Amplifier upgrade for Kef Reference 4c trio

Fwiw, I haven’t heard the reference series yet.  But I have r5 (bear with me). I bought my front end based off of auditioning more than a handful of amps with Wilson audio speakers planned on being the reference speaker. While I  couldn’t afford the Wilson’s yet and have been running my new classe delta stereo amp on the r5 with my esoteric CD player.  I personally feel the r series is like a metal dome driver version of newer Wilson’s. I throughly enjoy this modest system a lot. But it meets some of the biggest criteria I have with flying colors.  The classe had the best imaging, natural black background,sturdy weight to the body and overall quality listening with the super transparent Wilson’s. To be sure if we’re on the same page with the kefs, While I love the texture and organic nature of softer drivers, sometimes they give too much texture and simply don’t convey proper timbres.  With the kef r series There’s a step behind in Wilson capability but on the same field with how it presents itself but much more addicting.  There’s something about how kef also enriches the music where sustained notes amber and burn,  with a euphoric energy that I simply never get with the Wilson’s. But like Wilson there’s extra this or that. There’s no overly saturated air with female vocals or instruments that require human lungs to bring themselves to life. Everything is simply where it belongs.  I say all this and only have knowledge of a lesser speaker to yours.  Undoubtedly this is all theory and speculation but if the reference series is as good as I think it is I truly believe the classe stereo is worth looking at. 

I have heard the Delta PRE and Stereo amp paired with some Magico A5 speakers, and it was undoubtedly one of the best stereo amplifiers I have had the opportunity to experience at the price point. Unfortunately, the form factor of that unit poses problems, because it’s only currently available in the monoblock and stereo architectures. Since I need the same power for my center as I do hat my L/R pair, I’d need to purchase 2 Delta amps, and that exceeds the space I have available when you factor in the surround amp I already have. I was hoping to hear about a multichannel offering from Classe at or around CES (heard unsubstantiated rumors that such might be forthcoming), but nothing like that has materialized thus far.

Sorry I was drunk when I wrote this.  It took a long time and this morning I see I did a horrible job. go figure lol.  I hadn’t read your whole post last night either sorry. Are the kef less sensitive than the magicos?  Sensitivity is sensitivity but pretty sure the magicos are a much more demanding speaker.  If they worked in your rig you might not have an issue with the kef.  But if you do, that’s a good list. I’ve never directly compared those so can’t give opinion. 

The A5 are 88dB sensitivity and a nominal impedance of 4 ohms. The Reference 4c are 90dB and a nominal 8-ohm impedance, but the test below indicates that they may be fairly tricky to drive.

An outside party suggested a 3 or 7 channel from the ATI AT6000 family as an option as well, so feedback on that would be helpful too.

Did you see the new m series amps bad released yesterday for $3500?

I did.  I'm looking to understand if this is more than a 2-channel variant of the M28 successor to my current multi-channel amp.  The testing done at Secrets of Home Theater & Hi-Fi seem to indicate that with an 8-ohm signal, the M28 clips at 275W but starts to distort pretty severely at 185W.  Obviously, the M23 is brand new and doesn't have any outside testing, but if the Purifi Eigentakt modules are unchanged, then I'd expect it to behave similarly.   That said, I could get 3 of them and bridge them as monoblocks like I had considered doing with the AHB2 amps and have power to spare. That would put me in a pretty tight space to get all 4 amps into my equipment space, because I'd still need the M27 to drive the surrounds.

Hi jlotman.  I’ve been considering buying a pair of 4c’s (at their discount price) for a two channel system, and I really like the rosewood finish, which KEF has discontinued.  For the R & L channels, did you just set them directly on the floor?  Seems like they would benefit from using outriggers or perhaps short stands, but I’m a bit stumped on what aftermarket products like this would work best with them.  If you could share your approach, I would appreciate it.

They are currently and temporarily seated in their shipping packaging because I did not want that high-gloss finish on the floor.  A friend of mine who is a professional woodworker is constructing a custom set of 2-piece hollow-base stands with some isoAcoustics Gaia feet for them so they will be lifted, angled, and dampened/isolated properly.  Here's what they currently look like, they still need stain, lacquer, and felt-lining.

Wow, quite impressive!