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Amps for Sonus Faber Stradivari Homage

I have a pair of Stradivaris that I love, but I´m having a little trouble finding the right amps for them. My system consists of: Emmlabs CDSA SE latest version, Clearaudio Champion Level two/ SME V/ Benz Ruby, ARC REF3, MSB 202 monos.
I have driven the speakers with a set of Pass XA 100.5 before, but they sounded compresed quite quickly. The MSB´s offer more power than the 100.5´s and sound more detailed and airy, but also leaner and brighter.
I love detail and air, but I also crawe bass slam and body in the midths and highs. I absolutly hate lean and bright sound, no matter how detailed it might bee.
I have owned quite a lot of Krell gear in the past. I liked the bass of the ols stuf like the KSA s series + the first FPB stuff. The rest of the frequency range however, sounded rough and "solid state" to me. I liked the detail of the MCX 450´s, but they sounded to lean in the low frequences to me. I have tried tube amps as well, but I have not yet found a pair that did´nt sound like tubes in the bass region
So I am dreaming of a set of amps that delivers a full bodied, warm but detailed sound with bass slam and bass detail as well.
Any recomendations ?
NB: English is not my native language, so I hope for your understanding if my spelling is off !
0461
lloydelee21
1,202 posts
 
Hi 0461.

I owned STrads for a number of years, but i have not heard them with Jadis...however, i have heard the Strads with a number of different tube amps (2 CJs, ARC Ref, Pathos, Unico) and have not been disappointed once. Based on my experience, I would definitely be prepared to bet it is a remarkably good sound in the areas where the Strad is strong - voices, spaces, life, musicality. I do not know the Jadis and their ability to control bass...despite the bass on Strad being very good, it responds extremely well to high current to control its drivers.

Good luck and please report if you hear them. even though i no longer own the Strads, i would be curious to know about how well they pair with Jadis.
syntax's avatar
syntax
2,193 posts
 
Jadis is a good idea, can can listen to them naked...pure tone will touch your skin :-) another excellent sounding amps are the old Jeff Rowland Model 8 and 9
0461 OP
18 posts
 
Some feedback !

I haven´t been able to locate a set of JA 200´s at a reasonable price, but I have a set of Mc Intosh Mc 501 on hand, and I think I will give them a go. Low detail lewel or not... After doing a lot of surfing, it seems clear that quite a few Stradivari owners prefer the "dark" Mc Intosh sound paired with the strads..
lloydelee21
1,202 posts
 
Hi 0461,

Good luck with that. i have never heard Macs with Strads before, but i totally agree there are many satisfied owners of such combinations. Further, if you read the Roy Gregory review(i think it was him...i have read them all before buying the strads years ago), and you also look at many of the Strad-based systems out there...you will also note that many of them use Nordost Valhalla cabling somewhere in teh system. Roy Greogry i think mentioned that rather than go with a heavy SS amp (which he did not find synergistic at all)...he preferred to "liven up" the Strads thru cabling instead. I think he had Nordost Valhalla. I myself used Transparent Reference...but found profound improvements using Nordost Thor power conditioner for my entire front-end (and it is wired with Valhalla).

Good luck and pls continue to post.
0461 OP
18 posts
 
Hi again,

The quest for new amps pointed me in the direction of McIntoch as allready mentioned. The guy who wanted to sell his 501´s also has a set of almost new 1,2kw, and we are now "negotiating" the price for them. If we can come to an agreement, I would prefer to get them ower the 501´s. Primerly because they are more "top of the line", and I admit to beeing prone to top of the line gear. Also when there is no reason other than the emotional one. It´s like with cars.. I´d rather have the Audi RS6 opposed to the S6 even though I will never really take advantage of the surplus power.... if you know what I mean..
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