Focal 1037be's Amp Suggestions ???

I have my speakers in a 15' x 15' x 9' room ... but with a view of the Hudson and the mountains -- life is full of compromises.

I heard a pair of Nova Utopia Be's (no doubt an improvement over what you are running) in a room about the size of your big room and was very impressed. Just a thought.

IMO, JM Lab's require more power than their specs and suggested amplifier power range would indicate, if you want them to come to life. My Mini Utopias have an efficiency rating a little over 91db. I was powering them with 70W conrad johnson amps but never felt like I was getting their best. So, when a 200W cj became available, I called Focal to see if they thought this might yield the results I was looking for. They told me that 70W was more than enough and that the impact of more power would be negligible - maybe a "little more oomph". Well, I made the change and got a lot more oomph and then some. They sound like much bigger speakers; they play louder with more detail, better sound-stage, and unravel complex lines without effort. It's like the difference between driving a sub-compact and a big Cadillac on the expressway.

Zenieth:
What is the current problem(bass, sound stage, impact, etc)?

Have you ever tried any other amps?

While I like Focals pretty well; as a whole I think they lack scale (even some of there larger models). I listen to a lot of hard rock. I loved them for small jazz and softer stuff but throw some Metallica in and they come up a little short IMO. You could say I have a love / hate relationship with Focal speakers.

I guess my point is that if you are trying to open them up with more power it might be a moot point. They do some very nice things though. They have "real" detail (not hyper detail) and great mids. But large scale music is not their best type. I am not saying they sound bad just that there are speakers with larger scale at the same price point. As always it is a give/take relationship. With scale other assets that the focal do so well maybe lost.

I would not rush out and buy new speaker but 5 grand for "possible" returns is a lot. I would want a sure thing. If it were me, I would keep my amp sell the speaker (for $7,000) and buy a used pair of a different brand. If you really love focal you could sell you 1037be and buy a used pair of Altos (there is a pair on Audiogon for $10,000 right now). To me the Altos would be a bigger up grade than a "better" amp.

I don't think I'll ever really understand why a Watt isn't just a Watt, or at least, why one Watt sounds more powerful than another.

Going back some years, a dealer I was friendly with sold both JM Lab and BAT. I walked in one day and caught him demonstrating, to a prospective customer, how much more effortlessly the Mezzo Utopias played powered by a pair of BAT VK-60s in mono block(120W), than they sounded with the VK-300x. As I recall, there was no contest.

Phaelon, I thought more power would bring them to life. At low volumes they sound good. Crank them up and the sound just looses it's zeal.

James63, I guess the biggest problem is that the sound diminishes with volume. The soundstage has gotten better since I have moved them further apart. I use to run Maggie 3.6's with subs and a Spectron Musician amp. I had no problem filling my large listening area. I jumped back into the "addiction" hobby and went with the VK300x with a phono card and remote option. I wanted to try not buying seperate components. So here I am after the fact thinking I made a big mistake. I'm a rocker and I do some jazz once in a while. So what do I do to get the most from what I have?

I do thank all of you for your input. I am not any closer to resolving the problem. Do I go after more power? Buy a better speaker? Move the system to a smaller area? Gee, this isn't very easy!