Any expereince with Coincident Frankenstein II Amp

Firochromis, don't rule out the Manley's. I have them and love them. I haven't heard the Frank's, though. It would be nice to hear from someone with experience from both amps in the same system. My Manley's are partnered with a Manley Steelhead pre and the combo is pretty stunning. I'm sure there is better out there-- but I am not interested in changing. Coincident gear may be the better value after the Manley price increases.

PMB

I have owned the Franks Mk II for a couple of years now, and I also matched them for a while with the Hovland (a great preamp) until I finally got few months ago the CSL preamp, which is first class. For me the Franks are the best SET amps I know... but, of course, I don´t know all of them (but I have been around audio for 40 years). What I like of the Franks is something simple: they reproduce live sound (or at least that is what I feel when I listen to them). Not the last world in low bass, of course, but everything else is beyond good.

I have owned the Franks Mk II for a couple of years now, and I also matched them for a while with the Hovland (a great preamp) until I finally got few months ago the CSL preamp, which is first class. For me the Franks are the best SET amps I know... but, of course, I don´t know all of them (but I have been around audio for 40 years). What I like of the Franks is something simple: they reproduce live sound (or at least that is what I feel when I listen to them). Not the last world in low bass, of course, but everything else is beyond good.

Jacano, Very accurate description of the Frankenstein MKII amplifier. Considering it`s power of 8 watts the bass performance is "very"good but not the best available(physics matter). Where it sepeartes from other excellent amps is the sheer realism, emotional connection with the music and pure, natural beautiful tone/overtones. Voices and instruments are just utterly real. After nearly 2 years of ownership my admiration still grows(this is true of the Coincident Statement Linestage also).
Best Regards,

Hi people,

Finally I get the Franks from my friend, and don't worry we are still friends :)

Since my last message I reshaped my listening room and it is much much better now. My Rega Maia3 was sounding just nice and I was really enjoying the music. A few weeks ago I gave a call to my friend and we chat for some time, than he told me that he is considering to sell the Franks for some "real life" expenses. Well, they are mine now :)

Nowadays I'm re-exploring the music. Maia3 was a great solid state amplifier but I notice now that some passages were not merely "sounds" but, cellos on the lower notes. "Hey look, double basses accompanying to cellos" or "Oh, that flute on the background... was it there before". You get the point. Listen Decca's, Mercury's, some ECM's with this amplifier and you are in the concert hall.

For the records, mine is the earlier black faceplate version. As all Frankenstein hunter's know, earlier version has a 4 dB gain advantage over the recent shiny version. Since, earlier I felt insecure about my speakers' relatively low sensitivity (92 dB), I asked Blume if the earlier version is better for me. He said, the recent version is superior on every level- build quality, reliability and especially sound and 4 dB advantage is meaningless. So look for the shiny version if you have the option, otherwise grab the first Frankenstein you see, like me. :)

Regards.