Steve,
Whatever you do PLEASE by an amp that is soft and warm. These speakers are so incredibly dynamic and detailed that they don't need the help of any amp to improve in those two areas. The bass and mid-range clarity is phenomenal! The transparency is also phenomenal. I heard some of the purest and most correct vocal timbre's that I've ever heard.
Unfortunately, what's rarely talked about (I don't how the professional reviewers and other owners omit this)is how unbelievably hot, searing and ear drum splitting the treble is on these speakers! I've never heard a speaker that I literaly had to cut the music off because the tweeter was burning a hole in my ear! The dual soft dome/ribbon tweeter...while able to reproduce every frequency including those frequented by cannines, needs to be tamed immensely.
Also, be careful with your cdp selection. I used an Esoteric DV 50 and X01 with these and the combination was unbearable. Same thing with an Ayre CX 7 and Krell SACD standard. All of these are very high end cd players that I've demoed on at least 30 other speakers with no problem.
I eventually had to use a Marantz SA 8260 (which is very musical but known to be colored in the midrange) as well as Zu interconnects (again known for coloration in the mid's and highs) to make the speaker listenable. And even even on certain notes or songs that high pitched searing would occasionally rear its ugly head! And for those wondering about the speaker cables they were all copper (AZ Satori Shotguns and Kimber Kable Bi-focal XL's).
Try one of the Classe, Primare or Cary SS amps...and a hybrid tube/ss amp may be ideal. Again, these speakers are so detailed that even if you use an amp that's colored or overly warm Idoubt very seriously you will lose any significant level of resolution or transparency.
Good luck!
AVGURU
Whatever you do PLEASE by an amp that is soft and warm. These speakers are so incredibly dynamic and detailed that they don't need the help of any amp to improve in those two areas. The bass and mid-range clarity is phenomenal! The transparency is also phenomenal. I heard some of the purest and most correct vocal timbre's that I've ever heard.
Unfortunately, what's rarely talked about (I don't how the professional reviewers and other owners omit this)is how unbelievably hot, searing and ear drum splitting the treble is on these speakers! I've never heard a speaker that I literaly had to cut the music off because the tweeter was burning a hole in my ear! The dual soft dome/ribbon tweeter...while able to reproduce every frequency including those frequented by cannines, needs to be tamed immensely.
Also, be careful with your cdp selection. I used an Esoteric DV 50 and X01 with these and the combination was unbearable. Same thing with an Ayre CX 7 and Krell SACD standard. All of these are very high end cd players that I've demoed on at least 30 other speakers with no problem.
I eventually had to use a Marantz SA 8260 (which is very musical but known to be colored in the midrange) as well as Zu interconnects (again known for coloration in the mid's and highs) to make the speaker listenable. And even even on certain notes or songs that high pitched searing would occasionally rear its ugly head! And for those wondering about the speaker cables they were all copper (AZ Satori Shotguns and Kimber Kable Bi-focal XL's).
Try one of the Classe, Primare or Cary SS amps...and a hybrid tube/ss amp may be ideal. Again, these speakers are so detailed that even if you use an amp that's colored or overly warm Idoubt very seriously you will lose any significant level of resolution or transparency.
Good luck!
AVGURU