, preamp, CD/SACD.
Power Outlets: Isoclean ICP-003 Power Wall Socket.
Speaker Cables: Wireworld Platinum Eclipse
Signal Cables: WireWorld Platinum Eclipse XLR's on MCD500 & C500T to MC2301's.
Headphones: Sennheiser HD-650's and Koss Pro IV AA.
Tube Test Gear: Mint late '60's/calibrated Heathkit TT-1A & current SOTA MaxiMatcher tube test sets.

Serge,

Ever thought of Nagra??? If it's good enough for Dave....

Used, they seem like a GREAT deal.

__________________
Shindo/DeVore Super 8's

One good thing about music: When it hits you, you feel no pain.

Bob Marley

Another amp i heard that sounded awesome with the Sasha is the Unison Research S9.
I'm sure it can also drive the Sophia 3s.
UKD : UNISON RESEARCH S9

Accuphase Amps are another candidate.
http://www.accuphase.com/model/a-65.html

What a great hobby, so many flavours to choose from.