Amp and Preamp for JM Lab Alto Utopias

Thanks very much for the reply, Phaelon. The speakers were a bit close together at my old apartment, but I recently moved into a new house, and have a dedicated listening room that does much better justice to the speakers. The old space was L-shaped and the listening position was wider than the location of the equipment. I will soon post better pics.

I very much appreciate your comment. Thanks.

I gave the classifieds a quick look and noticed that there is a GamuT Di150 Dual Mono integrated amplifier for sale. Unless one absolutely needs the flexibility of separates, I’ve become a huge advocate of integrated amplifiers as offering the best value for the dollar. Not a recommendation, just something that I would be looking at.

Yes, I like the idea of high quality integrated amplifiers as well. Thanks for the recommendation. I've been reading on this amplifier and it looks like it's basically the same components and circuitry of the separate preamp and amp combined into one box with slightly reduced power supplies. Have you heard the ASR Emitter II? How would that one compare to the GamuT? I'd love to try the DarTZeel, but it's well out of my price range right now.

Accuphase pairs very very well with Focal Utopia Be speakers. You do not need to go to their separates to best your current Musical Fidelity integrated and you have quite a few choices (e.g. even the old E-406 and E-407 integrated are supperior to the Tri-Vista 300, while the newer iterations E-408, E-450 and E-460 even more so).

However, if funds permit, the Altos really deserve separates. My recommendation would be one of the Accuphase "mid-class" preamps (C-2400, C-2410, C-2800, C-2810) with an Accuphase class A power amp (e.g. A-50, A-45, A-46, A-60, A-65). The Accuphase class A amps do not get nowhere near as hot as similar designs from Pass Labs for example. However, if they still get too hot for you, Accuphase have very many A/B amps that sound very similar to their class A designs.

Having said all this, I should also say that your Trivista 300 integrated also pairs very well with the Altos. Thus, proceed with care and sell your MF integrated only after you are 100 percent sure you like the new-electronics-Alto combination better.

Good luck and keep us posted!

Paul

I haven’t heard the ASR Emitter. I like the Utopia series a lot - just wish the newer designs were tube friendly - and think they reward being paired with the best amplification you can afford. The only thing that you have to be careful to avoid, IMO, is an amp that is too dry or analytical.

You haven’t mentioned price, but take a look at the Neodio integrateds. I haven’t heard them myself, but people who I respect tell me they’re something special. If I was going to leave tubes, they would be my first look.