Best Amplifier for LS3/5a


Happy New Year All!  Seeking advice from LS3/5 enthusiasts!  I have tried a number of these speakers (Graham, Harbeth, Falcon and KEF LS50's (if that counts)) - and to me the Falcon Gold Badge really stood out. It's been a while now since I did the comparison, so I don't remember all the details - but I felt that the Falcons were the most musical, engaging, open and did NOT have bloated bass (important for a small room)!  I've held on to a pair for my bedroom system, but I don't think that my current bedroom amps (AGD Audions, which I love with my current Raidho XT-1 monitors) are the best match for them.  I get a bit too much sizzle on the top and some associated sibilance.

Herb Reichert (Stereophile) seems to love these speakers, and his review notes that the Parasound A21+ was too dry with these speakers, but he really liked the Line Magnetic LM-518 IA.  That's not going to work for me!  In this bedroom system I keep the amp(s) under the bed and generally leave them on 24/7.  If possible, I prefer a balanced design, as I want NO HUM in my bedroom and my DAC/Pre (Weiss 501) has both balanced and RCA outs.

Based on the intended setup, I think balanced solid state would make the most sense. Amp selection might be influenced by the speakers having 15 ohm input impedance.

Any suggestions?  Thanks, Peter

peter_s

@dekay in my experience, a balanced cable has been useful and eliminating or reducing hum that I get with a RCA cable. Because I want absolutely no hum in the bedroom, that’s why I would go with balanced. But these amps are inexpensive enough that I could try it out and see how it goes. 

I used a Tandberg 3012A integrated with a 15ohm set of Chartwells - it was fabulous.

@dekay I don't know for sure that there would be hum with RCA connections.  There has been in the past, with different equipment.  I know that it is absolutely silent with all the balanced amps I've used, and I don't like to have any background noise in my small bedroom (not even mechanical transformer hum).