Amplifier ideas with KEF Reference 1

@caphill: thanks for the detailed thoughts. My PS Audio Directstream and BHK Signature preamp are sold...BHK monoblocks still up for sale so I'm really thinking integrated or matching pre/dac + power (like bel canto ex).

I also fear purchasing from a manufacturer that's out of business (Classe)..... Of course no guarantees that bel canto's staying around forever. 

Hadn't considered the Devaliet. Might be worth a listen. 

The Linn gear is out of my tax bracket!

@keoliphant
Classe isn’t out of business. B&W Group, which previously owned Classe, has recently sold Classe off to Sound United Group in January 2018.
Sound United Group also owns Denon, Marantz, Definitive Technology, Polk Audio, Boston Acoustics & Heos. 
So, Classe now is owned by Sound United. The brand has been revived.

Dave Neauber, who has been with Classe and has been a president of Classe Audio since B&W Group acquired Classe in 2001, will keep leading the company under a new ownership now. They are re-opening or are already re-opened as we speak now their Montreal, Canada facility under a new ownership Sound United.
True that B&W Group shut down Classe’s headquarter facility in Montreal last Oct 2017 and all employees were laid off.
But now Dave Neaubet is gathering and re-grouping all Classe’s designers and engineers that were laid off by B&W last year for their Montreal facility. And I was told that future Classe products will be made in Sound United’s own manufacturing facility in Japan but will still be designed and engineered in Montreal, Canada.

So you won’t have to worry about Classe.
It’s been revived and is now owned by Sound United Group.

I do own multiple Classe gears in my dedicated home theater room : Classe SSP 800 AV preamp surround processor, Classe CAM 600 monoblock amps (pair) for my front B&W 800 D3 speakers, Classe CAM 300 monoblock amp (single) for my center speaker (B&W HTML1 D3), Classe CA-5300 five-channel amp for my surround speakers (B&W 804 D3 & 805 D3).

I think Devialet will be your best solution. It is all-on-one solution. The price range is between $10k+ to $40k+.
You will have to give a listen. Spectacular sounding products and worth a try.

Linn also makes lower end models and cheaper than the Klimax line. I would consider a new Linn Akurate DS (with Katalyst DAC architecture) and the Akurate stereo power amp.
I think the new Akurate DS retails for around $15k++. Not sure how much the Akurate power amp is. Or you can get the previous model Akurate DS (non Katalyst DAC architecture), which can be had at discounted nowadays for way under $10k. All Linn DS (Klimax, Akurate & Majik) come equipped with volume control (preamp). You will have to use their volume control. Linn DS are pretty much digital streamer/DAC/preamp in one single chassis. Linn does not make dedicated analog stereo linestage preamps any longer. They used to in the past.

Or since this is only for your small office environment I would just get the Naim Unity Nova ($7500). It is all-in-one solution.
It is a streamer/DAC/integrated amp all in a single chassis. Sounded very good very musical. I’ve heard it paired with Focal Sopra 2 speakers recently at my local dealer and they sounded fantastic. Very musical, refined, smooth with excellent PRAT.
Highly recommended.

Caphill, we were a Devialet dealer and the sound quality just was never there, in some ways the Devialet was extraordinary, no noise, deep bass, big soundstage, the problem was always the product never had the musicallity that drew you into the experiece, the T+A was far superior when we tried a large list of amps/preamp combos on our Polymer Loudspeakers and then the Paradigm Personas, the T+A gear sounded better than the $60K CJ Art and Gat, the Manley Labs Snappers, the Electrcompaniet AW 400, the Devialet D400 Monoblocks, the Thrax gear, and finally the Chord SPM 1400 monoblocks and CPM 5000 preamp.

Also in terms of the Bel Canto being better than the T+A 2500R Dac 8 DSD combination, Everest did not setup the Dac 8 correctly you need to be running Roon or Jriver, and converting to Double rate or Quad Rate DSD which opens up the sound considerably, which is one reason we don't carry the Melco.  PCM on the Dac 8 is good, upsampled is way better and in the case of the Dac 8 the real magic is running the higher rate DSD which really creates a spooky 3d soundstage and a very analog like presentation.

The Bel Canto maybe fantastic but you should also be aware it does have its limitiations, one of which is everything is digitized including Analog signals, and two everything is converted to PCM.

We personally find that for certain products DSD sounds much more like analog but it does depend on the product.

So we would recommend that you compare the Bel Canto vs other similar packages and let the chips fly. 

Another thing to consider is how upgradable is the Bel Canto? 

We did check out the Bel Canto Black and it does seem like a very interesting piece, with the notable limitations as noted. 

The Naim Nova is a fantastic piece for the Kef Ref ones, and the upgraded NAC 272/250Dr is really impressive if you are looking for a more minimilist two box solution of amp with dac/preamp/streamer that will outperform the Nova,  Caphill is right on the money with the Nova, it is excellent and the package is great with the Ref Ones.

Whatever you choose look for a warm fuller sounding amp for the Ref Ones have very low levels of coloration and can benefit from a warmer sounding amplifier. 


Dave and Troy
Audio Doctor NJ

keoliphant OP

These Kefs are not an easy load in the bass, hence some saying they are bright sounding, because amps can’t drive the bass hard enough.

Like I said before, and I have no skin in this like some others, before you buy the wrong amp to do the job or even spend too much.
Ask here or get someone if you don’t know what your looking at, to analyse these two graphs for impedance and phase of these Kefs you have, especially in the bass 50hz-200hz to give you an idea of what amp to buy.
https://www.fidelity-magazin.de/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/1-KEF-Reference-1-Impedanz.jpg

https://www.fidelity-magazin.de/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/2-KEF-Reference-1-elektrische-Phase-1024x...

Cheers George

Georgehifi,

It isn't just a matter of current, it is a matter of voicing. Most modern amplifiers will have 0 problem pushing power into most impedances.

You take a very scientific approach our approach is via actual listening and considering we sell almost every KEF including the Blade, Ref One, Ref Three, Ref Five, Q, R, Series T, Series, Wireless, we know how and what works with a Kef.

If you look at two capable amplifiers into a load unless that speaker is pushing the stuffings out of the amplifier, most amplifers will sound great the difference is how the particular pairing will sound when used together. 

We did a similar demo today on the Elac Adante monitors, first using a 60watt Nad and then a 40 Watt Naim Atom. of course the $3.5k Naim Atom killed the $1,400.00 NAD and both amplfiers produced more than enough volume the difference was  the clarity of the Naim and the Naim's much tighter fuller bass and supeior macro dynamics, there was 0 strain with either amplifier.

Dave and Troy
Audio Doctor NJ