To all: Thanks for your input / advice. I was thrilled to wake up to so much feedback on my question.
Albert - You have instant credibility in my book and you have been quite helpful to me in the past when I've asked your advice. Your suggestion of powerful VTL tube amps is intriguing, and it has passed my mind several times before. I'm quite certain the sound would be top-shelf, however, given the issues with heat, blown fuses & tubes, I think I'd probably be too stressed out to be consistently happy with them. I tend to like gear that's relatively trouble free.
Dave - Thanks for the speaker cable recommendation. I'm not very familiar with MIT's offerings. I've always been a bit leery of their products because there always seems to be a large glut of inventory available. I'll do some research on the Magnum M3.
Eljif - I think following your advice on getting higher powered amplification is sound. I do love my SA-102 and am hesitant to part with it. So as it stands right now, I may wait for another SA-102 to come available in the states and run them as bridged mono-blocks with 400 WPC into 8 ohms.
Bob - After an initial rough patch, my Aesthetix preamp was adjusted to operate in the low gain setting & is working nicely with the Plinius amp. Tube rolling with NOS tubes has made a night & day difference with the sound quality achievable in the Calypso. It's a keeper.
Goatwuss - My room is 21' x 15' and partially open-ended on the far wall perpendicular to the speakers. The front of the speakers are 62" from the front wall and a min. of 36" off the side walls. The room was acoustically treated with GIK panels... made a HUGE difference ;).
Albert - You have instant credibility in my book and you have been quite helpful to me in the past when I've asked your advice. Your suggestion of powerful VTL tube amps is intriguing, and it has passed my mind several times before. I'm quite certain the sound would be top-shelf, however, given the issues with heat, blown fuses & tubes, I think I'd probably be too stressed out to be consistently happy with them. I tend to like gear that's relatively trouble free.
Dave - Thanks for the speaker cable recommendation. I'm not very familiar with MIT's offerings. I've always been a bit leery of their products because there always seems to be a large glut of inventory available. I'll do some research on the Magnum M3.
Eljif - I think following your advice on getting higher powered amplification is sound. I do love my SA-102 and am hesitant to part with it. So as it stands right now, I may wait for another SA-102 to come available in the states and run them as bridged mono-blocks with 400 WPC into 8 ohms.
Bob - After an initial rough patch, my Aesthetix preamp was adjusted to operate in the low gain setting & is working nicely with the Plinius amp. Tube rolling with NOS tubes has made a night & day difference with the sound quality achievable in the Calypso. It's a keeper.
Goatwuss - My room is 21' x 15' and partially open-ended on the far wall perpendicular to the speakers. The front of the speakers are 62" from the front wall and a min. of 36" off the side walls. The room was acoustically treated with GIK panels... made a HUGE difference ;).