Focal 1037be's Amp Suggestions ???

Zenieth, I have a passion for older small scale jazz, classical piano, etc. So, I personally can't imagine my system without tubes. That said, if I were almost exclusively a rocker, I would probably go with a big solid state rig, and if you like the sound of BAT, there is a VK-600se on Agon right now for $6500. That outta shake thing up a bit.

I appreciate the information. I bet there would be a massive improvement! Thanks again ....

Zenieth:

I am going to tag out of this question. I do not have a lot of experience with doing direct A/B comparisons with amps. You should try and get some in home demos from your dealers. Most dealers are pretty easy going about amp demos. Then you can see if you can get the Focals up to were you want them. The problem is everyone on here will recommend a different amp.... You have to use your own ears.

As a final though. I was VERY close to buy the 1037be but as I listen mostly to rock they just did not have the scale or punch I wanted. I ended up passing and deciding on Thiel 3.7s which I plan to buy as soon as the basement project is finished (just another month now).

Hope it all works out for you. Please post your finding once you decide.

In retrospect, and as Raquel pointed out, that is one "BIG" room you have there. Also, my "rock n roll" standards are probably less critical than yours. While I still suspect that you'll ultimately want a big amp(s) to rock your room, different speakers might be needed. I've heard some good things about the PBN line of speakers from other rockers.

You wrote:

"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? ... Do I go after more power? Buy a better speaker? Move the system to a smaller area? Gee, this isn't very easy!"

I have to assume that you want to use your large room as your listening room, and if you like to listen to rock, which requires scale, it's your best option, so let's take that as a given.

Your Focals are very good speakers, but, regardless of the room, they are not suited to really large scale music like orchestral or rock (in fairness, very few speakers are). I will assume that you have a speaker budget of approximately $10k. To do rock 'n roll with Focals, you need the Nova Utopia BE or Grand Utopia BE, both of which are very expensive even when purchased used. WattPuppy 6 to 8's are also "rock" speakers, but they, too, are too expensive (and I hate their tweeter). Two speakers available used for $10k that have finesse, a lot of headroom and that will work with your amp are the C-4's mentioned above and Escalante Fremonts, which I run. The Fremonts, especially, will work with a 150 watt/channel amp, as they are highly efficient (a true 93 db.) and will knock the walls down with 100+ watts/channel. If you are in the NYC metropolitan area, you are welcome to come by and hear for yourself (I drive mine with either a 70 watt/channel VAC Renaissance 70/70 or a 125 watt/channel darTZeel, both of which yield superb dynamics).