Champagne amps for beer money needed!

[The Lost Bears]

The Sonus Faber Elipsa Reds are very nice speakers. I drive mine with an Audio Research Ref 110. This is a very good match. The vocals have a rightness that is just amazing. They like power and I would not use any less power. The Ref 150 or 150se would also be great matches.

If I were to use a solid state amp, and I have thought quite a bit about it. My first choice would be a Pass Labs .8 series, probably the 100.8 mono blocks. The Elipsa Reds are 4 ohm so the Pass 100.8 amps will put out 200 watts before even leaving class A. The Pass amps are also a really good match with Sonus Faber speakers.

I have heard Sonus Faber speakers with a number of different amps. These two are my somewhat reasonably priced favorites.

[Diapason]

Thanks very much, TLB. It's great to hear from somebody with direct experience of the speakers. Audio Research is at least available locally, which helps.

I'm still a bit torn between the solid state and valve approaches. I was always a died-in-the-wool valver, but my head has been a bit turned by SS this time. A number of people whose opinion I trust have suggested that I might regret the change longer term.

[greekgod]

Originally Posted by Diapason

I spent a *lot* of time yesterday (when I should really have been working) reading about those Job amps. Intriguing....

The faceplates on those Job amps look like they would be simple enough to remove and have professionally chrome plated at a local chrome shop that specializes in car/motorcycle chroming. Then you could replace the front screws with ones that are plated with gold. That way you could have an affordable amp that looks like a million bucks and matches the beauty of your speakers.

[Randy Myers]

There is a 156 page thread on these amps in another forum. Not allowed to give you a link, but it is an interesting read. One of the guys that started the thread owns top Conrad Johnson Tube mono amps, top Bryston SS mono amps and just loves these Job amps...

I am very impressed with the sound quality and "guts" of the amp. Goldmund also offers a special power cable called the Sweat Cord... I use an AQ power cable on the amp. A lot of people replace the fuse with some special one. I have not done that yet.

My KEFs are only 85 db sensitivity and the Goldmund amp drives them like there's no tomorrow!

I have not tried removing the face plate, but it does look like it might be pretty easy to do. I have to research if anyone has done that because that would make it look spectacular!

[4N6]

Also have the SF Elipsa Red's (called Elipsa SE's across the pond). Wonderful speakers that sound amazing with McIntosh amps. I am currently using the 601 monos, but the 452 stereo amp is also great with them.

On a more beer budget would be the PrimaLuna Dialogue HP stereo or mono amps. Stunning sound for the money. You could start with the stereo version and some KT150s, and then add in another amp if you need the additional power.

[Anatta]

Audionet AMP I V2 €6000 new

Bryston 4B³ €6000 new (just released)

Primare A32 €4000 new

[aqman]

Also check out the Benchmark AHB2. $2995. I'm a happy owner. Using it with Magico S1 now, which are not an easy load.

http://benchmarkmedia.com/products/b...ower-amplifier

[Diapason]

Hi everyone, thanks for all the recent suggestions. I sincerely wish I could actually hear all of these, as they all seem to offer something I'd find attractive. McIntosh really seems to divide people, although they don't seem that common over here so I have no direct experience. Bryston is definitely on my radar, I've heard nearly all of the Primare range and I like it with other gear but I don't think it's what I'm looking for here. Benchmark intrigues me! Audionet I know nothing about, but they certainly look the part.

Meanwhile, I'm trundling through my local dealer's collection, which is not necessarily extensive but throws up some quirky things from time to time. The front-runner at the moment is an old Krell KSA80, which doesn't maybe have the listen-through midrange magic I'd ideally like, but it has a balance, control and evenness that's very compelling, and it's probably the best I've heard the speakers sound in my room all told. It's inexpensive enough that I'm tempted to take it for a while until I can improve the budget a little, although I haven't made a decision on that yet.

I'm still secretly lusting after a Burmester 911mkIII. I REALLY wish I could hear one of those locally, or even better, in my system. This is one of the frustrations of being on a small island at the edge of Europe...

[bart]

Originally Posted by Diapason

I'm still secretly lusting after a Burmester 911mkIII. I REALLY wish I could hear one of those locally, or even better, in my system. This is one of the frustrations of being on a small island at the edge of Europe...

There is one available right now, on audio-markt.de for 8700€. Looks very decent!
Another one for 9900€.

[Diapason]

It's the one for 8700 that has caught my eye. It's miles above my budget, but you know how these things go!