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Amp suggestions for sofia's

Hih all,
Need some suggestion for wilson sofias. Currently i am using a Bryston B100 integratd with internal dac and mm phono. Although i am real found of detail the speakers seem to be a little bright. Since the bryston can be used as a pre only. I was going to try a different amp to go with it. Tube or ss doesn't matter although i don't know much about tubes. I have read that tubes don't push the sofia's very well. They seem to be a little power hungry. I'm am trying to soften the speakers just a little.
My budget is under 10k. much under if possible. I would rather have a stereo unit instead of mono's just because of space to put them, but i an not counting them out. depending on the size. I will be looking at used just to try something different for now. I have been looking at Lamm and Conrad Johnson. Any feedback would be greatly appreciated.

Thx

Matt
mwilliams
mwilliams OP
47 posts
 
Thanks for your responses. I have been leaning towards the CJ but after reading up on the ARC it has possiblities. I have a small (18ft x 12ft), but well treated dedicated listening room so volume isn't an issue. The bass is what i am worried about. I have heard that tubes do not do bass very well.

Will more power in a tube amp be benificial in the bass area. My Bryston does a great job with the bass. At 4 ohm at 250 per channel. It kicks butt. I really do not won't to lose that.
ahendler
416 posts
 
A friend was using big Aragons on his Hyperion speakers. He then switch to a 100w Vac tube amp and says the bass is as deep and much tighter. You can't always listen to generalities such as tubes can't do bass. You have to audition the amp you are interested in on your speakers
Alan
tricon_dave
96 posts
 
Check out this site for a lot of information on Sophias including other's experience with matching amps.

http://audioaficionado.org/wilson-audio/

If I had your speakers in your room, I'd personally go with tubes. The ARC Ref 110 mated with an ARC Ref 5 preamp would be high on my list.
onemug
784 posts
 
The CJ and Lamm's you mentioned are great choices, I would add Pass's XA.5's to that list.
sacman
125 posts
 
I auditioned the Wilson Sofia driven by VAC tube monoblocks and they performed beautifully. If I ever upgrade from my 801N and Krell 650mc, that would be it.
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