Preamp/Amp synergy with Cain Abby's?

Also here's a little shootout with the Class T amplifiers. The Charlize looks like another good amp. You know me always looking off the beaten path. :-) As I've found IME the hidden gems are great finds.

Cheers!

I am going to be purchasing the Abby speakers and am also interested in what amp is best with them. I currently have all solid state equipment (Rotel) except for my headphone amps (Singlepower.) I am betting that tube amps would be better with the Cain & Cain speakers than solid state.... My situation is further complicated by the fact that my system has to do double-duty for both HT and 2 channel, as my house is much too small to have a dedicated listening room, let alone a separate HT room.

Any thoughts on this?

And where is your amp research taking you, Rene? After only 2 hours of listening to them at the seller's house, I love these speakers!

Holly

Restock,

Sorry to be so late in responding. Somehow I missed your posting from several days ago.

When I built my Moebius, I started out with the design just like Poindexter describes on his AudioTropic site, which is the same as the one reviewed in 6Moons. Terry Cain's Moebius is different, as I suspect he told you, in that it uses 6SN7 tubes instead of the 6AQ5/6005 tubes that Poindexter now prefers. Since I haven't heard the 6SN7 version, I have no idea how it would compare sonically. What I do know is that the "standard" Moebius with JAN Sylvania 6005 tubes sounds fast, detailed, coherent and powerful (an odd term for a preamp). It has amazing dynamics. For my tastes, the bass is a little lean, but that is easily tweaked through some tube and component changes. For example, right now, I'm using RCA 6005 tubes without any damping rings, a Noble volume control instead of the Alps Blue Velvet that the review unit had, and I made a few capacitor changes as well. These changes trade off some of the speed for a warmer tonal balance, but all of the positive qualities of the stock Moebius are still present.

Incidentally, I think the 6Moons review is right on the money. It's a little short of the usual audiophile commentary, but what he says is definitely borne out by my experience. You can also read the same reviewer's report on the DeHavilland UltraVerve Jr. to get some additional perspective on the Moebius.

I'm using the Moebius right now with Cary 40M monoblocks to drive Spendor SP100's.

I recommend it highly!

Dave

Oakiris, following Terry's advice and my preference for a very live-like system, I ended up with the above short-list of amps. I instantly fell in love with the speakers as well, but they do require a a careful amp match and I am not sure whether a Rotel would work well.

I just finished the Bottlehead S.E.X. amp and after a couple of days of listening I am very impressed: I could not have imagined what 2W can do for the Abby's. And it does play reasonable loud with maybe a little headroom missing. I hardly notice the power limit though. The bass is tighter and well balanced; there is lots of detail detail; instruments and singers are well defined and sound quite real. Even more important, I can' believe how much life you managed to pack into this little amp. It has excellent timing and, within its power limits, has very good dynamics. A much better match the Abby's than the Jolida I had before.

I am assuming the Fi Y and X will go in a similar direction: Just more of everything and more headroom at twice the power.

The First Watt will be a (more?) interesting option: I have given up on solid state a while ago, but heard some very good comments on this combination. The only major problem with the First Watt is that it is limited in the selection of speakers that will work with it. Also, they won't be available much longer.

Gmood1 brought up many good options on the solid state as well. and they are cheaper than most of the other choices.

Oakiris, good luck with the Abby's and feel free to drop me an email if you like.

Happy listening!

Rene

Salectric, thanks very much for your comments on the Moebius. I actually did not know that Terry's version used different tubes. However, his description sounds very similar to yours and the short 6moons review.

The Fi Y pre is a little lower in price but according to Terry very close to the Moebius. I will probably go with the Fi Y for now, but might consider the Moebius for a more ambitious DIY project (now that I finished my first Bottlehead amp I am longing for more). I'll certainly be contacting you again at that point.

All the best,

Rene