FM Acoustics Amplifiers

I have used them for some time in Europe.Very detailed and very non fatique sounding amplifier...midrange just step bellow tube amps, but the highs are very good. Are they worth $$? Yes, if you are shopping for the ultimate....and your speakers are up to the task!

Thanks Prcinka for your input. Which model did you use? Did you also use an FM preamp?

Extremely well stabilised sound, particularly in the hi register (amps are wide-bandwidth). I've used some products (pre & phono) and listened to a full FM set-up (ie. bring yr own source, plug & play) which offered excellent sound: by this I mean, music for people -- not sound for oscilloscopes.

I suspect that channel balance is exemplary in the pre & phono equaliser (i.e. the circuit components are really matched in each component).
Their preamplification & equaliser products seem slightly superior to the amplification products -- or, otherwise said, there are other amps out there which may be competitive (in performance, not price), but very few products out there to match the pre & phono.
Price -- as per Prcinka above.

O owned the fm-122 phono pre amp for about 4 years. Absolutely great sounding piece of gear. Very neutral thou. It is the only piece I wish I ddi not sell

Thanks Gregm. Which models of FM pre and power amps did you listened to? What other SS amps are competitive in performance? Is the MBL 6010D on par with the FM 268?

Phono - 122, line- 155/245; power - 411. Don't know about the MBL as I heard this at a different occasion. It was a nice component as well.

/What other SS amps are competitive in performance?

Quite a few, I would imagine. However none that I know offer the compactness: Dartzeel's amp is good, Symphonic Line's "Kraft" class A also competes very well (excellent with 155 driven by 122), as does a Boulder model I forget which, as well as the older Lamm (tube). There are others I don;t know.

However, if price is a factor, none of the contenders I mention are any cheaper...

The most important thing IMO is that the FM (and to a degree Dartzeel as well) offers "pre-optimised plug & play" solutions: that is, all the components & peripherals you need are available and perform extremely well.
So, you just go to the shop, put whatever you need in yr shopping bag (amps, wires, equalisers...), go home, plug in and listen to music. No discussions re, damping factor, analyses on bass extension, "soundstages", curtains lifting or falling, room treating et alia, or voodoo tweaking...

You know, when you're spending that kind of money it's nice to have someone else worry about all these things:)

Thanks again, Gregm for your informative input.

What is the secret of their good sound? Are the technical people at FM Acoustics and Boulder smarter than the people at Madrigal or Krell? Could Madrigal or Krell sound as good as FM Acoustics or Boulder even with "unlimited" financial resources?

Chris

How does the Gryphon Antileon Signature stack up against the FM 811 MK II?

fm stuff is incredible, but i would be more inclined to compare it sonically with goldmund, ensemble or revox then boulder. boulder sounds much closer to krell..and there's nothing wrong with that at all.

What is the secret of their good sound?

I don't know any secret. They match all components in pairs, used per each channel (i.e. manually, post materials purchasing phase) -- but that's not a secret. That may be a contributing factor.

Are the technical people at FM Acoustics and Boulder smarter than the people at Madrigal or Krell

:) Unlikely, I would say (Ok, I realise you're joking). Just a different product category aimed at a different market segment...
ASAIK, FM sells mostly to the pro market anyway.

Gregm, of course I was joking. The fact is: many audiophiles (mostly in South East Asia), but also world famous artists like Yo Yo Ma and late Leonard ("Lenny")Bernstein think FM Acoustics power amps (and preamps as well) are much better than the offerings from Madrigal and Krell. So, I'm just curious what could be the reason for this: Better parts quality/matching? Better engineering? Designer's kharma? Voo doo magic? The almost insane price tags?

Chris

Are these really class A amplifiers? Judging from the casings, it doesn't seem like they are. Pure class A amplifiers have huge heat sinks (like Gryphon, etc.).

apparently they are (pure class A).
but they don't run very hot at all...

If you are talking about high bandwidth amplifier designs, two others are Essence and Spectral. My Essence Emerald II amp has a bandwidth of more than 5 MHz. The thing you have to be careful about in most of these designs is the amplification of RFI and EMI noise.

Thanks for all the comments. Can I have more views and thoughts?

I had 266/811.....

Prcinka,
Have you compared the 266 with the 268? How does the 811 II compare with the other top ss amps gryphon, dartzeel, MBL, ASR, boulder, etc.?

I just got my FM 255 MARK II... and the answer is ,, Yes, they are simply amazing and worth every penny.

It sounds crazy ,, but once you hear that FM Sound.... you can never go back to anything else.....

Congrats. That's one Hell of a preamp, and I bet it sounds like Heaven. I used to own the old 244 pre and 611 amp...it was great stuff. I'm sorry I sold it. Don't sell yours!!!