Best amp for Avalon Eidolon speakers?


Just bought a pair of Avalon Eidolon speakers through Audiogon (they're glorious !) and am looking for an ideal amplifier match. I've heard Accuphase and Jeff Rowland Model 12s mentioned as good matches. At present I have a Theta Dreadnaught II 5-channel amp with a Lexicon 12B preamp, and Nordost SPM cables and interconnects. I listen mostly to classical, jazz, and vocals. Any suggestions?
lloydj

Showing 4 responses by albertporter

The Avalon Diamonds were driven at CES by Tenor or Lamm. Sound there and with Kharma Midi and Rockport were the rooms that stood out. All three were using Tenor or Lamm and all with Audio Aero CD players driving the amps direct, if I remember correctly.

Try to demo the Tenors and Lamm's, along with the Atmasphere's already suggested here. I think it worth a shot to listen to the Wolcotts ( properly tubed out ). These provide amazing results on my Soundlabs. The Wolcott would be a relief for your budget after having just purchased Avalon's. At least half retail the others, and a third the price of the big Atmasphere.
Kharma was my first choice at CES, Avalon Diamond was a close second. I must remember the Tenor amps driving Rockport and Kharma.

The Avalon Diamond must have been in the Ayre room. This is the best effort to date from Avalon. I ask if the diamond tweeter was the reason for the much improved sound and was told about changes to the crossover in addition to new drivers. I understood that to mean midrange as well as the new diamond tweeter.

If Soundlab were not available, I would have two excellent box speakers as alternatives. I'm not certain Kharma or Avalon would fill my 7,700 Cubic foot space as well as Soundlab, but they are the only other speakers I have ever heard that excited me with their performance.
Your comments are encouraging. The Kharma I was so fond of at this year's CES was the Midi.

The Exquisite was stunning at last year's show and powered by Lamm (probably confusing this years line up in my mind). Both years they were my favorite sound at CES. Probably the Walker turntable as source for the Exquisite influenced me greatly.

Soundlab always seems to suffers at these shows. Performance from a seven foot tall speaker in a tiny hotel room will never work. There is no imaging, bloomy undefined bass response and a confused sound where I expect to hear great resolution.

Where does the Ceramique 1.0 fall in the line, compared to Midi and Exquisite? Aren't the Avalon Diamond and Kharma Midi both around $30K?
The Rockport was good when I heard them, but not as magic as the Kharma. Admit that I did not hear Andy's speakers with solid state.

I thought the Tenor was supposed to be one of the best of the new tube amps. Not so with Rockport?