Amp / Pre-Amp for Sonus Faber Serafino

Many folks told me not to use tube amps with Sonus Faber Serafinos as the speakers are already warm sounding. Also I was wondering if anyone have tried vintage Marantz or Pioneer receivers with these speakers. I heard Marantz 2270 at my friends place with regular polk speakers and it can distroy many best in class amp/preamp combos. But not sure if they will have enough power to drive Serafinos? 

This is an older thread, but something that runs through most audiophile discussions is a certain viciousness against certain brands. Brand loyalty is akin to political party identity. For example, Apple is a religion in computer circles.

The statement that triggered this debate against McIntosh was:

... I’m not a believer in degrading the performance and putting an output transformer on a perfectly good solid state amp.
The only reason to me to do it, is if the amps solid state design is poor and needs it to make it stable, or to make it idiot/bomb proof against owners shorting out the speaker outputs.

Them there is fighting words. Inferring Mac owners "idiots" is not exactly friendly nor innocent. Poor design? Not "perfectly good"?

Where is the substantiation for these comments? It is one thing to share your opinions and preferences. It is quite another to insult an entire group of folks with ad hominem attacks.

I have Amati Traditions on a Mcintosh MC462 (C2700 tubed pre-amp). Sonus Faber Serafinos is what the original post was about, and the Amatis are the "big brother" in the same Sonus Faber Homage Family. Sonus Faber and Mcintosh engineers work closely together to form a "sonic family signature", to achieve a seamless sonic compatibility when matched.

Mcintosh amps in the context of any Sonus Faber speaker discussion makes perfect sense. In fact, it would do the original poster a disservice to NOT mention Mcintosh in the context of Sonus Faber. Present the facts and let them and their ears decide for themselves.

Audio Research amps also fall under the same cooperation of engineers as Mcintosh and Sonus Faber, and this brand was also mentioned by a poster here.

My feelings are not hurt by the negative analysis here. In fact, it confirms my choice in a sense. Here’s why: Mcintosh is the favorite target of those who have something to prove, it seems to me. They have been around the longest and hence become the "Establishment" in the mind of those who have a need to demarcate themselves. In other words, being "enlightened" is conflated to mean "cutting edge" which again is conflated to mean NEW. Or at least foreign. Or both.

This is what turns me off: the attitude in which an opinion is shared. The original post was asking for PREFERENCES--not insults. What we got was in large part political theater--not sound audio advice.

Thank you.

My audio journey re-started about 6 weeks ago. A dear family friend got me started in the late 1960’s with his Dynakit Separates and Dalquist electrostatics.... High Fidelity Sound. I love it...! The location in mid-air of the chime of the triangle and the kick in the gut of the best drum solo... The surprise of sound just off in the distance and the moment you realize your right in the room with musicians because you can hear them breathing.

For me...10 years ago, it was a wall of McIntosh gear wired into a pair of B&W 803 D’S in a pretty large room with floor to ceiling windows and concrete everywhere...! Not sure what produced better soundstage... the gear or the room.
I now have a small office that I wanted a $5000 system for all in.... Oh well...

Step One:
SF Sonetto 8’s
Mcintosh MA252
Blusound Node

Step Two: (two weeks later)
Gryphon Diablo 120
SF Olympica Nova 3’s

Step Three: (two weeks after that)
Gryphon Diablo 300
SF Serafino’s
Aurrunder A10
$4000’s worth of cables & connectors

Right now as I write, I have nothing. Waiting for it all to arrive...

McIntosh VS Gryphon...? I have my own opinion based on my ear. I love the look of the MAC gear... Always have. Those heavy units ooze power and refinement....! At night with a beer...that glow combined with the pure unadulterated swagger of a sumo wrestler.... Boom...!

The Gryphon 120 (I bought the 300 without demoing it) was musical and tight and exerted so much control. If there was a masculine template for electronic design, the gryphon line-up reeks of testosterone...! Not in love...but that sound...

Anyway - You guys should all be nice to each other. We all share an obsession and passion. My wife thinks I’m nuts even thought she has a closet full of shoes and handbags that dwarf the the MSRP of my Range Rover...!

To each his/her own...

Love and Music,
Joe

How is it going with the Serafinos and the Gryphon 300? This is a comb I'm considering myself.

 

Thanks.