Rockport Avior vs. Marten Coltrane vs. Kharma Midi

Thanks for a good post! I am an Avior owner, still looking for direction in choosing electronics. I started with my 20+ y/o BAT preamp and Rowland 8T, which couldn't provide enough weight at the bottom and effaced much of what is so desirable of transients, yet offered a lovely midrange. I swapped it toward a Dan D'Agostino integrated- bass and transient/ attack problems solved! A bit warm but still lacking the emotion of the BAT/ Rowland combo. I would be grateful for your current opinion on how to get it all? Budget is whatever I can get for the Dan D'A, probably close to the $24k I paid for it. Best!

Aldenberry,

It sounds like with your desire for a combination of a warm, full-bodied midrange combined with fast, tight bass, a tube pre/solid state combo is where you probably need to go. Having Rowland in the past, combining it with BAT would probably not be the best combo and be too warm and dark.

I would,d suggest the following: ARC Ref 5se tube preamp - gives some degree of warmth and tube sound in the mid, but still very dynamic and fast. For amps, Andy Payor from Rockport voices his speakers with Gryphon. An ARC/Gryphon combo would be intriguing.

Thanks for a good post! I am an Avior owner, still looking for direction in choosing electronics. I started with my 20+ y/o BAT preamp and Rowland 8T, which couldn't provide enough weight at the bottom and effaced much of what is so desirable of transients, yet offered a lovely midrange. I swapped it toward a Dan D'Agostino integrated- bass and transient/ attack problems solved! A bit warm but still lacking the emotion of the BAT/ Rowland combo. I would be grateful for your current opinion on how to get it all? Budget is whatever I can get for the Dan D'A, probably close to the $24k I paid for it. Best!

Groundhog Day??? Echo what Philb said.

Aldenberry
As an Avior owner I agree with Phil. A tube pre is a good place to start. You can get a lot of mileage from 24k if you look at some of the gear on Agon. I recommend a ARC pre or better still a CJ GAT. I have not compared the 5SE to the GAT but reviews suggest that the latter is miles ahead. A good unit on Agon is approx 11k or so. If you prefer a tube amp , my recommendation, a CJ 125 or 140 should be doable within 10k. Don't mix and match ARC and CJ. As a longtime CJ owner my loyalty is to the latter.
A tube pre and SS amp is great in theory but unless you get to hear the combo first hand you should be wary.
All the best