Better Amps For Talon Khorus CAT JL2 or Tenor 75?

Hey! I think those pyrimids are awesome looking! Anybody with ears can see, I mean anyone with eyes can see they are so modern and cool... :-) I really do think that are a work of art. I think it is easier to agree on what sounds good than what looks beautiful - esp. given the other threads on 'most beautiful...' and 'most ugly...'. Funny how that is.

I can offer up a number of explanations of why the sound in the Edge room did not show off the Signature monoblocks or the Reference monoblocks to their best effect (a number of the Shunyata Anacondas and the Audio Aero Capitole in that room were ours), but I think a more fruitful discussion might revolve around amp/speaker synergys:

It is my belief and experience that amp A will sound better with some speakers than amp B, and visa-versa, amps A and B both being of relative high-quality but different designs.

Now, one might argue that, on a hypothetical speaker presenting an infinitely easy load with a perfectly flat response curve, etc. - that one can rank amps and have one at the top that can be recognized as the very best.

Or, one can argue that on a particular speaker, amps can be ranked as better and best for that particular speaker.

But a single amp that ranks best for all possible speakers? That, my friend, is one helluva amp! :-)

I think you are saying that speakers presenting any kind of a decent impedance curve, like the Kharmas do (and the Talon is supposed to :-) will sound best with the Tenors. You may be right (the Kharmas sure sounded excellent!); I am not intimately familiar with the Tenors (tho I have heard them on pipedreams, churchills, hyperions, antares, talons, midi-grandes - but unfortunately missed them on the vandy 5s - all under show conditions).

Unfortunately some very nice speakers are hard to drive, and so on balance the Accuphase, Edge, Lamm etc. amps will sound better than the Tenor 75s.

The Acapella Campaniles, for example, are on the borderline drivability-wise - we love the Edge Signature monoblocks with them (I am not sure you have heard them in an optimal listening situation such as ours (if you are ever in Boulder, let us know) - they do sound better to our ears than the Tenor/Kharma at CES with respect to the attributes you mention, but I realize that your particular situation is likewise optimized to a high degree), but we will be trying the Lamm ML1.1s tomorrow and we have driven them and got excellent results with a 50 watt push-pull Audio Aero Capitole. You are making me think that if we get bored before we can get our hands on a Tenor 300 that we should try the 75s :-) Couldn't hurt, as they say :-) Uh, Neli...!

-Mike (Audio Federation)

*** This is hardly the first thread I have read which you posted asinine comments

I sincerely feel that of you find my comments absurd then I am a healthy person.

*** I happen to be VERY familiar with what the Tenors are capable of and Mikelavigne is describing there sonic signature(yes they do have one) very well.

So what, there are thousands Mikelavignes out there and you just one of them. What it has to do with me?

*** Your less then wonderful word useage doesn't really help your credibility (which in my opinion is nill thus far)

If I were interesting to spared wisdom for your level of comprehending then I would write for you so-called audio reviews. Sorry, I so not find the readers like you stimulating enough. Guilty as charge….

*** perhaps you could share with us what you feel to be a good amp/speaker combo or better yet an amp that you feel would mate up well with the Talon Khorus X, and why.... That may help the users of this site far more then your attempts at stirring controversy- trolling isn't very attractive.

Nope, I will not. And I will not because you do not read ME but me-edited by the local administrations.

The most useful and beneficial posts will be filtered out (as it has happened before in the multiple occasions) So, stick with garbage

Tireguy, don't worry about Romy.....consider him like gum stuck on the bottom of your shoe. Justacoder, i don't expect that the Tenors are better than every amp on ANY speaker.....just every one i have heard the Tenors on so far and then listened to with another amp. i do consider myself open-minded.....but there is simply a natural clarity to the Tenors that is completely unique in my experience. i haven't been exposed to anywhere near the amp/speaker combo's that you (or many others) have. but in my experience the Tenors are on another level. i have no doubt that there are other well-meaning audiophiles that see their particular amps or speakers as invincable.....nothing can touch it....don't they understand. this thread is about amp recommendations for the Khorus X......i think we have a few good ones. i hope that you can have a chance to live with either the 75 watt OTL's or the 300 watt Tenor hybrids in the near future.....i respect your opinion and will value the feedback you can give regarding how the Tenor will rank compared to your refereces. if there are better overall amplifier solutions on particular speakers than the Tenors then we all will want to know about that.

After reading this thread, and many others on the Talons, it's obviously a credit to their design that they present an easy high efficiency load, which offers the their owners an opportunity to get good result from a wide range of amps. I'll bet in a smaller room, Talons with Tenor's 75 watts cook.

I didn't get a chance to go to CES, but a friend from Maui went. He got to hear the Firebirds, which he described as
a interesting speaker,in need of a good 300+ watt/channel amp to make it rock.

In the Firbird's price range, maybe they should offer a biamp version, so the deep pocket folks can run their exisitng Tenor OTLs on the top and Tenor's new 300 watt monos on the bass. Or for $10K more, how about a set of Gamut S600Ms. I'll bring the kava.

Aloha.

I have recently tried an Aloia 15.01 amp that is "rated" at 70 watts but has an inductive power supply that weighs about 70lbs with my Khorus speakers. I have heard the Pass X350 as well as Alchemist 200 watt dual mono class A amp which I own. All good combos. The Aloia has the best PRAT of all of these amps. Maybe not the end all in dynamics or extreme volume or the lushest/warmest (Pass) but in most areas the best sounding amp I have heard to date on my speakers. My Alchemist for info is the limited edition that retailed for aprox 8k. I am having a hard time deciding between the two...leaning toward the Aloia...Must listen to this amp. It is definatily a "sleeper" and probably one of the best values in amps out there. Very fast punchy bass,smooth mid range, almost tube like, and an ability to pull things out of recordings that I have never heard. Articulation throughout!! And transient speed-wow! Like live music. Not your "old man sound though". Just right if your like live music. The Talon line LIKES high current! Does not have to be high power so I have found though. But who relly knows haw much wattage the Aloia really has? Try it-you will like it...