Best amplifier for Sonus Faber Concerto Home??

Are you saying the Cary and Concerto sounded clinical? Weird.

If you like "clinical" not musical then Krell, Simaudio, and to a lesser extent Bryston are right up your alley. High on power and low on warmth. Your speakers will certainly play an integral role in the overall sound though. Good luck.

You have wrong speakers if you do not like "musicality". You would be better better suited with a Pair of Triangles and and a Bryston Amp using all Nordost Wire. Personally, I cannot think of anything that would sound "worse".

Good luck.

KiD

I think he is saying the Cary was not Clinical enough for him. The Cary amps are not clinical they are very musical with great rhythm and pace.

Maybe Solid State ? You can get a very Clinical sound with Solid state.

Mark

As The_kid said "You have wrong speakers if you do NOT like "musicality"." [email protected] please clarify. Judy426 offered a great response to you question, if we understand it correctly, but you have to be kidding! right?
Cheers!?

The use of first person pronouns would have made things more clearerer.

Say...try a Crown professional amp. Check the thread in Amps/Preamps.

Thank you for your replies:

Musicality is just fine with me (otherwise id still kept my previous speakers). But i am afraid that a "warm" amp might render the system excessively "soft", thats why i was thinking of a "fast and detailed" amp rather than a musical one. My SFs give me all i want from that aspect (musicality)

Sorry for the "clinical" bit, i meant it as an exageration to make my point clearer, but it obviously messed things up.

-Mark02131 understood me though, and this is exactly my point.
-Tomryan, thanks for the info, but for my budget i think an integrated would be a better solution.
-Judy426, i've thought about the bryston, but id get sky-high on budget, provided that id need an equally good preamp to match, lets say a 3b-sst.
the_kid: "Personally, I cannot think of anything that would sound "worse". I agree. Please check my first paragraph.

I hesistate to suggest that certain amps would give you a more "clinical" sound with the SF Concerto because that would imply that the amps themselves are clinical sounding. But, if you are looking for speed and detail with SF speakers, I would expect Cary tube electronics to be among the least compatible electronics for getting that kind of sound. I personally like Naim electronics with SF (heard the Domus Concerto, the Cremona and the Homage Anniversario run on Naim systems and this was a great combination. They sounded too soft-edged and lacking in dynamics with otherwise great electronics that are less dynamic than the Naim gear (e.g., Hovland HP200/Radia).

I was just kidding about the Crown amp. I find it too harsh for even my DJ service.

You might look into Musical Fidelity as they make rather lean sounding integrateds. There are a bunch of used ones here on the site.

OK,
My next test will probably be with what my local SF vendor also carries:
- a MONRIO MC207
- a Pierre Lurne H1

I have also heard the best for the Manley Stingray, but its not really available for auditioning here in this part of the globe.

I'd think you might want to look into Ayre. Great gear that is perhaps a bit on the "clinical" (whatever that is understood to mean by now) side. And though I'm not a huge fan of either, given your stated preferences MF and Naim are reasonable suggestions especially if you are in Europe. However, I have to strongly disagree with Larryi's suggestion that Hovland doesn't mate well with SF. I have heard that combination and love it - perhaps not the final word in dynamics but not overly warm or soft to my ears. A refined, detailed pairing that wants for very little in overall musicality.

I ditto Steve5725's suggestion that you look into Ayre. I have not looked into their integrated amps, but I generally like their sound. The Ayre gear sounds nimble and very open on top without being harsh or mechanical. Actually, I find a lot of solid state stuff to sound dull and uninvolving and lacking in microdynamics. Ayre's stuff is an exception.

I'm not sure I would mate MF with Sonus Faber. This maybe a little too syrupy LOL. I'm thinking an integrated like the Portal Panache or the Audio Sector could work well.Instead of clinical, I think you mean more transparent without the haze..correct? Basically you want musical sound without feeling like someone stuff cotton in your ears.

Thank you again for your replies

Hovland doesnt carry an integrated amp, the rest of the line seems way out of budget (meaning up to 125% the value of the speakers), it doesnt make any sense to me to buy a 3500-4K USD amp, id rather have 4K$ speakers and 1.5K$ amp.

Ayre looks great but i just called and have no chance to audition it, plus its around the 3K Euro price range, and id probably go for the Musica for that money.

The Panache looks really great, (even headphone output yippie!!!) and am trying to find the local reseller. Audio Sector i dont think is imported.

Again, thank you for your valuable feedback, whenever i get somewhere i will let you know. Many thanks again to the people that shared their knowledge with me.

Its been a while since i opened this thread, and i just thought i'd let you know since i have bought an amp (finally!)
I auditioned amps like the YBA INTEGRE DT, SONUS FABER MUSICA, AUDIO REFINEMENT (dont remember which), the USHER combo, some local expert valve amps.

I ended up with Cary SLI-80, and here is why:

- The sound is great. The SLI and the MUSICA were the best sounding to my ears, followed closely by the Integre. However both the YBA and the S/F come with no remote, no headphone output and are not as powerful as the Cary.

- Extremely easy to live with (remote + headphone output).

- Has a terrific cd to match, the 308T, which i also purchased.

Quite frankly i was so disappointed by not finding a match for my S/F's that i was about to sell them, but no more!

Right now i feel i have a system i can live with, a system that can play all of the records i put in (right now its sufjan stevens' "illinoise"), its aesthetically pleasing and if i want to fiddle with it i might as well look on the net for different tubes.