Seeking New Amplification for My Graham LS5/5 Speakers

Best of luck with your new 800.2 amp.  I hope it's a good combo.

I am driving my Graham ls 5/5 with AGD Duet mono blocks.  150 W into 8 ohms & 300 W into 4 ohms.  I also drive them with a DIY First Watt F4 sometimes which is 25W into 8 ohms & 40W into 4 ohms.  95% of the time I think the smaller amp is more than I need.  I don't think the Grahams are that hard to drive, but I don't listen too loud either.

In addition to being voiced differently and having different impedance characteristics, the two speakers are different designs.  The dipoles will load the room a lot differently than the Grahams.  Do you think it's possible that the Grahams excite your room nodes, making everything sound muddy?  Bad bass might be the most common problem in audio.  Perhaps the Nu-Vista will give you some insight.

I’m getting my hands on slightly used Musical Fidelity Nu-Vista 800.2 to demo.  Should have it in the system next weekend and I’m pretty excited.  Fingers crossed.  Will let everyone know my thoughts after it’s had a chance to settle in. 

Thanks everyone for your thoughts so far.  I definitely prefer a little bit of a warmer sound, if that helps the suggestions flowing. 

Accuphase pairs very well with most English monitors. Harbeth, Spendor, Graham and Falcon acoustics. It will be a very natural, detailed and unfatiquing presentation. I have my E470 paired with some Diapason Adamantes iii and it's oh so pleasing. I just can't get myself to buy some Spendors yet. Been dying to get some classic 2/3's but with 2 in college, it can wait. Cheers.

Accuphase and Luxman amps pair well with Harbeth speakers.

@ken6217 It is great when we find good synergy systems vise, myself I am thinking about getting a StringAmp d220 power amp to pair with my pre when I move my speakers to my bigger living room, also thinking about getting two Rel’s to make the sound a little bigger.

BBC design is said to be amp friendly, as long as the amp has a strong power supply I think one does not have to spend crazy money.

@jasonbourne71 There is probably no reason to spend 10K on an amp to drive a Graham speaker, but that doesn’t mean that a 10K amp would not do a terrific job 😜 I have never heard a Fosi amp, they may sound great with the Graham’s or they may sound terrible, the Graham’s are very revealing speakers as all the BBC designs are monitor speakers meant to be used in different sizes studios, luckily for us they also sound great in our homes.

Why would you want to spend $10K? Get a pair of Fosi V3 Monos with two 48 volt power supplies. About $400 and over 200wpc. 

@gryphongryph It was the amp I had when I bought the speakers. I'd say it is on the neutral side, however my cables are warm, my DAC is an R2R NOS, and cables are on the warm side, and so I find everything works well together. 

When I went to listen to the speakers at the dealer, it was connected to a D'agastino Progression amp that sounded absolutely amazing. However it was more than I was looking to spend.

I actually had never heard of Graham prior to being in that shop. I had wanted to hear the Harbeth 40.3 XD but no shop that I called had any to listen to. After hearing the LS5/5, I bought them without even listening to anything else. They make music sound so natural.

@mezzguy2 I don’t have a recommendation as such, but I guess any British amplifier with a bit of grunt should be a suitable option.

I have the Graham Audio ls5/9 myself but am driving them with a Belles class A power amp, it sounds very nice, but the Belles only measures to fifty watts or there about, so better suitable for a smaller room.

The BBC designs are renowned for the tone and timbre and the true sound of un amplified instruments, am a bit surprised that you find the 5/5 being so bad sounding in relation to the Sapphire, it can off course be the room not suiting the 5/5 or maybe you are leaning more to the Sapphire sound signature? No shame in that, we all hear differently and enjoy different sonic, so maybe for you the Sapphire simply are the better speakers.

@ken6217 Interesting that the 585 is a good match, a beautiful amp that is indeed.

Clayton showed the Spatial's with LTA amplification so the better match makes perfect sense but as blisshifi pointed out the Graham is an entirely different speaker with a different voicing and different current demands.  First decide which speaker you prefer and find the amp that fits it the best. You are not likely to find an amp that is perfect for both though there are several SS integrated amps that might be close.

I have never heard the Spatial Audio speakers, but man do I love my LS5/5. I am using a Mark Levinson 585 with them.

Lots of different pre/amp flavors out there.  What sound characteristics are most important to you, and what other improvements might you be looking for over the LTA besides power?

https://www.usaudiomart.com/details/650105803-parasound-halo-hint-6-black/

@mezzguy2 I recently heard the Graham LS5/5 at Philip O’Hanlon’s house a few weeks ago. We spent a number of hours with the speaker, and I was able to get acquainted with the sonic presentation of the speaker and the electronics. More recently, I was also sent a pair of LS5/9 to demo for others, and I took the opportunity to get to know the Graham brand more. 

Given my experience with both Graham and LTA, I would think they are not a good match. It’s not about the power rating, but simply just how the two are voiced together. The LTA is as linear as can be, with a light amount of tube harmonics. Grahams were designed from a foundation of being British studio monitors. The electronics of the day in the UK were a bit warmer, more harmonic, potentially less transparent. The Grahams on the other hand are very revealing, and quite dynamic that they will show any shortcoming of synergy through the chain. 

You will be better off pairing the LS5/5 first and foremost with an amplifier that delivers with richer harmonics and is more refined in presentation. High current will also will wake the speaker up (it doesn’t take that much, but helps to in tandem deliver the harmonics and the control and slam).

I do have a strong recommendation, but as a dealer, I’ll refrain from listing it out on the thread. If you want to discuss more, feel free to message me direct. Otherwise, I think I’ve otherwise given you some considerations on amplifier types to pair with the LS5/5. 

Happy New Year!

These two pairs of speakers are very different. sounds like you like the M3s better. It is a mistake to assume that the more epensivve speaker should sound better.

The Graham is indeed less sensitive but more power may not make it to your liking. I’d try to borrow or audition an amp before I spent $10000 hoping it would sound good. That is a way to send good money after bad.

Where are you located? I’d love to hear the spatial audio speakers in my system.

Jerry