Amp and Preamp for JM Lab Alto Utopias

Thanks Paul for the suggestions. I'll look into the Accuphase gear when I have a chance, but unlike a lot of folk on the Audiogon, this will be my last purchase for many years. I'm a university professor on a decent but certainly not an extravagant income. Investing in a good ventilation system is a nice but impractical idea here. We don't have duct work in Korea. Heating is radiated through the floor and people use space air conditioning rather than central air. Buildings are constructed of concrete. The problem in Korea isn't just summertime heat. We also get 100% humidity. We have torrential rains for months at a time, and homes accumulate mold and mildew. It's really a dreadful climate those times of the year. And we all live on top of each other. Houses here are built a mere few feet from each other. That's what it's like in a city of 12 million and a metro area of 23 million. Like Dan D'Agostino, I don't listen to a lot of music during the summer for that reason. I'd love to try the Nova Utopias. Getting them into my listening room on the second floor of my house, though, is an ordeal I don't need. The Altos are good enough for me. In fact, to my ears and apropos my taste, I haven't heard better. Xenakis' La Legende d'Eer and Otomo Yoshihide sound superb on these speakers, better than on any other in my tests.

I think if I can use balanced interconnects rather than RCAs for the most part, I should be mostly fine. I'm sure Accuphase will do fine in this climate as you suggest.

Paul, in case you might know, what's the reception of the ASR Emitter in the Netherlands? Have you heard it? How would you compare it to the Accuphase if you had?

Thanks again for the all the advice and suggestions.

Best,

Bill

We also get 100% humidity. We have torrential rains for months at a time, and homes accumulate mold and mildew. It's really a dreadful climate those times of the year.

Sounds a lot like Minnesota!

I lived for 15 years in South Dakota and spent plenty of time in Minnesota as well. I'll take the summer climate of the upper midwest over this one in a heartbeat. ;-)

The weather may be bad in Korea but on the other hand they really know how to treat professors there (e.g. they bow). :)

I do not have any experience with the Emitter amplifiers and I should say that you do not see them that often in hi-fi shops and/or 2nd hands adds over here. I do not know why as they seem to get great reviews and I have also heard a few dealers saying good things about them. The battery option for the Emitter 2 is surely a very nice touch.

Personally, I believe the Accuphase top separates, e.g. P-7100 + C-2810 will easily outclass the Emitters (they should given that they are 2-3 time more expensive here). But, I am just speculating here since as mentioned I have never heard an Emitter amp plus I am very found of Accuphase. As usually one can never be sure ... If you get to compare the two brands please post your findings. I am very interested in the comparison.

Regards,
Paul

Paul, I'm sure that Emitter is cheaper than the Accuphase by a considerable margin in Europe because of the difference in import versus domestic costs.

I did finally visit the shop that has Accuphase for sale on their website. However, they don't have any in their show room and they told me that the brand is not well known or well sold in Korea.

I did however get an offer on a used Accustic Arts AMPII-AC, which, while I didn't get a chance to hear (it's an enormous amp that would have been difficult to hook up at the time of my visit), did impress me very much visually. I've heard very good things about the Accustic Arts amplifiers, and this one is being sold for a song. There's an accompanying Acoustic Research Reference 2 preamp also at a very, very reasonable price. Any thoughts about this combo? I'm seriously considering it because of the price. The Accustic Arts amp runs at about 250 watts in an 8 ohm load while doubling down as the impedance drops.