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Integrated amp for Totem Sttaff

Hello all. I am new to the site but have been ravenously reading reviews and posts the last few weeks. I am in the proccess of replacing my 20 year old Boston A 400's with the Sttafs....Now my dilemma.I am currently running a Denon 2106 and have found a helpful dealer selling...Naim, Creek, Sim, Cambridge, Arcam. I am seriously considering jumping in the deep end of the audio pool and get a new power source as well to match....My problem..The dealer is a 3 hr drive away so auditioning the Totems and the matching amps is possible, im hoping your experince may help me have a better starting point if im to drive that far....I know other brands are out there, but I dont have access to viewing them, let alone buying them. Im hoping $ 1,500 cdn will put me in a good spot to get the most from the Totems...Thanks in advance.
mxwizard
dmg
12 posts
 
Thank you very much for this thoughtful reply. Right now I have just separated my audio and video, so my Cambridge and the Sony are resting upon a marble end table, side by side, in my living room. They are about one foot from a wall of glass behind them. That will not change for awhile. I will try the Signal Cable soon for that price.
As for the SACD's, it is much like the difference between HDTV and regular programming. Nothing short of amazing for my ears. I rarely listen to anything but SACD's anymore. They are quite reasonable on Amazon.
audiobroke's avatar
audiobroke
51 posts
 
Nice choice on the Cambridge 840 integrated. It's an excellent unit and I've heard the combo personally; it was very nice. A reasonable powercord option that performs well with the Cambridge is the Shunyata Venom cord. It's 12ga with good copper, shielding and ends for $99.
dmg
12 posts
 
Audiobroke,

Thanks for this response. I have looked at the Venom. May I have your opinion on this issue? A friend of mine sent me his preferred method of upgrading, which is a three step process. Here is the cut and paste from his email in response to my saying that I had looked at the Venom and Signal Cable, among others, and would like to stay around $100.00:
First we need to get power to the wall. Forgoing that, I like to begin with an Audience Power Conditioner. Feeding an A Plus 4 square box. Now we can use much shorter cords, and you will find they make little difference if upstream is A Plus, to borrow the term.
I trust this person completely, just want another opinion.
Dmg
mxwizard OP
5 posts
 
After starting this post, i am happy to report that i have purchased a used Simaudio I-5 from the dealer i bought my Sttafs from. I have had the I-5 about a week, and hearing things i didnt notice before. A wonderful experince...Once i fix the buzz from my Denon ( it is the unit, it buzzs at my friends house as well )...ill be selling that. Thanks for the help!
Ag insider logo xs@2x
knownothing
1,612 posts
 
Mxwizard,

Wow - what a great buy - much better piece than the amps you were considering when you first posted. I am sure this will be a fantastic match for the Sttaf speakers. Enjoy!

PS - now you can start looking at new sources to feed your new amp and speakers... HA!
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