Help me find an integrated for my Sonus faber Toy Towers

[esteban]

Thanks, metaphacts. I'll see if I can find a local dealer that carries Prima Luna. BTW, as somebody who has probably the most experience with the entire Sonus line-up in this forum, I was wondering... what is your "overall" opinion of the Toy Towers, considering the fact that they are the entry-level model but (at least in my opinion) a terrific bargain?

[Face]

Originally Posted by esteban

If I am not mistaken, the Wired 4 Sound is a class D amp, right? In which case I am not too sure about it. I have not auditioned one myself, but, besides the new Nad Master Series line-up, I have not read that many great things about class D. I'd rather invest in a more tried-and-true technology for the moment...

Class D has come a long way, and just like class A, A/B, not all implementations sound the same.

[esteban]

The plot thickens...

If you go back to the original message in this thread, you'll see that for a while I had my eyes set on Musical Fidelity's new M6i integrated, which I have never seen in the flesh (none of my local dealers carry the brand) but which seemed, at least on paper, perfect for my needs. Well, it just so happens that a friend of a friend owns a Musical Fidelity A3.5 integrated. This being not my OWN friend, and due to the circumstances under which we met, I didn't have a chance to actually LISTEN to the amp (nor would it have made any sense anyway... different system altogether, noisy environment, etc.), but, I have to admit, I was a little disappointed by the actual "look and feel" of the A3.5. It simply looked underwhelming and light, with lots of cost-cutting evident everywhere. The cheapo speaker terminals and RCA connectors, for example, were totally out of place in such a theoretically up-market unit, and the remote was a joke, pure and simple... I have not quite eliminated the M6i as an option (it might very well be a different story altogether), but this was not the first impression I was hoping for...

Which leads me to...

...Well, after reading so many glowing reviews (including one in the latest Absolute Sound issue), hearing so many great comments during the last 2 years, and enjoying their honest, well-written and user-friendly website, I am now seriously considering a Prima Luna integrated (the ProLogue Premium, a brand new model, is on top of the list). I have yet to audition one in person, and will do my best to coordinate that (again, dealer is at least 1 hour away), but in the meantime, I would love to hear more comments from any of you folks who either owned a Prima Luna before or has heard the combination with the Toys or any other Sonus faber speaker.

This being my first tube amp, like I said before, I am a little hesitant and afraid. I do not want to mess with tubes, I do not want to unscrew anything nor worry about being able to hear my system "at its optimum point", and am aware that the auto-bias feature helps in this respect. I understand that the Prima Luna is basically a "plug and play" type of amp with great reliability and many happy costumers... but I also read that auto-bias has its drawbacks. What's your input on this?

The other concern: power... or, rather, the lack of it. The Toys are 89db / 8 ohms. Would the Prima Luna's rated 35 watts be enough to drive them effortlessly? And even if that is the case for regular 2 channel listening in a small room like mine, what would happen when I use the HT "by-pass" input in conjunction with my Marantz receiver (which would be driving my center and surround channels only)? Would they have the sufficient authority to drive the Toys during, say, something like "Iron Man 2?" (not my usual choice of movie genre, but you get my point)...

Alberto, I believe you owned a Prima Luna in the past. Would you care to comment about your experience? Any feedback on the above would be appreciated.

[Face]

I used a Manley Stingray in triode mode(IIRC, 18wpc) with a few pairs of speakers around 85-90db efficiency, 35wpc and 89db will get plenty loud.

[two dot]

I think this sounds like a neat little amp for the price. The EL-34 is the "King of Tone"

The remote is nice.

I like that for $200 you can add a MM phono stage. Probably no better or worse than any other 200 PS but saves some IC's and space.

[esteban]

Thanks for your input, Face and Two Dot. I'm leaning towards the top of the line model, the DiaLogue Two integrated, which should theoretically drive my Toy Towers with ease and would be a nice introduction to the triode/ultralinear world (it allows you to switch on the fly via the remote, while the ProLogue series models don't). Can't wait to get a chance to listen to it, but I get the feeling it won't be easy. Hopefully I can buy it locally, although my preferred dealer is having a hard time getting a hold of the line and the only official dealer is about one hour away and never seems to return phone calls (how do people stay in business this way?). The only place that carries it is Upscale Audio, online. If for some reason the magic is not there, I'm stuck with a 15% restocking fee on a $3k amp, plus shipping... and this beauty weighs almost 64 pounds! Anybody else care to share his thoughts on this particular brand before I pull the trigger?