Assistance with Coincident set-up


I have Coincident Total Victory IV speakers with Frankenstein II 300b amps and a Supratek Cortese Preamp. The components sound very good but when I listen to classical music I would like to have a little more push when the music goes from a soft passage to something loud.
I don’t want to lose any low level detail , that the Frankenstein amp is known for, or as little as possible.
I have $4000-$5000 to spend on new or used.I can’t afford the Dragon II amps they are 10K, and that is out of the question but if I had the money that is what I would get.
My question is will a more powerful amp help or if I changed the preamp would that give the classical music a little more up front push? I want a remote control and phono with the preamp.The Coincident speakers and amps sound very good, My system never sounded so good , I hate to mess with it but if I can make the classical music a little more dynamic I’ll be all set .
I’ve only had two tube amps in the past one a 300b and the other a 45. Is there another tube other than the 300b someone can recommend ?
I’ll keep the Frankenstein until I can find and amp that has the low level detail of the Frank with more power.I may keep the Frankenstein forever it is that good !

Any suggestions are greatly appreciated, my listening room is 12 feet wide and 17 feet long with 7.5 feet ceilings.

Abill
abill

Showing 2 responses by maril555

Abill,
I have auditioned Coincident Franks. with Coincident speakers (Pure Reference) on more, than one occassion, since I was going to buy that particular combo.
What was very clear to me, is that Frankensteins simply do not have enough power to drive these speakers adequately on dynamic music. I had exactly the same feeling, as you do.
All Coincident speakers have an efficiency rating of 92-94 dBs, which according to some measurements, is somewhat "optimistic", and even then, assuming the efficiency claims were accurate, there is no way in hell 6 Wt.of SE power is anywhere near enough to play dynamic music realistically.
My current speakers are 108 dB efficient and my amp is 25 Wt/Ch., and sometimes I get a feeling, that they could benefit from more power.
If you had a chance to listen to a speaker, similar to mine, you would understand, what "dynamic" really means.
And again, "dynamic" has nothing to do with the speaker's ability to play loud, absolutely nothing.
IMHO, i don't think you can address this issue with a different preamplifier, cables, etc.simply because, you cannot change certain laws of physics, there is no substitute for power in this particular instance.
Abill,
I do have Supratek Chenin, and it's MKII, I used to have Chenin and Cortese, as well, and I don't think it's your limiting factor, if anything, Suprateks are pretty dynamic.
Linear A is absolutely special amp., if 25 Wt is enough power for you, they are unlike anything else, I've had in my system. Very dynamic, beautiful tone and texture, very emotionally involving.
The amp, I'm sure will sound beautiful, is BAT VK-75SE, I used to have that, as well, albeit with a different speakers. They can be had used on A-gon for under $4K used.
It's replacement BAT Rex power amp is $15 K retail.
I'm thinking of trying one in my system.
Charles1dad,
It is true, we all have different tastes, but still, some aspects of music reproduction are not a subject of such, dynamic ability is one of them.It's simply either system does, or doesn't have it.
I listened to Franks and Pure Reference in comparison with 50 Wt/ch PP tube amp by another company in the same session, and there was no contest, Franks sounded dynamically restricted and bland. Actually a dealer, whom that system belonged to, didn't even want me to listen to Pure Reference with Franks, I insisted, but then asked him to switch back after 10 min., it was that obvious. And he is a dealer for both companies.
I don't doubt for a minute, there are people, who love the combo, and I read Tejay's posts. But hey, there are people, who claim listening to music at 65dB. and liking it.
I was at symphonic concert a couple of weeks ago, sitting mid-hall and took measurements with Analog Tools SPL meter- guess what- average level is about 85dB, and peaks are about 100 Db. Go tell.
In my personal opinion, if the system cannot reproduce this kind of dynamic contrasts faithfully, something is fundamentally wrong with it, timbre, tone,etc, notwhithstanding.