Integrated Amp that goes well with Triangle Celius

Chul Hee,

Audio decisions are always this tough. But that's what makes it so fun!

I'd definitely buy both your CD player and integrated used on Audiogon. Run searches on the components you're considering and you'll get a better idea of how they might sound with your equipment and if you'd like them or not. The neat thing about turning up threads relevant to your topic is that the discussions always point you towards something that you never thought of before.

Have fun!

I have been using a pair of Celius 202 floor standing speakers for just under a year now.

In the past, I used a solid state Krell KAV-300i integrated amplifier with the above speakers and most recently upgraded to two hybrid Pathos Classic One Mk II units set as monobloc units, running in bridged mode.

The improvements in sound with the two Classic One Mk II's set to bridged mode over the KAV-300i are simply extraordinary and very hard to describe in words.

The tubed based pre-amplifier section of the Classic One Mk II makes all the difference.

The Classic One Mk II seems to produce a better musical representation with cleaner extended highs and lows compared to the full solid state Krell KAV-300i sound.

You can hear layers and actual ridges of music with far better definition and separation present.

What the KAV-300i lacks poorly in midrange is far more existent with the Classic One Mk II, exhibiting both additional texture and detail.

I would go as far as saying the Classic One Mk II has even far more realistic deeper bass notes than the renowned KAV-300i famous reviewed bass type sound.

With two Mk II units set to bridged mode, the resulting soundstage present exhibits a five fold increase in terms of magnitude over the single unit conventional stereo mode and is very wide in the portrayed spread, with excellent imaging.

You notice there is far more happening musically in between the depth and forward areas, resulting in a big boost of body presence and energy.

The bridged mode is practically pleading with you to turn the volume levels up even further.

A huge airy atmosphere is more present around every single instrument and vocal note, making you pin-point exactly the position of where everything is coming from in front, behind, up, down and to the sides.

Also, there is far better drive and refined accurate texture detail present in all regions, due to the increased power and current drive.

The music just happens in continual bursts of excitement, sending a tingling sensation down your spine.

The Celius speakers thrive on high current solid-state power amplification between 150 watts to 200 watts RMS per channel at 8 ohms impedance.

They seem to favour the most current in the frequency range between 200 Hz to 1000 Hz, as the impedance can drop down in range from 4 ohms to 2 ohms, at high volumes.

The high brightness you are describing with the Celius speakers, is due to the fact they have not been properly broken-in as of yet, as they generally need a few hundred hours on them to really sound sweet.

You will notice that after burn-in they will sound entirely different, with massive bass extension and a very rich midrange open up, whilst the harsh brightness will completely disappear.

I hope the above information helps.

As Xlr8or says Celius break in takes time and they are better with tubes on the way. Sure they will sound less hash and bright after they break in, but if not pared correctly they will retain something of their brightness.
So, lets see, If I would spend $2000, on cd, amp section(amp and pre or integrated) and Interconnect,. I would buy used equipment here on Audiogon.
You said you listen mostly to jazz, classical and you love warm sound.
I think for the cd player you can try a
Jolida JD 100a tube output cd player(around $500 used on Agon) or a Rotel 991(this was top of the line 4 years ago, also around $500) or a Classe CDP .5 cd player/transport around $700. This 3 will be a good source for the music. I would go for the jolida, or the rotel 991(I own one and it is a very good cd player, then you can use it as a transport). Then for the amp and thinking on your musical taste I will try to go for tube all way. Conrad Jonhson would be good to the warm sound you look for. Check the MV50, the MV52 and the MV55(they will be great for violins and cellos), all are around $700 used here on Agon. For the preamplifier I will go with an hybrid, check the Sonic Frontiers SFL-1, around $600 used on Agon, or the Musical fidelity XPreV3 at $600
or the Forte F44 also around $500.
Now you have spent $1800 more or less and you have $250 aprox. to find 2 pairs of Interconnects. One for the cd-pre and the other for the pre-amp. The other way is the integrated, I think here my only advice would be the TAD-60., I already told you about it in my last post.
Happy Hunting
PD all the equipment I mentioned is now selling on Audigon so you can check it an make your decission.

Ah, XLR8OR, welcome to the insanity, I mean, Audiogon community! Looking forward to seeing pics of your system soon! :) Let's see, we haven't talked about our amps for, oh, say, ten hours now, in our nearly daily conversations over the past three weeks...

I am the only other person in the world (at least that we two know about) who's running Pathos Classic One MkII's in bridged (mono) mode.

I agree with everything he's said about them. They're wonderful.

If your budget doesn't allow for about $3k to obtain two of them, then I would begin with one, and as finances permitted, secure the second and go to bridged mode. A PHENOMENAL improvement and massive upgrade for a relative pittance.

I had no clue how huge the improvement is in power/sound with a tube hybrid integrated. And then, to go mono, OH YEAH! SUPER SWEET!! I agree that this is the sweet spot of ampification in hifi. Utterly amazing sound.
As I've said before, maybe one can bridge other brands of tube integrateds and if so, wonderful. I haven't taken the time to research it, but it may be VERY well worth your time!
I've heard of "tube tsuris" I guess that's the grief that comes from tube amps. The integrateds sure give you none of that. No heat issues, no expensive tubes, etc. I'm SO glad I went this route! I used to own PS Audio HCA-2 and a Rogue Magnum 66 tube pre. Not even close in comparison. I could not go back to it now, I'm too spoiled. In fact, I wouldn't want to go back to solid state at all. Not when there's this good of sound for such a good price in tubes.

I'm just curious about the terms you guys are using, Bridged mode and Monobloc set. It sounds like I have to have two amps to do it. Can anyone explain me a little more with easier terms?