Coincident Dragon Amplifier

I strongly recommend that you give a less expensive pair of monoblocs which run 6CA7 EH fat bottles two pairs in parallel PP per bloc yielding 75-78 wpc. The supplied 6922 should be rolled but the NOS 5687 input tube is fine. The amps I use and think are superb are Opera Consonance Cyber 800 monos. They are now available with triode switch if you find that preferable. The google the 6 moons review by the late John Potis who conferred the Blue Moon award on them.
Stephen Monte an Audiogon dealer has them and I promise you will be shocked by these amps. The fact that they cost less than half you extreme upper limit is a bonus. I don't know if you can audition them but as I said Quest For Sound is a dealer and may be able to work something out.
Good luck and thank you for the forums most comprehensive technical explainations.
No financial conflict of interest to declare.

Thanks very much to all for the good comments and suggestions, and the nice words. Further comments and suggestions will continue to be appreciated, as I will not be finalizing my decision for a couple of months or so.

01-15-11: Jax2
Hey Al - Did you ask Lou for his suggestions? I know he likes the Modwright amps I use, and I can tell you that combination is outstanding (Disclaimer: Modwright is a client). I also heard the Ulysses the first time via what I'm pretty sure were 211 based amps - Lou was showing with this manufacturer at RMAF '06 and it was also a magical combo that had me glued in his room for over an hour as I recall. Great choice of speakers!

Thanks, Marco. Re "great choice of speakers," it was actually your comments some time ago, in addition to some comments by others, that led me to the Ulysses, which are as magnificent as you had indicated!

I will make a point of touching base with Lou before finalizing a decision. Re the Modwright's, I'm certain that they are excellent amps and excellent matches for the speakers, but I do want to stay with tubes, and preferably DHT's for this upgrade.

Best regards,
-- Al

Thanks, Marco. Re "great choice of speakers," it was actually your comments some time ago, in addition to some comments by others, that led me to the Ulysses, which are as magnificent as you had indicated!

I will make a point of touching base with Lou before finalizing a decision. Re the Modwright's, I'm certain that they are excellent amps and excellent matches for the speakers, but I do want to stay with tubes, and preferably DHT's for this upgrade.

Cool beans, Al! Glad that worked out. Totally get the preference for tubes - Yeah, check with Lou on which amps he was using in his room in '07 (my mistake on the date before) - They sounded GREAT. I'm fairly certain they were Art Audio amps. I think they were the Carrissa amps which are actually 845 amps. Worth looking into. I listened to a pretty wide variety of music in that room - I was consistently impressed.

The Daedalus Ulysses mate well with a number of different amps and topologies, from tube, to hybrid, to solid state. Owners of the Ulysses have even run them with SET amps with good results. Therefore, you have a number of options to consider including Atmas-Sphere M-60s (or MA-1s if you can find them in your price range), Pathos Inpol2 (tube/mosfet hybrid), and 845 amps as noted above.

I'm not familiar with the Coincident Dragons but if they appeal to you based on design/specs, and if they also can deliver relatively high current, then I think you'd probably be very happy with them.

What is it that you are looking for that you are not getting from your current amplifier?

Finsup, thanks very much for your comments. Regarding what I am not getting from my current amplifier, nothing in particular that I can identify at this time. I've been pretty happy with it, since retubing it with "Winged C" EL34's and Genalex reissue small signal tubes.

But it would stand to reason that my very inexpensive, though seemingly well built and good sounding Paxthon amplifier, would not bring out the full potential of the speakers. Plus I would like to give DHT's a try, plus I suppose my immunity to audiophile upgrade-itis is only partial :-)

Best regards,
-- Al