Amplifier recommendation for Legacy Focus 20/20

So long as you can maintain solid connections and minimize voltage drop through the cord, i don't see any problems with doing so. After all, other than an extra point of connections, it would be the same thing as running longer Romex to a closer outlet.

As to mating an amp to a preamp from the same manufacturer, i typically find this to be too much of a good thing. That is, the engineers / designers that built the gear typically have a specific sound or type of circuit design that they like to use. This typically results in a "house sound". Compounding multiple components with the same house sound can result in an over-abundance of that sonic signature. That is, unless you REALLY like that sound. As such, i typically find better results by mixing and matching components.

Others may bring up the point that one has a better chance of finding "system synergy" by using gear that was designed to work together from day one, but as mentioned above, i find that there are potential drawbacks. Obviously, how noticeable this is will depend on the individual components and / or manufacturer of the gear. Cosmetically speaking, it's typically hard to beat using the same manufacturer for multiple pieces of gear, but in my book, cosmetics come second to performance. Sean
>

A Sunfire Signature is a worthy amp to consider for these speakers. It is very high in current capacity, can drive any load that you throw at it and offers the versatility of two slightly different sounds via the voltage and current taps. One can use the voltage taps to feed the woofers and the current to feed the tweeters. This approach maintains excellent woofer control and at the same time, slightly softens the top end of these somewhat bright sounding speakers. The fact that these amps are still in production by a company that isn't in any type of financial woes, along with the fact that they can be found on the used market, should help ease your conscience. The fact that they can be run in single ended ( RCA ) or balanced ( XLR ) mode also adds to their versatility. As a side note, i think that they work much better in balanced mode and would recommend using them in that manner.

Depending on what you want to do, you could go with a Sunfire Signature, which is a two channel amp. It is rated at 600 @ 8, 1200 @ 4 and 2400 @ 2. Another option would be to go with the Sunfire Cinema Grand Signature, which is a five channel amp. Power ratings for this amp is 400 x 5 @ 8 ohms, 800 x 5 @ 4 ohms, etc... Using this amp, you could bi-amp with four of the five channels. This would give you 1600 wpc @ the nominal 4 ohm impedance of these speakers, which they can really use. On top of that, the sound should be even better as you've separated the demands of the woofer channels from the demands of the mids and treble. With the multitude of drivers that these speakers have, this is sure to be of benefit. You would also only be running four of the five channels of the amp, which would result in a stiffer power supply under even the worst of conditions.

As a side note, we've tried quite a few amps with my Dad's Legacy's and found the Sunfire's to work very well with them. Combined with Goertz MI-2 Veracity speaker cabling, he told me that he's never had a system that sounded this good before.

One word of advice regarding this and the other amps mentioned. You will need AT LEAST a good 20 amp AC feed just for the amplifier IF you want to obtain good results. You can't expect to produce high power with gobs of current if the amp isn't fed what it needs to do the job. The fact that the Sunfire is capable of delivering as much if not more power than any of the aforementioned amps while generating a small percentage of the heat may also be of interest to you. Sean

Well, from what i can gather, Dan has purchased a Pass X250 amp. How do you like that combo, Dan? Sean
>

Flyfisher: Your mentioning this reminded me of something i overlooked in my previous comments in this thread. My Father REALLY loved when i brought over a Nelson Pass built & designed amp for him to use. It sounded very sweet, airy, delicate and liquid within his system. I remember him saying that it was the most impressive amp that he had ever heard, but he was disappointed in the lack of "oomph" on the bottom end. This was prior to me modifying his speakers, replacing the speaker cabling, changing preamps and swapping out interconnects in his system though. In effect, he had a very different sounding system than he does now.

As i've commented in the past, i've never found any of the Pass designed amps to have "bottom end wallop" that some other amps deliver. The bass does sound very "natural" even though it lacks "slam" and "impact". The newer .5 series of amps are supposed to address some of these areas and there is no reason that you couldn't impliment some of these changes / parts upgrades to the existing X250 that you have. Either way, you have a very nice amplifier as it is and i'm glad that you like it.

I would look carefully at the cabling that you use between the amp and the speakers. This can really make a huge difference in my experience, regardless of those that say that speaker cables are all the same. Making sure that you also have a 20+ amp circuit to feed the amp and a good quality power cord will also add a bit more icing to the cake, which may be all that you're looking for. Sean
>