Infinity Kappa 9's


Working overtime trying to get a pair of kappa9's. Heard my friend Traci's and for the past 2 years I have been trying to corral a pair and I think I'm finally gonna get'em (fingers crossed!). Traci sez he burned up (literally) 2 carvers and 2 B&K's that would shut down if he played certain types of music kinda loud. He know runs 4(!!!) Parasound HCA-1200's. Am I uninformed or is this a bit much. It sounds great to me (I did'nt hear the B&K's) but am I gonna have to do something like this to satisfy a pair of 9's?? Starting to rethink this but DAMN they sound good. What should I do??
mtandrews
I bought a new pair of Kappa 8's after deciding between them and the 9's and kept them for about 8 yrs. I used Adcom 565 monoblocks and those will work fine with the 9's.

The one area the Kappa's could use a little help is in the mid-range and with that, you might want to look into the VR4 spkr. You get tighter bass, which I'm assuming is one of the reasons you're looking at the 9's plus some very good mids and excellent extension. Look at VR4 models with soft dome tweeter, not metal.
I actually have 2 Adcom 565's running a pair of Wharfedales as we speak (have a 555II in the closet gathering dust). Someone told me that Adcoms are "bright" on Infinity's but after 10 years of Field Artillery in the US Army, I usually have to boost treble a little more than usual anyway. I have local access to 2 Parasound HCA1200's for $800.00 (ex Bjorns audio employee) but have never seen an Aragon or Sunfire besides in a mag or on the web. 8th largest city in the U.S. and there is no such thing. The LOW average income here may have something to do with it.
maybe I should add that I am a moderate to low volume listener. Listen to a little of everything but mostly jazz, new age, and lots of technopop i.e. U2, Cure, Radiohead, New Order, etc.
Mt, a few thoughts based on your followup comments,

1 - I can imagine the ST140 wouldn't last long at all with the 9's. It's a nice little amp (I have one), not in the class of power of the others discussed above.

2 - IMO, given your budget I would pass on the HCA1200s, and look for one good used HCA2200, or better yet an HCA2200-II, and even better still, an HCA3500. All of them will sound much, much better than the 1200, and I expect have an easy time with the 9's. Based on your listening preferences you'll like them better.

3 - I still like the B&K M200 Sonata's used - there are some advertised here now, and also on ebay. Probably not a match for the Parasound HCA3500, but better than the other Parasounds to my ear.

Finally, I'm not familiar with the Adcoms or many of the others recommended above - so my comments aren't to indicate they're not better options. I'm only offering my preferences.