Amplifier upgrade for Kef Reference 4c trio

Fwiw, I haven’t heard the reference series yet.  But I have r5 (bear with me). I bought my front end based off of auditioning more than a handful of amps with Wilson audio speakers planned on being the reference speaker. While I  couldn’t afford the Wilson’s yet and have been running my new classe delta stereo amp on the r5 with my esoteric CD player.  I personally feel the r series is like a metal dome driver version of newer Wilson’s. I throughly enjoy this modest system a lot. But it meets some of the biggest criteria I have with flying colors.  The classe had the best imaging, natural black background,sturdy weight to the body and overall quality listening with the super transparent Wilson’s. To be sure if we’re on the same page with the kefs, While I love the texture and organic nature of softer drivers, sometimes they give too much texture and simply don’t convey proper timbres.  With the kef r series There’s a step behind in Wilson capability but on the same field with how it presents itself but much more addicting.  There’s something about how kef also enriches the music where sustained notes amber and burn,  with a euphoric energy that I simply never get with the Wilson’s. But like Wilson there’s extra this or that. There’s no overly saturated air with female vocals or instruments that require human lungs to bring themselves to life. Everything is simply where it belongs.  I say all this and only have knowledge of a lesser speaker to yours.  Undoubtedly this is all theory and speculation but if the reference series is as good as I think it is I truly believe the classe stereo is worth looking at. 

I have heard the Delta PRE and Stereo amp paired with some Magico A5 speakers, and it was undoubtedly one of the best stereo amplifiers I have had the opportunity to experience at the price point. Unfortunately, the form factor of that unit poses problems, because it’s only currently available in the monoblock and stereo architectures. Since I need the same power for my center as I do hat my L/R pair, I’d need to purchase 2 Delta amps, and that exceeds the space I have available when you factor in the surround amp I already have. I was hoping to hear about a multichannel offering from Classe at or around CES (heard unsubstantiated rumors that such might be forthcoming), but nothing like that has materialized thus far.

Sorry I was drunk when I wrote this.  It took a long time and this morning I see I did a horrible job. go figure lol.  I hadn’t read your whole post last night either sorry. Are the kef less sensitive than the magicos?  Sensitivity is sensitivity but pretty sure the magicos are a much more demanding speaker.  If they worked in your rig you might not have an issue with the kef.  But if you do, that’s a good list. I’ve never directly compared those so can’t give opinion. 

The A5 are 88dB sensitivity and a nominal impedance of 4 ohms. The Reference 4c are 90dB and a nominal 8-ohm impedance, but the test below indicates that they may be fairly tricky to drive.