Amp for Verity Audio Sarastro

Hello Michael,

Congrats on your purchase of the Sarastro's. I own a pair of the Parsifal Encore's, and I have heard the Sarastro's on two occasions, I am jealous.

However, it sounds as if the Sarastro's may not be your cup o' tea. No speaker is all things on all music to all people. Those that do not like the Verity sound, say it is 'too polite'. I cannot argue with this. The Verity speakers that I have heard have a glorious midrange which sets them apart from most other speakers. However, that being said, I can't really say that these are 'kick-ass' rock n' roll speakers. I would not have cared for Verity speakers 25-30 years ago, in my rock n' roller days. They suit me very nicely these days, as my tastes have changed more to jazz, folk and classical.

You may have to look for different speakers, though you will then lose the sweet midrange. Tough call, no speaker has it all, no matter how much you spend.

FWIW, I always preffered tube amps on my Verity speakers, so I guess you could look for a used pair of VTL 750 Reference amps. If 750 tube wpc doesn't do it, nothing will. Or, since they are bi-ampable, you could try some tube amps up top and a big Krell amp for the bass drivers. Input sensitivities will probably differ, so you would need to find some way to adjust for that.

Cheers,
John

My vote is the Joule Heaven's Gate tube amps. A friend uses these with his Verity Parsifals. To my ears, the band is in the room!!!
Excellent timbre, the kick drum has depth and punch. Highs are sweet and clear. Midrange- ooh-la-la.
The Veritys and Joules are a dream come true.

Suggestions for the famous Mr. Arygo:

MC2301

VTL MB-750

Joule VZN 220

Or...get used pair of MC501s and new C500 preamp.

Guys thanks a lot for your anwsers!

@Jaybo

Do you think that with a solid state Mcintosh I will retain the sweet midrange but also drive my speakers to their limits?

@jmcgrogan2

I have heard the Sarastro performing rock amazing with the LAMM monoblocks, before I purchased it. Rock solid - earth shaking kick drum. So I know this can be achieved.

Oregon and Lappiere I'll try to see if the Joule amp is represented here in Greece and see what happens.

Has any of you heard the aesthetix hybrid ATLAS ne amp together with the Calypso pre-amp?I could easily get hold of that for a listen.

In any case I wont do any fast moves cause except the impact on certain kind of music on most of the music I'm listening I'm completely satisfied!

Thanks again my friends!!!!!!!!!:)

Opinions from people who have heard Verity Audio speakers with different amps would be highly appreciated

Well, I've heard VA spkrs (the ones with the 15" woof bass reflex cabinet) and actually liked what I heard, excepting the average dynamics. So here goes:

1) Objective was to replace a Krell amp the owner did not like. An impressive number of amps were offered for trial (provided by dealers of course). Many European, btw.
2) Cutting to the chase, here's what was musically good with these spkrs AFAI remember:
a)Lamm's hybrid amps -- probably available used for well below yr budget. Nice tunes. Some dynamics.
b)The ridiculously big VTL 750 mentioned above. Overkill perhaps but the sound was OK and Mahler was not lacking. Nor was BB King live. I still think the Lamm was slightly better but slightly harsher than the VTL
c) Atma 60 watters. Amazingly, a very good choice if low on output power -- only for quiet listening.
d) An ss YBA 600W or 1kW power amp ("passion"). That was impressive. Impressively expensive as well.
e) A Symphonic Line class A amp (that's german SS). That too was impressive, less powerful than the above. Impressively expensive.
f) FM acoustics 80W (Don't remember the model). Strangely, the result with this amp was slightly on the edgy side. Very impressive sense of clarity though.

By the way, the spkrs I heard were reasonably sensitive (more than yours I think) and the use of high powered amps really only served to provide better control over the big woof. Mind you, if you want concert levels these are not yr spkrs -- they'll blow before they go too loud. Regards