Searching for an amp to pair with Rockport Atria II

Look at PASS 350.8 for best sound.

i have looked at the pass it is too large for my stand unfortunately. that is what is holding me back on the Diablo 300 as well. We have a custom built equipment stand an I don’t want to replace it just yet. 

get an amp stand and display it up front and center.

unfortunately space will not allow for the amp stand in the middle of a walkway nor will my wife. She already tolerates the speakers 3 ft into the room so i don’t want to push it.

We have a custom built equipment stand an I don’t want to replace it just yet.

Cabinets and wives are common impediments to better sound.  I understand why we put up with one, but divorce takes care of the other.

Anyway, at 4Ohms nominal impedance, which means it likely dips below that at certain frequencies, and sensitivity of 87.5dB these speakers don’t exactly cry out for tubes — at least not to me.  Just because a tube amp “can” drive a speaker doesn’t necessarily mean it should.  At the very least you’re likely to push the Octave amp hard unless you only listen at low levels, and that’s not an optimal situation for any amp.  There’s a reason Andy Payor favors amps like Gryphon to pair with and voice his speakers.  If it was me I’d look for the best Class A (or A/B) amp that has sufficient power and sounds good to you (and fits in your beloved cabinet) and pair it with a good tube preamp.  But then again, if the Octaves are really working for you, what the hell do I know?  Best of luck in making your decision, and congrats on the great new speakers!

something with a  lot of juice. The big Pass amps, or the VTL Siegfrieds come to mind.

@creditingkarma, If you want the best performance out of those speakers you buy mono amps and put then behind the speakers keeping the speaker wires as short as you can. Use Kimber Kable 12Tc. It has the lowest inductance of any cable on the market and at 3 feet it will be like having no cable at all. Then get yourself a pair of Parasound JC 1+. You will have to spend serious money to get better amps if you can find a better amp. John Curl knows what he is doing. More so perhaps than even Nelson Pass. The only reason that these amps cost less is that they are made is a high production facility in Taiwan that has all the robots and machines needed to speed things up and do surface mounted boards and such. Small American manufacturers do not have enough money to buy that kind of equipment, They either out source it or do though hole boards by hand. Atma-sphere does Point to point wiring only which I have to admit is a thing to behold. Anyway, the JC +1 uses extremely high quality parts as good as any amp made, the only difference is labor and volume. Parasound will move a lot more of these than Boulder will move it's entire line. I have the older JC1's and could not be happier. They run circles around all the other amps I have had including my old Krells. The JC1+ is even bigger and better.   

Tough to drive, but great speakers. A pair on Ampzillas will sound excellent on them, talk to Underwood Hifi. Beat Pass X350.8 and some others for me.

Boulder amplification goes extremely well with Rockport, Nagra as well.

Thank you for all of the input on amps. I am picking up a pair of Octave MRE220. I really liked the sound of the re320 without the preamp in the system just being feed from my Bartok. The mono put out 220w with 300w of peak power so they will power the Atria well for my listening habits. I will update with my thoughts on the pairing here. 

Have you read post #2,  https://www.whatsbestforum.com/threads/anyone-heard-the-octave-mre-220-amps.25275/

Atria I owner - currently driven by Gryphon Diablo 300 integrated amp.  600W/channel at 4 ohms.  I had the Octave V 80 (w the Black Box) initially, but would crap out at higher volumes.  Like mentioned above, it requires a lot of juice. Boulder, Pass amps as suggested will also work as well.

* Octave V 80 SE int amp with the Super Black Box

Pass 260.8 monos, smaller in stature than the 250/350

Best,
-JP

Try the Anthem P2 amp 500 watts at 4ohms, 675watts at 2ohms and it will go down to below 1ohm if needed without a problem $4,500. new.

Merrill Audio Mono blocks. Double down to 1600wpc at 2 ohms.
No idea if there is a budget here however but these
amp employ a technology no one uses yet. Read up.

Look at Nagra amps. The Classic especially if used as a mono has plenty of power and a small form factor

I am a big fan of Moon by Simaudio paired with Rockport speakers. I currently have a Simaudio 700i powering a pair of Rockport Aviors (all the original versions) and find it to be a lovely, musical, and powerful combination. If I ever change electronics, I would go with the higher end Simaudio separates.  

I now have a new integrated amplifier that might be right in size for you. The Vitus SIA-025. This is a wonderful integrated with awesome sound quality. 

I have the Soulution 5  (511/520) series driving the Atria IIs.

I suggest you consider dual mono amps for your Rockports. I heard McIntosh MC 611s with both Magico A5s and RockPort Atria IIs. The match with the Atria IIs was just outstanding in every regard. I already have now purchased the 611s and likely will buy the Atria IIs within the next few months. 

@jmeyers I had a pair of Octave MRE220 monos previously. I went on to a krell duo 300xd and have now landed on a classe delta stereo and am looking for a pair of the classe monos. My ultimate goal is to get into the new MSB 202 and upgrade mySB DISCRETE to a Premire and go without a preamp. I was also looking at the A5 but the Atria II was just better in every regard with less bass output. Rockport makes incredible speakers. 

@jmeyers Have you purchased the Atria II? They are incredible speakers. I have just been able to realize how much they scale. I was able to sell off my Classe Delta separates. I was going to go with the MSB S202 but a deal was offered to me on some Dan D'Agostino Momentum gear at a price that was too good to miss. I now have what could be considered a lopsided system. I have the Momentum HD pre and  a pair of M400 monos. They brought the system to a whole new level it is really incredible. Now the issue is that I want to upgrade the speakers but the Atria II is perfect for the size room that they are in. Maybe if we buy a new house then it is time for Cygnus or Orion. 

 

@ebm looked at the pass gear but could not pass up the D'Agostino.