@hiendmmoe uses the Maestros, and he is now on a Bel Canto Black system after owning the top of the line Luxman for a while. He may be able to share some of his experiences.
Amp for Focal Maestro EVO
I'm looking for ideas/suggestions for amplification for a pair of Focal Maestro Evo 3 way speakers. They are "dual purpose speakers." First and most importantly, they are used for two channel music listening; mostly streaming with a Lumin X1, CD (Oppo), Vinyl. Secondly, they are part of a home theater which has 22 speakers; 10 floor level Focal speakers, a Focal Vivia center, pairs of Sopra 1, and a pair of Focal Diablos. There are 8 ceiling level speakers in the Kanta line. And 4 REL subs, S-510. A Trinnov Altitude 24 is processing the audio. 16 speakers are driven Trinnov Amplitude 8 amplifiers X 2 (225 watts per channel). An 350 watt per channel ATI 6000 series amplifier is currently driving the Maestros and center. The Trinnov will allow 2 channel listening and I'm looking to for an amp to drive the two front Maestro speakers for music listening and as part of the HT. The system is in a 25 X16 X 9 listening room that is treated with RPG products under the guidance of an acoustic consultant. The soundstage is very wide and at times spectral. I listen to a variety of females Indie music, Rock, Rap, Jazz, Classical. Price range is around 20K per amp. I may match the Focal Utopia Vivia center amp to the Maestro's amp at some point.
I have run into a number of road blocks while thinking about this.
1) Bi-amping? I'd love to try it out using a tube to drive the uppers and a solid state for the lowers. Therefore, I'm thinking of a pair of McIntosh MC451 which is a combo amp. It's new to market and I have not heard it with the Maestros. Or is it just a waste of resources to bi-amp? I've heard the Maestro driven by McIntosh MC312 which was solid but I preferred the harmony and spaciousness of the Luxman MC-10.
2) Going with dual mono block amps? I've heard the Maestros driven by a Luxman MC-10 amp and was really impressed. I could add a nice tube amp to the Luxman later to try Bi-amping. But then there is the idea of using two MC-10 amps, as mono blocks or even bi-amping. Or just use a Luxman MC10 to drive the Maestros.
3) Skip the bi-amping and direct those resources into a DAN D'AGOSTINO, Constellation, or Boulder amps.
Anyone who has had experience and advice finding a good amp to drive Focal Maestro Evo speakers would be much appreciated. Anyone who has had experience finding a dual purpose amp as part of a HT and for two channel music listening, I'd be grateful hearing from you as well. I know that opinions on bi-amping are varied but I'd benefit hearing from those with experience bi-amping the Maestros.
At this point I am leaning towards starting with a Luxman MC10, later adding a tube amp for bi-amping and adding another Luxman to drive the Vivia center speaker for the HT after that.
Cheers to all!
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- 2 posts total
- 2 posts total