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Starting from Scratch -Please Help Pick 1 out of 3

Dear Friends,
Hope that all of you are well, in a moment of transitional evolutional state of mind i sold off my Rogue Cronus Integrated, my Tannoy Stirling Speakers ; well pretty much the spine of the entire system.

I wanted to start over, i listen to a lot of varied stuff ; usually very complex stuff ; i love the weight of solid state gear and the resolution of their baselines and the treble which intermittently sound "filled" ; i also love the midrange liquidity of tubes especially on vocals and the natural timbre of orchestras and drum snares.

So i had gone on a spree to audition some gears, some which couldn't be heard are also included as a part of the system (say, i listened to the power amp but not the pre) i couldn't get to some of these due to various difficulties but generally i've put a package of 4 different set ups - i hope learned pundits here can guide through this to build a good system which i will use for a long time.

I am not the type for frequent upgrades.
Thank you!

The Candidates

Group 1
------
Pre : Rennaisance Preamplifier MKIII by VAC (Valve Amplification Company)
Power : VAC Phi 200 Power Amplifiers (Valve Amplication Company)
Speakers : Harbeth SHL5 [or] Devore Fidelity The Nines (Please Pick)

Just love the look of this system!

Group 2
------
Pre : Modwright LS 100 or Ls36.5
Power : Pass Labs XA 60.5 (Class A 60 wpc) but can take a few months to save
up for Pass Labs XA100.5 (Class A 100 wpc) if it really matters.
but evidence shows otherwise :
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nXGf3AonFCQ
Speakers : Magnepan 1.7
Which sounds great!

But Will the Modwright (semi-tube) impedance match with the pass'?

Group 3
-------
Pre : Leben RS28CX Premium Preamplifier
Power : CS-660P Separate Power Amplifier
Speakers : Harbeth SHL5 (or) Devore Fidelity The Nines (or) Devore Fidelity Orang Utan

Group 4
-------
Pre : Modwright LS100
Power : Pass Labs XA30.5 Monoblocks (30 watts Class A)
Speakers : Devore Fidelity Orang Utan

Also Please Feel Free to Mix-Match and Advice.

Music will be fed from my MAC to my DAC and to these.

Thank You!
thegoodarcher
thegoodarcher OP
70 posts
 
Hey Guys just to keep you guys updated - VAC did not get back to my dealer, so that chapter is closed! looksl like i must lean towards a solid state/tube combo.

although pretty frustrating indeed, after taking of your input matching with the type of stuff i have access to, i've indeed come down to one out of these two choices :

Choice 1
-------

Pass Labs XA60.5 Class A Monoblocks
Atma Spere M1 (Dual Chasis Tube Preamp)
Tannoy Turnberry / Tannoy Glenair 15 /Devore Fidelity Gibbons 10 or (X)
or PMC OB1i

Choice 2
-------
Manley 250 Tube Monoblock
Atma Spere M1 (Dual Chasis Tube Preamp)
Tannoy Turnberry / Tannoy Turnberry Glenair 15 or PMC OB1i

On paper, i do prefer the much for expensive Choice No.2 but in reality, it seems like theres just too much tubes! if i were to swap Atma Spere with
Manley 300B RC Preamp which has lesser tubes (and cheaper unit too) it does
not have balanced connection) which i need for the long run of cable that needs to be run (balanced )from my dac to the preamp.

For speakers, i realize, i do not have much experience with many speakers
except for Tannoys,Devores and 1 PMC which i heard.

I am going to list the type of music i listen to so you pundits here can tell me
which is a more apt system, i listen to everything from soundtracks to rap to electronica,world music and jazz.

My music choices
1.A.R.Rahman (Indian Music / World Music)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OWW74AXzASE
2.Thaman S (Indian Music)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qyIzYIuSJy0
3.Chano Dominguez ( Flamenco / Jazz)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q1Hw5XvTweg
4.Trilok Gurtu ( World Music)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0lWTOmxDkiA
5.Joe Henderson (Jazz)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lCEjkzJRgC8
6.Dave Brubeck (Jazz)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s8E5A27PJHk
7.Adrian Shwerwood (Electronica)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bvAorTMGz78
8.Funkadelic (Rock / Funk)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dh3bleXWaCk
9.Concerto for Shakukachi (Classical)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R4n4eNblHPA
10.Bela Fleck (Bluegrass / Jazz)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W2RJ78Y-z-M
11.Guiseppe Tartini (Classical)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z7rxl5KsPjs

As you can see- varied seems like a shy word..
Thank you for your time, and am really pining my hopes on those who are in the know.
thegoodarcher OP
70 posts
 
sorry for the typos and alienated english - meant to say, under Choice 2
Tannoy Gleanair 15 / Tannoy Turnberry / or PMC Obli - sorry for the typos and erroneous phrases.
p59teitel
314 posts
 
"A pair of used Revel Salon 2's is another option (in the $10K range). I've also owned these speakers, and they are incredible for the money. But they require GOBS of power. 750 watts into 4 ohms minimum. They really sing once you get over 1000 watts into 4 ohms (Bryston 28BSST2)."

A minimum 750 watts into 4 ohms overstates Salon 2 requirements, IMO. In my reasonably large approx. 6000 s.f. room with a 17.5' vaulted ceiling, a Plinius SB-301 that output around 470 watts per channel into 4 ohms played them to concert levels with no problem at all. As do my current Symphonic Line Kraft 250 monos (that actually play quite a bit louder than the Plinius did, notwithstanding the putative 250 watts designation).

The key to driving them is to use fast high-current amplification. Although the Kraft 250s are even better, the Plinius was very good in this regard - the only reason I switched to the Kraft 250s was because I got an insane deal on an essentially new pair of the Kraft 250s and couldn't pass up world-class monos at that price.

I wouldn't want to use less than say 200 wpc with them (which would disqualify most tube power amps), but they don't need KW amps to drive them either.
mbovaird
140 posts
 
Are you serious? Have you owned these speakers? I have. If you don't own these, then stop spreading misinformation. The Salon 2's demand MASSIVE amounts of power. I had 1.2kws on them, and it was "proper". My previous 600 watt amp was suffocating.
pdreher's avatar
pdreher
1,240 posts
 
Group 1... VAC with Harbeth.
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