Apogeee/Bryston Advice needed

Being an owner of a pair of Apogee Centaur Major's, I'd say you cannot have enough power, whether it's from tubes or solid state. That being said, Apogees are unforgiving and any 'hardness' will be audible. But that doesn't mean SS amps aren't any good. There are many good designs that will work happily with the Slant's. I'd recommend amps like the older Threshold or current designs by Nelson Pass. Also the old(er) Krell class A amps will do the job, as there are many others. Just try to audition them in your own system with your own ears. I've tried a Bryston 4B SST in my system and didn't like it, but that doesn't mean you can't be perfectly happy with the B100 ST.

Thanks both Br & stach for direction.

Rsjm:

Contrary to the popular belief, Apogees hybrid need a lot of power, just to make the woofer keep up to the ribbon speed. I have owned Apogee Centaur Majors, which were my references speakers for eight years before I upgraded to all ribbon (and I was extremely happy). I drove them with tubes at the top and a very powerful SS amp at the bottom. Only with a powerful SS amp at bass were they able to generate good bass.

I suppose the Slants are no different even thought I have myself been looking for a pair of Slant 8s for quite some time. So unless you use a good powerful tube amp like the Jadis 200, 500, TRL, or CAT, you probably will not be able to get the max out of them.

Regarding the Brystons, I tried them on a long time ago. They clipped on the Majors.

Class: Good midrange but soft bass.

McIntosh: I owned 502, the monoblocks. I did not like them.

I have to agree with Satch and it seems like we have the same opinion. I also agree that the new Pass Lab amp should be a good candidate. In fact, after I had purchased the McIntosh, I had the opportunity to directly compare the Pass 350.5 with the McIntosh and there was just no comparison. I told myself that I had made a big mistake. However, I sold the McIntosh soon and moved on to TRL and thus did not have too look back at the Pass.

But give it a listen to all of these if you can. Who knows what might work for you. But please report it back to share your findings. Thanks.