Amp for Focal Electra 1008Be


hi folks. I am in the market looking for an amp for my focal electra 1008be bookshelves. I have few in consideration:
1. hegel H160
2. YBA IA350 (new Shanling occupied YBA)
3. Marantz PM11S3

What do you guys suggest or recommend if any even if they are besides the above. thanks.
spoutjack
My own experience at a local dealer showed these speakers have the potential to be overly bright depending on what equipment they're matched to. Forget exactly what the amplification was. Otherwise beautiful sounding speakers. 

What are you moving away from?
Just bought the speakers first :) now on the amp hunting spree Jaybe. thanks for your reply. Anything that you can suggest might be warm to balance the output of these speakers?
btw I would want to put it out that I am a bit scared of tubes and would prefer SS amps though.

The Hegel H160, is a superb sounding unit, with a superb DAC and has plenty of warmth (opinion by reviewers is it has Tube warmth while being SS).  I have used mine with Focal Sopra No.2's and the combination is really nice.

The H160 has superb soundstaging, imaging and depth. Never analytical and very musical to me.

I can't comment on the others, try and bring one home for a week to demo. Synergy is critical. Some feel the Hegel is a bit too warm, not with my experience matched with the Sopras. I would bet it will be a great match to your Focals.


Good luck.

I have the same speakers and they sound great with Pass amplifiers. I personally drive mine with a pair of xa100.5's along with a Pass Xp-20 pre-amp. They are not bright when driven with the proper electronics but can be if not.

Chuck