I had been running my Cremona M’s with an Accuphase E530….it was very enjoyable until………the Karan KA ref mk3 pre and KA M 900 monoblocks took over last week It is now a completely different and very wonderful presentation…the Cremona M’s seem like they have tripled in size….with a large enveloping soundstage and the bass grip of a much larger speaker….I’ll post a pic when I get my new stands….needless to say I am extremely happy with the Karan system.

ChrisBBR… Welcome to AA! :wave:

Thanks for sharing your impressions! I'm thinking of moving to monos to drive my Elipsas, on my shortlist the Goldmund Telos 350s or 360s to stay in the same stable, or some Burmester 911s mk3 (I really like those), or a pair of Pass 60.8s (different approach). I also envisaged some Spectrals. But now I'll have to check the Karans as well, I understand even the 400s and 600s are quite good, have you had a chance to audition those before settling on the 900s?

Btw I also (still) have a pair of Cremonas, which my Elipsa replaced in the main system, and because I'm having a hard time parting with them I moved them to the bedroom system, so I can look/listen at/to them every evening and every morning, when I'm not looking/talking at/to my wife :D

Enjoy your nice system :thumbsup:

I didn’t get a chance to audition any of the Karan gear….I bought them on faith of their reputation, the sincerity of the original owner who was 3300 km (1670 miles) away and fingers crossed. The original owner, who’s picture is probably in the dictionary under audiophile, discussed in depth with me, my system, and if these would be right for me. Better than I could have imagined. Truth be told I wasn’t even looking for monoblocks as I was happy with my Accuphase….but he was moving and made me an amazing offer…so I upgraded without a chance to think about it.

My Cremonas sound huge with the Karan…and the one review for their monoblocks is right on the money about grip, warmth, massive holographic soundstage.

Next step, like yourself….if I can get a bigger listening room…would be to find a larger set of SF speakers….some Amatis would do me just fine!

Have fun auditioning your choices of monoblocks and let us know your thoughts.
Ps …the difference, for me, between stereo amps and these monoblocks is the extreme separation between channels…I thought at one section of a song one of the amps shut down….but no..it was just the recording….

I attended an event at Paragon last evening and in one of the rooms the Aida II's were bering powered by the Burmester 909's. That was a nice pairing and a very impressive demo.

I just introduced a new McIntosh MC462 to my Cremona M's and it was the most significant change to my system to date. I previously ran a Bryston 4B2. The MC462 is similar power ( to the Bryston) but the music just is bigger, wider, and deeper. Amazing.

Bump. So many incredible amp pairings!

Audio Research Reference 160. While they produce 140wpc in linear mode, I run them in triode mode adding a bit more warmth so 70 wpc. No loss of volume or dynamics. Can play way louder than I ever want to hear them again… with no loss of punch or fidelity… I had a couple youngsters over that think louder is better. They are breathtakingly natural and musical with the details proportional to real events… so it’s like being there.

George, the AR 160 is absolutely gorgeous! Delighted to hear that 70w of tube power is enough to enjoy the Amatis. My listening levels generally peak out around 70-75db. Often wondered about how a single MC275 would sound with the Amatis but have read many reviews/comments about how they love power.

You will never know unless you try. ;-)
To my ears, a single MC275 was better than a pair running mono. However, others hear differently. YMMV.