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Starting from Scratch -Please Help Pick 1 out of 3

Dear Friends,
Hope that all of you are well, in a moment of transitional evolutional state of mind i sold off my Rogue Cronus Integrated, my Tannoy Stirling Speakers ; well pretty much the spine of the entire system.

I wanted to start over, i listen to a lot of varied stuff ; usually very complex stuff ; i love the weight of solid state gear and the resolution of their baselines and the treble which intermittently sound "filled" ; i also love the midrange liquidity of tubes especially on vocals and the natural timbre of orchestras and drum snares.

So i had gone on a spree to audition some gears, some which couldn't be heard are also included as a part of the system (say, i listened to the power amp but not the pre) i couldn't get to some of these due to various difficulties but generally i've put a package of 4 different set ups - i hope learned pundits here can guide through this to build a good system which i will use for a long time.

I am not the type for frequent upgrades.
Thank you!

The Candidates

Group 1
------
Pre : Rennaisance Preamplifier MKIII by VAC (Valve Amplification Company)
Power : VAC Phi 200 Power Amplifiers (Valve Amplication Company)
Speakers : Harbeth SHL5 [or] Devore Fidelity The Nines (Please Pick)

Just love the look of this system!

Group 2
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Pre : Modwright LS 100 or Ls36.5
Power : Pass Labs XA 60.5 (Class A 60 wpc) but can take a few months to save
up for Pass Labs XA100.5 (Class A 100 wpc) if it really matters.
but evidence shows otherwise :
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nXGf3AonFCQ
Speakers : Magnepan 1.7
Which sounds great!

But Will the Modwright (semi-tube) impedance match with the pass'?

Group 3
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Pre : Leben RS28CX Premium Preamplifier
Power : CS-660P Separate Power Amplifier
Speakers : Harbeth SHL5 (or) Devore Fidelity The Nines (or) Devore Fidelity Orang Utan

Group 4
-------
Pre : Modwright LS100
Power : Pass Labs XA30.5 Monoblocks (30 watts Class A)
Speakers : Devore Fidelity Orang Utan

Also Please Feel Free to Mix-Match and Advice.

Music will be fed from my MAC to my DAC and to these.

Thank You!
thegoodarcher

Showing 3 responses by p59teitel

p59teitel
312 posts
 
If you'd bothered to look at my virtual system you'd see that I do in fact own them. And sorry, but you're about the only person I've ever seen on here who claims that kilowatt amplification is absolutely necessary to drive them.
p59teitel
312 posts
 
"A pair of used Revel Salon 2's is another option (in the $10K range). I've also owned these speakers, and they are incredible for the money. But they require GOBS of power. 750 watts into 4 ohms minimum. They really sing once you get over 1000 watts into 4 ohms (Bryston 28BSST2)."

A minimum 750 watts into 4 ohms overstates Salon 2 requirements, IMO. In my reasonably large approx. 6000 s.f. room with a 17.5' vaulted ceiling, a Plinius SB-301 that output around 470 watts per channel into 4 ohms played them to concert levels with no problem at all. As do my current Symphonic Line Kraft 250 monos (that actually play quite a bit louder than the Plinius did, notwithstanding the putative 250 watts designation).

The key to driving them is to use fast high-current amplification. Although the Kraft 250s are even better, the Plinius was very good in this regard - the only reason I switched to the Kraft 250s was because I got an insane deal on an essentially new pair of the Kraft 250s and couldn't pass up world-class monos at that price.

I wouldn't want to use less than say 200 wpc with them (which would disqualify most tube power amps), but they don't need KW amps to drive them either.
p59teitel
312 posts
 
Thegoodarcher - please accept my apologies for derailing your thread, and good luck going forward!
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