Sonus Faber Extremas

Velo62,
I have owned the Extremas for a number of years and the best I've heard them driven is with the Antileon Signature (which I'm using now). I'd tried them with VAC (tube), BAT, Pass Labs XA160 (a close second), Premier 8A and believe it or not, the BEL 1001 MK V. Preamps used are the ARC Ref 2 II and CJ ART II. If the music is not too demanding, all of these equipment can drive the Extremas to satisfactory levels beautifully. At the end of the day, it comes down to one's musical taste.

I have ML20.5 monoblocks with the Extremas and they are definitely underpowered. Has anyone actually tried the Pass X600 or X600.5 with the Extrema? Please chime in with your experience. How about other high current offerings from Levinson, Rowland, or Classe Omega? Extrema is a fine speaker but it is extremely picky about the amplification.

I have owned Extrema for about 4 years now and currently run them with CAT JL-1 Monoblocks, i know these speakers very well, you can e-mail me if you have any questions.

You could always try the Jadis JA800s (the six-chassis version for the full power) or JA 500s if your floor financing line of credit is high enough! I have heard JA 500s drive mbl 101s, so they might have enough power to do the Extrmas. The problem is that the higher up the Jadis line you go in power, you lose a little bit of that midrange magic for which Jadis is justifiably famous (especially if you use 6550s or KT-90s). Raquel's suggestion of the CAT amps is a good one; otherwise, the Antileon is a good choice if the Jadis won't drive it.

Thanks guys, I always respect and enjoy both your posts and follow your threads. I remeber the CAT thread on driving the MBL101e's and was interested in the watts vs current issue. I am opening an Audio shop in South Florida and have already secured the Jadis line. Was looking to add a nice retro section to the shop and was hoping the DA88 would be able to pull it off with the Extremas...I will still try however ad could always switch rigs around. After years of trying different solid state amps they just dont do anything for me anymore, had a Plinius SB300 here a few months ago hooked up to my Focus Audios sigs and man did that setup stink. Lean and harsh, everything I had acomplished before with a 75 watt tube intergrated just collapsed with the addition of the Plinius. Worst case scenario if the tubes and Jadis fails is I'll try a pass 600 or maybe even a Gryphon Antileon.

Extremas really suck power and you're better off going solid-state.

That said, the big VAC monoblocks (Renaissance 140's or 220 watt/channel KT-88 amps) will drive them -- they have excellent output transformers and power supplies -- but if you really want to use a tube amp with a speaker like that, the CAT amps are the best choice (because Ken Stevens uses far and away the best output transformers). I own Renaissance 140's.

I would go with something Rcprince alludes to, namely, a Class A-biased solid-state amp, like the Lamm and (especially) the Gryphon monoblocks, with Extremas.

There are previous threads on the topic of powering Extremas here on A-Gon and at Audio Asylum.

The only amps I ever heard on SF Extremas that made me understand what the fuss about those speakers was about have been the big Cello Performance monoblocks (the "red eyes") and a Gryphon stereo amp from the early 90s. Given the size of your room, while I love the Jadis and VAC amplification, I just don't know if they would be enough for your speakers (my old JA80s put out about 60 watts, but the guy who was trying to see if I'd buy the Extremas from him admitted that those amps could not have driven the Extremas to their potential). If you are considering buying new, I would insist on a return and refund privilege from the dealer. Maybe there's an A-gon member in your area with one of those amps?