Mike is right in that the Acapella speakers do require the absolute finest electronics to work there magic! their seems to be no limit to how good they can get. What the Acapella speakers seem to want most is quality and purity of power, and not so much quantity of power. Take the Lamm and Wavac amps for example, these are both ultra pure sounding tube amps where as the Wolcotts are higher power but not as refined. I suppose i'm a bit spoiled in that I have been exposed to some of the finest tube amps ever made and I haven't found a solid state amp that even comes close to them. On the other hand if one can't afford the best tube designs then he or she will have to settle for a musical solid state amp that gets you 2/3rds of the way there.
Amp Choice for Acapella Campaniles
I purchased a set of Campaniles last summer and have been trying to optimize them since then both with respect to room placement and amps. The speakers utilize a plasma tweeter, a midrange (non-compression) horn using a Dynaudio driver and four 10" SEAS drivers for woofers in individual rather large sealed boxes (2 woofers per 30" by 12" by 28" box). I have to date tried two very different amps (Parasound JC-1's and Wolcott 220 mono tubes). The JC-1's are still breaking in but thus far are promising, still lacking the dimensionality and warmth of the tubes but with superior control of the bass and dynamics. I understand from the designer that the JC-1's will gain in both of these areas as they break in. Any suggestions with respect to other possibilities with these very revealing speakers. By the way, the JC-1's exhibit absolutely no brightness or zip in the top end. I think that 100 watts would be the minimum amp size needed.
- ...
- 19 posts total
- 19 posts total