Best amp for Sonus Faber Cremona M - need help

Hi Hulskof,
Another good amplifier you could consider is Karan KA I 180. From what I’ve read it matches well with Sonus Faber.

@Hulskof

I have never touched the pre but the amp definitely gets very hot. Not a biggie in Europe though as its still bloody cold in Switzerland :-)

The thing I was talking about was my audio consultant. He is a genius in 2CH and MCH and perhaps the only thing related to this hobby that I will never change. He told me that there were couple of other dealers like him in Europe as well who does not just sell stuff but actually set it for their customers. If you are interested than let me know and I will see with him if something can be arranged.

IME I could not have brought my system to the level he has brought it to.

I was recently at my dealers a few weeks ago and he had the Pathos Logos Integrated amp (220 watts into 4 ohms) on the Cremona M's. The sound was incredible, very transparent, resolving, dynamic, open and with a lot of punch. But the key to this was swapping out the tubes in the preamp stage of the integrated to the Ei Elite 6DJ8EG gold pins. WOW what a night and day difference from the stock tubes you would think that it was a completly differnt integrated. PATHOS LOGOS VERY HIGHLY RECOMMENDED ON THESE SPEAKERS.

Thanks, I was already looking into this amp. Your comment pushess me more in that direction. Do you by any chance know what those tubes in the preamp stage cost?

Hi Hulskof, unfortunately, I don't know anyone in the Benelux who sells Ei, in Germany WVS-Technology sell Ei Elite 6DJ8EG at EUR 11 p/piece and you pay a small surplus for matching. However, they're not squeamish on "small quantity surplus" I'm afraid (EUR 25,-, yes sir). So, count approx. EUR 55 shipped for a matched pair.
http://www.wvs-tech.de/wvs-tech/data/index.php?page=/wvs-tech/data/produkte/audio%2520roehren/ei_e.php

Just an innocent reflexion: double that amount and you are square in the ECC88/E88CC NOS realm, so, should the tube roller bug have bitten, it may be worthwhile to talk with Mattijs de Vries at MachMat (e.g. pair gold-pin E88CC NOS Siemens for EUR 89, see http://www.machmat.com/sales/ecc88.htm) or Jac van de Walle at Jacmusic (e.g. pair gold-pin/gold-grid 1965 vintage E88CC Tesla for EUR 112, see http://www.jacmusic.com/nos/ECC88.htm).

Sorry, my enthousiasm is gaining the upper hand it would seem.

Anyway, this will give you an idea of prices in our small corner of the world; perhaps your audio dealer might get some Ei without the hefty surplus.

Good luck!
Karel