Best amp pairing for Focal Kanta 1s

I would not think the Be driver Kanta and the Purifi based NAD would be an ideal combo. I would think it would sound a lot like the SimAudio 860 amp and Paradigm Persona 5F I demoed once. It was great for about an hour but not for long listening sessions. 

When I was thinking of a Be driver-based speaker, I was looking to use a warm-ish amp such as Krell XD, Parasound, Anthem STR, Pass Labs, Coda. 

Perhaps Luxman? Thanks for your advice. 

so so many better options than the m33 for kantas

Luxman would be great. Especially a used m900u. I like the KRELL XD a bit more, but they are ugly as heck while the Luxman is close in sonics and so much nicer to look at.

Thanks! I was looking for an integrated though. Not sure i need to go separates for these bookshelves. 

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we are a focal dealer the unison research hybrid integrated amps sound fantastic on focals.

the due model has a great built in dac and phono stage just add a phono or streamer

Dave and Troy

Audio Intellect nj Focal Nad and Unison dealers

Naim

Definitely need a warm sounding system for the Kanta Ones.  A Mac amp is definitely warm sounding. 

I'm still in the research stage. With Luxman integrated, would I need a PREAMP, or do I just need a DAC and streamer? I'm a little confused about Luxman Integrated offering. 

i personally would go accuphase before luxman with kantas... they will appreciate the uber purity and smoothness in the treble that accuphase brings - luxman will play closer to the bleeding edge

Don’t like the appeal of Accuphase. I’m married so WF is in play. Also learned 505 has preamp so need that and  a DAC. Will use Roon Rock I built myself (Nucleus clone). 

you get good sound advice on sonics here (accuphase > luxman for upper focals with be tweet), but each person needs to sort out what is acceptable to them from a domestic cosmetic/appearance perspective

that said, hard for me to imagine if a luxman integrated looks good to you, why an accuphase won’t... 🤷‍♂️

anyhow, hope you can get something that pleases you and the wifey

Thank you! Greatly appreciated. I'll see if I can hear one in Chicago somewhere. Was contemplating MA8900 for looks and auto transformers, as my dealer has a used/mint one, but claims this is worse than my M33... 

I started looking at McIntosh MA8900 (could get a deal on few month's old piece), and few other amps all which are so deep in size I couldn't fit them in my BDI cabinet. Then I looked at Accuphase and only 16.61 inches. Unfortunately, no dealers in Chicagoland I could find that sell these. Search continues...

Anything else I should look into? Go back to Hegel H390? 😉

I had an Octave Audio integrated with my sopras.   Loved and still love the Octave sound with Focal.   Good luck!

I finally heard Luxman with these Kantas 1 and was simply blown away. I was loving the Luxman L-550AXII (pure class A amp at 20W at 8ohms). Dealer had Luxman, Focal (Kanta 1) and many other brands. If I were to go with Luxman 550, I will need a DAC and a streamer, right? I have a Roon Core already. 

My budget is up to 5k. Need to be able to have TV connected to the DAC for audio.

Would anyone have any advice on DAC/Streamer under 5k? I, at least, would need an optical in. 

A Bluesound Node would be a fairly cheap option.  You can go in via Toslink or HDMI  from the TV to BS.  It has a pretty good DAC, but for best perfomance you could get an external DAC.

Good idea on Bluesound Node as a streamer (temp DAC). Thanks. Still contemplating that used McIntosh MA8900 with DA1 DAC. All in one solution. Hard choice.

Well, I traded the M33 for a Hegel H390, but something was still missing. Just bought a mint condition Luxman L-550AXII from an authorized dealer. Now i need a streamer and I have couple ideas on what to get.

Most of you here recommended Luxman and I hope I am not going to regret it. Anyone wants to buy my Hegel H390? 6 months old with all the candy. ;)

As a fellow Kanta owner, I'm curious how you will end up liking the Luxman pairing. Keep us updated when you have a chance to experience it!

Will definitely update you and everyone else. I just ordered it hours ago so should get it in the next few days. 

top of my list is Hegel, Parasound, Primare or Musical Fidelity

and I would die for your H390 but you should get good $ for it

Node X just came out but I went for Ever Solo DMP-A6. Thing is ill be without streamer for 10 days. Luxman is arriving on Saturday. 

Received an excellent/used Luxman today from authorized dealer. I love it!! Very nice amp. Cant run it past 10-11 o’clock or its too loud in condo. Run it without REL first and bass was good (best i have had here, considering the issues in the room and placement). Once I added T5X, this filled up nicely. I am really enjoying it. Currently running it via Node 3rd Gen) but it still sounds good. Ever Solo arrives in about a week. Will see if anything will improve. I will run it balanced and since I have to get XLR cables im thinking of switching to Cardas Iridium, from Nodost BlueHeaven. Not sure if thats a smart move or not.

@niko79 imo I’d probably stick with the BlueHeaven cables you have now unless you were to jump past the Iridium up to something like the 4-wire Cygnus with Cardas. Even between Parsec and Cygnus, a different result. And between Cygnus and Clear Reflection, a different result yet again as an owner of all of these, priors, fwiw.

I will need a DAC and a streamer, right? I have a Roon Core already. 

Look into Small Green Computer to run your core and the Sonore for the endpoint.  Plenty enough $$ lefter over for DAC of choice

Thanks for the Small Green Computer and Sonore recommendations.  If you have any questions, please reach out using the contact us button on the bottom right of our website, smallgreencomputer.com.  Thanks

@decooney Thank you for your input. Yea since I am already invested in all Bluehaven cables, changing to the other brand is probably not the most effective move. But what in hi fi audio is? :D

Anyway, I will just get an XLR interconnect for my streamer to amp connection and be done with it for now. If I decide to upgrade the DAC, I will rethink this again. 

@niko79 "But what in hi fi audio is? :D"

Perhaps my suggestion was that some lateral moves can be frustrating to spend good money on something with little to no improvement for the sake of "making a change". Perhaps I made a few curious lateral moves myself and have lessons learned to share :)

@decooney I understood your suggestion. In my case that would be a lateral move, so I get it. :)