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Amplifier for Sonus Faber Extrema

I´ve just bought a pair of Sonus Faber Extrema Loudspeakers and I want to buy an amplifier for them (used).
My actual system: Krell Kps20i CD Player, Sonic Frontiers Line 2 SE Preamplifier, Classé Audio Fifteen Power Amplifier and Audioquest Volcano DBS Speaker cables (biwire).
I want to replace and upgrade only the amplifier and I want to still use the Sonic Frontiers because I love this tube preamplifier. So I´m loocking for an amplifier to use with the Extremas and the Sonic Frontiers.
Some options could be: Classé CAM350 Monoblocks, Krell KSA300S or Pass X250.5
I will apreciate all your suggests and recomendations.
elduende14
cello
645 posts
 
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I have my Extremas running with a Levinson 23.5 Amp after upgrading from a 27.5 (the 23.5 is double the power of the 27.5.
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Has anyone compared the Levinson 20.6 versus the 23.5 running the Extremas ? I believe the that 20.6 are rated at 100 watts (all Class A) per channel while the 23.5 is rated at 200 watts.
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artg
362 posts
 
Thf, as with many tubed amps, especially (this OTL design), the watts/channel rating belies the way it sounds, So, with that caveat, the per channel rating of single stereo ZH270 is 70W/channel - which in my experience on my Guaneri's, that 70W per channel compared very favorably to SS designs with 150-200 per channel range(including my former Ayre V-5x), so a mono block set should be equiv to 140W/channel, and this is capable of driving any load, including the Extremas.....

While not having heard that particular combo, i would bet a lot of coin that it would sound fabulous!
rdschicago
33 posts
 

Reviving an old thread. I recently acquired a pair of Extremas. I am driving them with Pass Aleph 0 monoblocks but the consensus based on my review of various forums on the subject of amplification is that they perform best with high-powered and high-current amplifiers. I have the opportunity to buy a restored Mark Levinson 432 and was wondering if anybody has tried the speakers with this amplifier or has any thoughts on the subject.

Thank you.

alexatpos
1,224 posts
 

Not sure will this help, but still...friend of mine had Extremas, he used to run them with Krell Fbp 300cx for years, only to replaced them with Amati Futura. In that period he got ML 332 which he completely refresh and said that he prefered Krell. Speaker cables were Audioquest Sterling.

Used to have SF Guarneri Homage, of all amps that I had or tried, Krell Evo 302 was best on it

rdschicago
33 posts
 

Now driving my Extremas with the restored ML 432 I picked up a few weeks ago and it's a great combination. It is true that the Extremas to love gobs of solid state power and the Levinson's do the job very nicely. 

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