JM lab Electr 926 speakers good pre amp&amplifier

No suggestions on the amp. But iof you don't mind, I am curious did you consider the 936 as well as the 926 and what drove your decision? Also what were the runners up in your buying decision? Reason for asking is I am considering the 926/936 myself. By the way I'll be using a McIntosh amp.

hai!theo,
I settled for 926 because (1)it was a package deal for 5.1 system (2) the show room dint have any 936 for demo.
(and i loved 926 any way)

The 926 is a excellent speaker for the price.I used tube Conrad Johnson with mine.

Hmmmm...I heard the 926 (in a showroom, I admit! However, this was a dedicated room with just the 926 & the associated electronics & 2 chairs) with a ClearAudio Champion Level 1 TT, McCormack RLD & McCormack DNA-125 & all StraightWire interconnects & speaker cables (I cannot remember the exact models but it looked like they were from their level 2 or level 3 selections).
I found the 926 to be very fast, light on the bass & mid-bass hence it appeared to be mid & high freq. emphasized. Overall, it was a very modern/hi-fi sounding speaker. It couldn't draw me into the music -it had great, clean sound but was devoid of any emotion or soul. Maybe it wasn't fully broken in? However, I have read a # of people complain about the Electra series having thin bass. Maybe these are good qualities for a HT setup? Maybe the 926 needs some tubes upstream to tame it?

I have the 926's with a Rotel 1066 PrePro and the 1095 Amp
playing an Audio Aero Prima 24/192 CD player. I have plenty of base and it sounds quite good to me.
However, when I was using an Onkyo 70 watt per channel
HT receiver, I did not. My dealer advised me that these
speakers need at least 100 high current watts. Try to find an amp that will double the wattage as the ohms are cut in half, ie 100 watts at 8 ohms and 200 watts at 4 ohms.
When I upgraded to the Rotel gear, it was as if I had taken a blanket off of my speakers. I had more dynamics,
clarity, detail and extension on both ends. There was also a vast improvement when I upgraded to the Prima CD from
a Nad 541i. I have found that the 926's respond very well
to upgrades.
Be careful of the power ratings of HT receivers. They can
be dubious at times.
Try to find a local dealer that will let you take a demo
home to test in your system. It is the only way to be sure.
If you can't, then buy used. At least then you should be able to get most or all of your money back on a resale if
it doesn't work for you.
Good luck and enjoy the hunt!

Hello,

I am fairly familiar with the JM Labs speaker line. I listened to the Electra line 906, 926 and ended up with the mini utopia instead. I tested the 906 at home with my McIntosh solid state gear (older C28 pre and 2205 amp). I find the JM Lab gear to be slightly thin sounding. I upgraded my pre amp first to a Herron tube pre amp and it sounded better. When I finally got the Herron mono amps the bass got much better. The amps made the biggest change in the sound. I really like the sound of the JM Labs speakers and if can audition several amps, I think the amp may make the most positve improvement in the sound. I was really was suprised by the contribution the amplifer makes.

I also have the Electras 926 since 2 years ago, and yes, they are very very fast and clean, that surpasses the lean bass.I am considering the Parasound A23-P3 Halo pre-power
or Nad Pre-pwr. Suggestions?

I have repeatedly auditioned the 936 with Simaudio gear: P-5 pre/W-5 amp/Nova CDP. I think the neutral Sim gear is a very good match with the JMlab, making a very musical and nonfatiguing system. May not have some of the in your face WOW factor of other speakers, but on extended use you should be very happy. If 2-channel music is your first priority, you could drive the 926's for music using the Simaudio pre/amp and then, for movies/MC playback you could get a high end AV receiver and run it pass-through the SImaudio pre.