advertisement


SS Power Amp suggestions.

Re-Joyce said:
Devaliet?
I was impressed with these driving some Magicos a while back.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the suggestion Jason, unfortunately they just do not do it for my brother.

Since posting I have spoken to a couple of people regarding problems with previously owned Audio Research pre and his present VTL power amp, both of which have had a problem. They are American companies using 230v power supplies, when in fact they should be 240v, and due to the relatively small uk market, it's fit and hope.
 
Hi mate, I have compared Luxman m900u, Vitus SM 102, Gryphon Colosseum and Mephisto, Burmester 911 mk3 and 909 and 956, Dagostino and others at various stages in other systems. Also compared VTL 750 to MSB 204 and VTL s450 to Spectral SMA 400.

My take - the Luxman kicks ass at 11k GBP retail. It was better than thrice priced Ypsilon Hybrid in a direct compare. It lacks the speed and detail of the Spectral and the Mephisto, and is more Vitus like in presentation - liquid, great mids, lot of body and flow. Vitus is better at the price of 50k, maybe a lower model at 40k is as good, I don't know.

Both Vitus and Luxman, like Pass, are not the fastest. Fastest are Spectral, Gryphon, and Boulder. Berning Quadrature Z used is out of your budget but it is clean and fast like Spectral with more valve harmonics. The other one that's pretty good but not easy in the used market is the Symphonic Line Kraft 250 or 300 or 400 from Germany. It has both the liquid tone of class A with good speed and fantastic bass. The old Stereophile review is spot on. You could get it used under 10k. I personally would go Luxman, unless I can jump to Berning or Vitus with extra cash. And I do know people who preferred Luxman to Vitus and CH Precision on Maggie 20.7, and preferred Berning to Ch, Constellation Taurus, and Dagostino (which I like but too expensive).

If speaker is easy to drive - Dartzeel works fine, if you can find an used one.

Hadn't been a fan of AR before but the 250 SE are fantastic if push pull will do - compared them to MSB 204, no contest
 
11k for SS. wow
if people knew that you can build yousrelf a pass lab amp diy that will sound equally as good for 1k.

11k for anything ss is ridiculous
 
If I go back to SS, which I consider quite often, I have a feeling I'd go Modwright or Plinius. Or maybe an old Krell.
 
Thanks for the detailed write up Bonzo, and also to you hifinut for the link to Sanders. A used Krell is always a possibility rdf.
Has anyone heard Audionet, I have read these are a good match to Estelons and at shows have been paired together.
 
bonzo75 said:
Hi mate, I have compared Luxman m900u, Vitus SM 102, Gryphon Colosseum and Mephisto, Burmester 911 mk3 and 909 and 956, Dagostino and others at various stages in other systems. Also compared VTL 750 to MSB 204 and VTL s450 to Spectral SMA 400.

My take - the Luxman kicks ass at 11k GBP retail. It was better than thrice priced Ypsilon Hybrid in a direct compare. It lacks the speed and detail of the Spectral and the Mephisto, and is more Vitus like in presentation - liquid, great mids, lot of body and flow. Vitus is better at the price of 50k, maybe a lower model at 40k is as good, I don't know.

Both Vitus and Luxman, like Pass, are not the fastest. Fastest are Spectral, Gryphon, and Boulder. Berning Quadrature Z used is out of your budget but it is clean and fast like Spectral with more valve harmonics. The other one that's pretty good but not easy in the used market is the Symphonic Line Kraft 250 or 300 or 400 from Germany. It has both the liquid tone of class A with good speed and fantastic bass. The old Stereophile review is spot on. You could get it used under 10k. I personally would go Luxman, unless I can jump to Berning or Vitus with extra cash. And I do know people who preferred Luxman to Vitus and CH Precision on Maggie 20.7, and preferred Berning to Ch, Constellation Taurus, and Dagostino (which I like but too expensive).

If speaker is easy to drive - Dartzeel works fine, if you can find an used one.

Hadn't been a fan of AR before but the 250 SE are fantastic if push pull will do - compared them to MSB 204, no contest
Click to expand...

Interesting but expensive gear. Have you heard the Benchmark AHB2 and if so how does it compare to the above?
TIA
 
jy3 said:
And where can these be purchased from?
Click to expand...

The amps can be purchased direct from Roger Sanders - see http://sanderssoundsystems.com/products/amplifiers/magtech-amp.

The last time I asked, he told me that he was happy to refund all costs including postage if the customer bought the amp but then didn't want to keep it after trying it out - but you would need to check. The nice thing is: when you phone you get him at the end of the line. When I had a fault, he posted me new parts free of charge (because they were inherently faulty), even though I had bought the Magtech 2nd hand.

Roger also indicated that [Daytona] was no longer his UK agent; I don't know if there is anyone else currently in the UK.

If you are anywhere near Liverpool you would be welcome to pop in and listen to the Magtech driving Kingsound King electrostatics with a Linn Klimax RDS source.

Mark
 
Very kind offer Tim's Dad, unfortunately Watford is a little too far away.
All the info/suggestions are being passed onto him, don't know how he's going to get dems for everything though.;)
 
10k is very generous, and I'd want monoblocks for that money. You don't say why he changed. It'll be important to hear why valves (which valves btw....equally important) were rejected in order to suggest a replacement. ie, if he dislikes a warmer sound now then some good SS suggestions are gone straight away.
Hints would help.
 
awkwardbydesign said:
What about Parasound? I have the Halo A21 and can't fault it. If you really want to push the boat out, the JC1 monoblocks are very highly regarded. I haven't listened to them personally, but by all accounts they are stunning.
Click to expand...

I have, and they are!
 
Rockmeister said:
10k is very generous, and I'd want monoblocks for that money. You don't say why he changed. It'll be important to hear why valves (which valves btw....equally important) were rejected in order to suggest a replacement. ie, if he dislikes a warmer sound now then some good SS suggestions are gone straight away.
Hints would help.
Click to expand...

It's not that he dislikes the sound of his VTL, its a very good match for his speakers and was certainly a step up from his previous Audio Research. The problem is they keep breaking down, the AR Ref5se pre was used for 3yrs 2mths, (£9k when new) and Ab Sounds want £4.5k to repair. Now his VTL has gone, yet to find out how much this is going to cost. I know nothing about valves but seem to remember seeing 6500 printed on the valve. If it's any help he always used the VTL in tetrode rather than triode.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.


advertisement


Back
Top