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Joey_V said:
2. Extend myself to buy as good an amp as possible right now.... but this would entail MORE RAMEN time... ugh!

Ah well... still looking... ;) .

If you go for the Amp I will be a nice guy and send you a free case of Ramen. :D
 
Joey_V said:
2. Extend myself to buy as good an amp as possible right now.... but this would entail MORE RAMEN time... ugh!

Ah well... still looking... ;) .

I'm with the above, if you're not going with a very reasonably priced SS amp, then go with some tubes. Cary Rocket would come under $2k on audiogon. When I first heard tubes on my Aerius, I was overwhelmed. There will be no going back.
 
DTB300 said:
I agree with this too...The new FSB series along with the 300 and 400xi just do not stack up to the older KSA series of amps - again IMO and taste....

Steve...BTW...how are you liking your Modwright Pre? Everyone has nothing but great things to say about Dan's creation.

Dan

The modwright is great. Very transparent, open, smooth yet with some flesh on the logan's bones. Incredibly quiet. Awesome deep, tight bass, extended highs limited only by my amps. Not the best I've had, but I downgraded my pre to upgrade to the Vantages. Next year I'll be moving up, but for the next year, this is going to make me very happy.
 
tonyc said:
Joey just listen to everything you can get your hands on ( in your price range ) in YOUR system before you buy. Your speakers will clearly show differences. Aliveatfive, the first time I ever heard ML speakers was in 1987. They were driven by an arc amp. I do not remember the specific models because I couldn't afford either, but I vividly remember the magic. My speakers at that time were Acoustat 3's and an Adcom 555 amp. It is now nearly twenty years later and I am still trying to get there!

TONYC -

FYI - the first Logans I heard were also about "88. They were Sequel IIs driven by an ARC Classic 60 amp. When I bought my Sequels in '90, I had an Aragon to drive them. Close, but no cigar. I saved my pennies and eventually bought a Classic 60. It took about 3 months of intense listening to discover that the amp was underpowered for those speakers. I saved again until I could afford a VT 100 III. This amp took a dog's age to break in, but it was worth it.
 
Let's just ease and point Joey_V in the right direction of tubes with a hybrid. Some people are a little affraid of all the glowing glass of a full tube system. :D

I have less than a year under my belt with my tube amp - the honeymoon is not even over yet. ;)
 
aliveatfive said:
TONYC -
I saved again until I could afford a VT 100 III. This amp took a dog's age to break in, but it was worth it.

I heard some Prodigys with the VT100 mkII, it was an amazing combination.
 
DTB300 said:
Okay...looking for that "Manly" amp?

Top of Amp
sa102in01.jpg


Later...Dan

I dont know how I skipped over your post Dan... but that looks REAL interesting. I will look for it on audiogon.
 
I would go with the Rotel 1090. It is great sounding and a significant upgrade to the 1070. It is quite comparable to any amp costing two to three times as much. It is reliable and looks good. You can listen to it for a couple years while you finish school and sell it for $1500 if you find something else you like better.
 
a try before u buy idea

Joey_V said:
Thanks for all the tips and tricks guys! I am going to listen to any amp I can get my hands on...

Ah well... still looking... ;) .

I am very happy with my PSAudio. No heat. No waiting, like needed for tubes. No problems with impedance. It drives my CLS IIz effortlessly. And you can get it, listen to it and return it if you're not happy. http://www.psaudio.com/products/gca_amplifiers.asp
 
Check out Sunfire

Someone had to mention Sunfires, so here goes.

As you all know, current is what the ESL MartinLogans really crave to sound their best. And in all the amps discussed above, some have good current specs (like the Krells), others I do not know. But my experience with amps on various ML’s over the past 18 years has been that the better the current ratings (into low Ohms), the better the sound.

As a Sunfire can deliver massive current (claimed 240amps) into very low impedance, it is generally able to make ESL’s really sing.

I switched to Sunfires 12 years ago and every two years I’ll borrow a Krell, Rotel, Rowland, etc. and at the end of a week or two comparing against the Sunfire, I keep the Sunfires (or buy more, I now have 12 channels of Sunfire amplification in the rig).

The one amp I wish I could really evaluate would be the Tact Millennium III. But alas, that dealer does not have any, nor do they do ‘loans’ (who’s going to drop $10K without a test drive? not me).

So add Sunfire to your list for auditions. You can find Sunfire Stereo’s for well under $1K on Audiogon, and multichannel ones are under $2K.
 
I would really be interested in hearing what you think of the Krell Integrated. I was seriously considering that early on but never had a chance to audition it with the MLs. I have heard some great things about it but not from anyone that coupled it with MLs. If you do audition it, please post your review.

:cool:
 
I've heard a lot of good things about the Sunfires, but have never heard them for myself. Gayle Sanders has (had anyway) a few in his rig.

I'd like to try one out one day, wish someone close to me would get one!
 
Hi Joey,

I know this is like supporting a team, rah rah rah :p, but I would second Dan's call about the Plinius. The sound is 'tubelike', they drive panels easily, are reliable and readily available second hand. They are immensely practical being switchable from Class A/B to A as well as operating as a stereo amp or as monoblocs with the attendant increase in power.

We have listened to quite a few solid state amps and the Plinius is a very musical solution.

Kevin
 
Its interesting to hear all the positive things people have to say about the Sunfire line of amps, unfortunately my memories of Bob Carver were of that "cube" piece of crap he tried to pass off as something wonderfull about twenty years ago. It's good to hear he has apparently righted himself !!
 
twich54 said:
Its interesting to hear all the positive things people have to say about the Sunfire line of amps, unfortunately my memories of Bob Carver were of that "cube" piece of crap he tried to pass off as something wonderfull about twenty years ago. It's good to hear he has apparently righted himself !!

Didn't that amp have some kind of switching power supply to make it so small? I somehow remember it weighing in at about 8 pounds. The "high-end" mags hated it. (Except perhaps for Audio Critic - not really high-end anyhow.) Carver's newer stuff has been treated much less severely.
 
aliveatfive said:
Didn't that amp have some kind of switching power supply to make it so small? I somehow remember it weighing in at about 8 pounds. The "high-end" mags hated it. (Except perhaps for Audio Critic - not really high-end anyhow.) Carver's newer stuff has been treated much less severely.
Personally I have done my best to forget most of his stuff from that era, I myself never had any of his gear but a buddy of mine had tried it on his Maggie MG111a's and it couldn't even get out of it's own way. it was revealing alright, it revealed just how lousy it really was !!!
 
Joey, I think any of the amps you've been looking at will do a great job. I've got the Krell, which is powering my Aerius's via Audioquest Bedrock Bi-wires. I'll give you my impressions.
When I first listened via the Krell, I was using some thick guage Monster cable, not bi-wired. The Krell seemed very revealing and musical from the beginning, but seemed harsh when driven to very loud with demanding music. Also, the bass seemed a little lacking. To try to improve the sound, after listening to the system for a few weeks in this configuration, I hooked up the Audioquest speaker cable. The bass immediately sounded better and the music seemed more, well, musical. What I wasn't prepared for was that after about three more weeks, the sound became much more coherent, to my ears. The speakers seemed to sound much better! Loud volumes were no longer a problem and very enjoyable. The Krell can really control ML's as it delivers the power they need. A drawback is that it is very revealing of poor source material, but with good source material, watch out!
I've also heard (just a few days ago), a Rotel amp with a VTL 2.5 preamp and was very impressed. The tube preamp and the transistor amp seemed a great combination. Quite frankly, the best I've ever heard any ML's sound was with a tube amp for the electrostatic portion and a transistor amp for the woofer.
This is my first post to this forum and I hope I was helpful. -Steve
 
I demoed the halo A21 on my ascents and it was better than my mono blocks.It had smooth uncolored sound and the bass was tight, tight, tight.What stuck out more the killer bass or transparent mids and highs, tough call . Pretty much kicked ass.Now do i get one or two?
 
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