Preamp/Amp synergy with Cain Abby's?

Oakiris, by the way there are some changes in the Sophia line up. At least cosmetically the changes are major, and the new set of amps is manufactured in California rather than China. Jim should probably now more about this, but there is some info on the Sophia website.

Bill, thanks very much for your response. I was wondering about the Wright gear (in particular since they do have great phono preamps, but so far had not heard of many people running the Abby's with the Wright 2A3 monos.

Bill, what other amps did you try on the Abby's?

I feel the Abby's need a more than usual careful amp match: For my current Jolida 302 the highs are just too forward sounding, the bass (in EL34 fashion) is just a tad on the slow side. The Jolida worked so much better with my previous monitor speakers with limited, tight bass. Also, the little Sonic Impact I tried seemed a little slow (again in the bass) for my taste. The best amp so far was a Sophia EL34 I listened to at Sound Real Audio. The Fi X and the First Watt both got great comments at AA and on Agon.

I wonder how the Wright WPL11 would match with the First Watt F1 besides of course being a great match with the 2A3s?

I am still kicking myself for not getting the Wright's earlier. I found a used one close by were I used to live (Albuquerque), but now that I am north of the border things are slightly more difficult.

I have read the Wright 2A3 amps seem to have a little more power than the Fi X and are a little quieter, while the Fi X can exhibit hum sometimes. Still haven't quite decided on whether to go with the Wright WPL11 / 2A3 combo or the Fi X/Y combo. I don't think there's really much I can do wrong though.

Gmood, nice to hear from you. Well, so far I only tried the cheap Sonic Impact amp. While the performance far exceeds its price, it did not offer the ultimate in control for the Abby's. Maybe a T-amp with better powersupply like the Clari-T will be much better in this regard. Any insight in comparing the Clari-T and SOnic Impact from your side?

According to Terry the First Watt is the fastest amp with best bass for the Abby's. Even the person at Audiocircles (Paul_Bui) who has the Clari-T monos talks still speaks very highly of the F1, although he almos sold it....

Rene

Salectric, thanks very much for suggesting the Moebius. I talked to Terry a couple of times and read the nice review of the Moebius at 6moons. According to Terry the Fi Y should not be far behind the Moebius and a pretty close call. The Moebius has to be the fastest sounding preamp around according to Terry and certainly a good match to both, the First Watt and Fi.

What are your experiences with the Moebius and what amp are you using it with?

Best wishes,

Rene

Gmood1, I can always trust you to come with some new suggestions to keep me undecided :-).

You are quite right that biggest problem with the F1 is it limitation to only a narrow selection of speakers. From what I heard it is one of the best matches with the Abby's, but a later speaker change might be problematic. The digital amp would certainly offer a better match for a wider variety of speakers. I'll have to look into the Scott NIxon amps. The thing with the First Watt is that they are very limited in numbers: better to get one as long as they are available.

I was curious about the nonoversampling DACs (AckDack, Scot Nixon, etc.). I really like the AA Prima and it is one of the most natural sounding players around. Maybe I'll pick up a used nonoversampling DAC one day to start a harddisc based system. But first the amp...

Thanks again,

Rene

Gmood, one more quick question about the F1 in combination with your FTA2000. Is it only the (lacking) sensitivity of the 200A Fostex drivers that are the problem with the F1 or more. Did you or Paul try different parallel networks when using the FTA2000?

Thanks once more,

Rene

Oakiris, following Terry's advice and my preference for a very live-like system, I ended up with the above short-list of amps. I instantly fell in love with the speakers as well, but they do require a a careful amp match and I am not sure whether a Rotel would work well.

I just finished the Bottlehead S.E.X. amp and after a couple of days of listening I am very impressed: I could not have imagined what 2W can do for the Abby's. And it does play reasonable loud with maybe a little headroom missing. I hardly notice the power limit though. The bass is tighter and well balanced; there is lots of detail detail; instruments and singers are well defined and sound quite real. Even more important, I can' believe how much life you managed to pack into this little amp. It has excellent timing and, within its power limits, has very good dynamics. A much better match the Abby's than the Jolida I had before.

I am assuming the Fi Y and X will go in a similar direction: Just more of everything and more headroom at twice the power.

The First Watt will be a (more?) interesting option: I have given up on solid state a while ago, but heard some very good comments on this combination. The only major problem with the First Watt is that it is limited in the selection of speakers that will work with it. Also, they won't be available much longer.

Gmood1 brought up many good options on the solid state as well. and they are cheaper than most of the other choices.

Oakiris, good luck with the Abby's and feel free to drop me an email if you like.

Happy listening!

Rene

Salectric, thanks very much for your comments on the Moebius. I actually did not know that Terry's version used different tubes. However, his description sounds very similar to yours and the short 6moons review.

The Fi Y pre is a little lower in price but according to Terry very close to the Moebius. I will probably go with the Fi Y for now, but might consider the Moebius for a more ambitious DIY project (now that I finished my first Bottlehead amp I am longing for more). I'll certainly be contacting you again at that point.

All the best,

Rene

Oakiris, I listened to the Sophia EL34 at Sounds Real Audio in Denver, when deciding to buy the speakers. I compared it directly to my Jolida, and liked the Sophia much more than the Jolida. I used the same CDP, as I have now. As far as my memory serves me, the Sophia is certainly comparable to the Bottlehead S.E.X. SET amp I am running now. The Sophia had a tighter and more balanced than the Jolida, better timing, some more detail. The Bottlehead SET has I think has even more detail than the Sophia, as well as more well defined instruments, and sounds even more lively as long as it is not pushed to hard. The Sophia has way more headroom and power and plays the Abby very nicely to loud levels.

Both, the Bottlehead and the Sophia EL34 resulted in a very engaging sound. Since you will be using it for hometheater applications as well, the Bottlehead would certainly run out of steam, the Sophia should be a very nice and versatile match there. I would certainly give the Sophia a good listen if you have the chance.