with Pathos Classic One MKIII Hybrid Integrated Amplifier


What speakers work well with Pathos Classic One MKIII Hybrid Integrated Amplifier

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I have used Silverline speakers, (the clue) speakers and currently the rare T+A Criterion T100 speakers. Also, I noticed a significant improvement by installing a 10 gauge aftermarket power cable and also use the best 6922 tubes you can find. I use solid silver interconnects & speaker cable with my MKIII. It’s a great amp and use the balanced input if you can.

I have a large but quite efficient pair of custom/DIY loudspeakers similar to Legacy Focus in design using Eton drivers.  I had driven the satellite section of these speakers (tweeter/midrange/mid-bass drivers) with a 45w SET, JAS Array 2.1 and a gainclone, the Audiozone AMP-1, with excellent results.  I use a separate amp to drive the woofers.  I figured the Pathos Classic One MK III would do at least as well with the added power but was shocked at quickly the Pathos would run out of power, the sound losing composure and sounding congested and brittle, even clipping audibly.  The tubes were orange globe Amperex 6DJ8's or Seimens 7DJ8's and both pairs tested quite high. I ended up getting another Classic One MK III and bridged them.  This not only gave me more power but brought forward detail and gave the amps a sense of immediacy only hinted at before.   I mention this not so much to recommend you purchase another Pathos amp for bridging, (you should) but to advise you that a more efficient speaker might be advisable and that a single amp was quite a bit less powerful than the numbers would suggest for me.  YMMV

I would not use a 6DJ8 or a 7DJ8 in this amp. The amp deserves a premium tube and recommends the 6922 in the owner's manual and comes new with it. I use Valvo Cca tubes in mine and also recommend 7308 tubes. I did not like the sound of the 7DJ8's at all.

The Pathos Classic One MKIII is 70 wpc at 8 ohm. Look at speakers with no less than 88 dB efficiency. What are your room characteristics? Are you looking for monitors or floorstander?

Great and gorgeous amp.  Like others mentioned, I’d skew toward speakers that are relatively easy to drive and that don’t drop much below 6 Ohms in impedance.  I’d highly recommend looking at Verity Audio, Joseph Audio, and Usher, all of which I’ve heard and are outstanding.  Reference 3a, Legacy, Coincident Technology, and Silverline are also worth a good look.  Best of luck.