You may wish to add the VAC line of amps to your list for consideration. They should provide many of the qualities you seek.
Pre/Power or Integrated for Focal Utopia Scala?
Hi, been shopping around for quite awhile but would like to get more ideas from you guys. Budget is about $30k+.
Primary music is classical, jazz and trance. No vocals. Key emphasis on dynamics and tonality. I am not particular about soundstaging and so on but expect a degree of detail.
I have tried these few brands:
- Chord
- Spectral
- Karan
- Goldmund
- Passlabs
- Jeff Rowland
- Plinius
- Octave
Each has some plus and minus.
- I find Goldmund power to be very good but not convinced about their pre-amps which can be abit dry. In comparison, Spectral and Karan are abit heavier and have their own tonality.
- I also liked Plinius power amps but their highest end pre-amp has a performance limitation (though good for the price).
- Chord's pre was good but the power abit strange. Not the last word in aggressiveness but good otherwise.
- Octave, as a tube, is missing the low end bite of solid state and not that expressive.
- Passlabs and Jeff Rowland are abit slow for me.
I intend to give Gryphon and Orpheus a try and perhaps ASR.. hope to have some other recommendations.
Primary music is classical, jazz and trance. No vocals. Key emphasis on dynamics and tonality. I am not particular about soundstaging and so on but expect a degree of detail.
I have tried these few brands:
- Chord
- Spectral
- Karan
- Goldmund
- Passlabs
- Jeff Rowland
- Plinius
- Octave
Each has some plus and minus.
- I find Goldmund power to be very good but not convinced about their pre-amps which can be abit dry. In comparison, Spectral and Karan are abit heavier and have their own tonality.
- I also liked Plinius power amps but their highest end pre-amp has a performance limitation (though good for the price).
- Chord's pre was good but the power abit strange. Not the last word in aggressiveness but good otherwise.
- Octave, as a tube, is missing the low end bite of solid state and not that expressive.
- Passlabs and Jeff Rowland are abit slow for me.
I intend to give Gryphon and Orpheus a try and perhaps ASR.. hope to have some other recommendations.