What power makes your Sonus Fabers sing

[Babur72]

Originally Posted by nuke18

Hello! I'm from Russia and new to this forum. I'm going to buy SF Olympia III for my house and looking for amp for it. What do you think - one mc275 will be enough? Or better take two in mono mode? Pre gonna be c2300. Or better think in SS field? Thank you.

Hi Nuke(?),

Welcome.

Hoping to hear the Olympica III's with a few pre/power-amps & streamers - for a planned hi-res digital network streaming system.

The dealer i've been speaking to mentioned that the Olympica's are that bit more articulate, better balanced, more open & more transparent than the Cremona range they're intended to replace, but simultaneously preserve much of Sonus Faber's traditionally recognised sound.

He stated that, although Sonus Faber say that amps of 50-60W into 8 Ohms should be sufficient to power them, he & his colleagues feel they really hit their stride when driven by amps capable of 100W or preferably 150W plus into 4 Ohms, & which deliver a stable supply of current. The more the better.

I'll put a few more questions to them & let you know my own thoughts after i've heard them. If you're interested.

But it would be useful to know your musical tastes, how loud your music's played & your listening room's dimensions.

Best regards.

Babur.

[Masterlu]

nuke18... Welcome to AA!

[loctorwabbit]

Originally Posted by larevoj

Hi Folks, has anyone tried driving the GE with ARC Ref 75 amplifier? Is that sufficient or need to go higher??

Hi Guys, my second post on AA and first in this subtopic of SF!

HI Larevoj, i run the Ref 5SE, Ref 75 on the GE. It was a journey that took a few years to arrive, but a rather quick 2 weeks for the decision to be made.

My source has been the AMR DP777 for about 3 years, having gotten rid of my Electrocompaniet CD player. I had the GE's powered by a leben cs600 for jazz, blues and chamber music during that period and never seemed to miss anything. There was always an easy lushness of the vocals with a liquidity that made the older recordings very enjoyable.

Then a friend introduced me to ARC. He had ref 3 with ref 75 on BW speakers and there were lows that i had never heard before. I must admit that i was half enchanted by the little dials in front of the ref 75 already and decided to just take the plunge after a bunch of research.

The change from CS600's 32W output into GE's sensitivity of 86db, to ref75's output was significant. While i don't blast my music at live band volumes, even when pushed to uncomfortable volumes, the ref 75 has never struggled to perform at the peaks. The needles never go past half way. So i'm pretty sure that the ref 75 is more than enough juice to power the GE. More importantly, did it perform with the beguiling sweetness that the leben did? Yes indeed! It was lush, warm, there was grip in the lower end that i had never heard in all my music. The ref 75 is an amp that allowed me to find the combination of tube lushness and low end grip that i wanted. The evil buddy who introduced the ARC to me shared that as tube listeners, we will always listen to music without an ear of preference to a warm colouration. And i cannot agree more.

Prior to trying the ARC, i had also tried the devialet 200. Its purity and clarity in music reproduction was jaw dropping to me, but it still lacked the soul that made Louis Armstrong's gravelly voice sound sincere in conversation with Ella.
So in my answer to your question, yes, it is more than adequate on paper as well as in real life, but you might certainly get more low end fullness on the ref 150, quality and character of sound aside.... but this is something which i can't really afford at this stage of my buyer fatigue, nor do i want to try out!!!! I'm blissfully happy of this ignorance.
http://www.audioaficionado.org/image...lies/music.gif

Hope its not too late and helps in your decision!

Dave


AMR DP777 | Ref 5SE | Ref 75 | SF Guarneri Evolutions | Wireworld Platinum Starlight 7 USB | WW platinum eclipse XLR | Audionote KSL-VZII SPkr | Shunyata Hydra 8 | Shunyata Black Mamba | MBPro 15"

[daveyf]

I am using two amps to make my GH's sing. ( Not hooked up at the same time). The first is a ss Jeff Rowland model 8 with choke and top plate mod, and the second is a ARC D70 MK2 running Winged 'C' 6550's. The little GH's love both.

[alexlok]

Hi all, new to this forum.

Have a pair of Guarneri Mementos being driven by MA7000. As I haven't been on the forums much, I have been listening to this combination for the past few years and it sounds good to me. However, I've lately been reading about the GM's thirst for power (which I didn't know originally) and am now itching for more power such as using the MA7000 as a preamp and adding an MC452 for now until I get a separate pre.

I'd greatly appreciate any feedback on this combo (MA7000 + MC452) and whether adding more power really helps with improving the GM's sonic abilities.

Thanks in advance

Alex

[Bavarian05]

Originally Posted by alexlok

Hi all, new to this forum. Have a pair of Guarneri Mementos being driven by MA7000. As I haven't been on the forums much, I have been listening to this combination for the past few years and it sounds good to me. However, I've lately been reading about the GM's thirst for power (which I didn't know originally) and am now itching for more power such as using the MA7000 as a preamp and adding an MC452 for now until I get a separate pre. I'd greatly appreciate any feedback on this combo (MA7000 + MC452) and whether adding more power really helps with improving the GM's sonic abilities. Thanks in advance Alex

Welcome to AA!

[Bavarian05]

Originally Posted by alexlok

Hi all, new to this forum. Have a pair of Guarneri Mementos being driven by MA7000. As I haven't been on the forums much, I have been listening to this combination for the past few years and it sounds good to me. However, I've lately been reading about the GM's thirst for power (which I didn't know originally) and am now itching for more power such as using the MA7000 as a preamp and adding an MC452 for now until I get a separate pre. I'd greatly appreciate any feedback on this combo (MA7000 + MC452) and whether adding more power really helps with improving the GM's sonic abilities. Thanks in advance Alex

Though not identical, I have had similar question and found more power (high current) really makes a large difference with Guarneri. I have the Guarneri EVOs and have tried everything from a Primaluna HP tube amp, a Krell Integrated and a 40 watt class A amplifier from Luxman with them and recently moved to the Bricasti's M28 mono blocks and the extra current makes a rather large difference with these speakers. It seems to be more about current delivery than just simple power ratings. Try something that will double its power into 4 vs 8 ohms and see what you think.

[alexlok]

Thanks Bavarian05 for the welcome and suggestion.

The reason I ask is that I am fully getting into vinyl (having just scored sweet deals on a Micro Seiki RX 5000 and SME 3012R tonearm, both in very very good condition) and so I'm also considering transitioning towards a fully tubed system so my other option is to go with an MC275. I read in this and other threads that it is possible to push the Guarneri Mementos with a single MC275 (as others have done it in the past) but it would be better if run in a parallel mono configuration.

Hence the dilemma....MC452 or MC275 (x2)?? (higher power vs tubed warmth) Especially when considering the source is going to be vinyl.

As you can see from my profile, I joined in 2010 when I first got my system (the above speakers and amp and an Esoteric X-01 d2 Limited SACD player) but never really bothered to look further and never really participated or read online audio forums. At that time, I wanted a nice reliable and good sounding system that could last me for life. I kept thinking "you only need one good complete system for the rest of your life and leave it at that". And it was.....till I discovered vinyl these past few months..... oh boy.... that's a can of worms AND Pandora's audio box combined!

[paul1]

Originally Posted by alexlok

Hi all, new to this forum. Have a pair of Guarneri Mementos being driven by MA7000. As I haven't been on the forums much, I have been listening to this combination for the past few years and it sounds good to me. However, I've lately been reading about the GM's thirst for power (which I didn't know originally) and am now itching for more power such as using the MA7000 as a preamp and adding an MC452 for now until I get a separate pre. I'd greatly appreciate any feedback on this combo (MA7000 + MC452) and whether adding more power really helps with improving the GM's sonic abilities. Thanks in advance Alex

Dampening factor they love it

[Masterlu]

alexlok... Welcome to AA!