2. amps-preamps
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the best amps for bass, best for the rest?

hullo fellow beardies!

i'm building a system that requires two power amps, one for the main speakers and one for the subwoofers.

the speakers are the Nola Baby Grand Reference, combined with the two seven foot bass towers from the Nola Grand Reference, c/w their electronic crossovers.

so one power amp will drive the baby grands, while the other the sub towers (coming in below 40hz)

which would be your nominations for best amps for bass, and best amps for everything except bass?

the obvious choice is to use valve power amps for the babies, and solid state amps for the subs.
i lean towards monoblocks.

current leading contenders are a new vtl 7.5 pre with 450 monos for the babies and a used pair of krell750mcx monos for the bass.

another option is to mate a used boulder 2010 with the vtl 450's and krell 750's.

a rather more expensive option is the boulder 2010, a used boulder 2060 and then either a second 2060 or another amp to complement the boulders. the 2060 could either run babies or subs, do you guys have any opinions?
or the same model amp runs all frequencies (2 x 2060)
or alternatively something completely different...?

i will choose the power amps first then match with an appropriate pre-amp.

my room is 7m x 5.25m x 2.4m high, with a concrete floor. i prefer electronic dance music (drum and bass, hard / deep / banging house and trance), dubstep and reggae / dub.
i dj roots, rockers and dub, was part of an illegal sound system for a decade hosting regular parties and an annual festival, along with dub nights.
i reside in the uk (scotland) and have no neighbours to worry about
infinitelybaffled

Showing 3 responses by rcprince

rcprince
3,059 posts
 
I would suggest you go with a tubed preamp as well as the amp for the Baby Grands. I own the Nola Micro References, and have heard the Baby Grands, both using VAC electronics. I have heard the Boulder equipment, and while it is extremely revealing I feel, at least in the preamp and the midrange and up, that it lacks that sense of live music that I only get from tubes. I think you should consider a VAC preamp and the either Phi or Statement amps for the Baby Grands as well as the VTLs. Carl did voice these speakers with tubes, and they really do come alive with them.

For the bass towers, the Boulder amps had the best bass definition and control I've heard, at least driving Dynaudio Temptations. I would say you can't go wrong with either Krell or Boulder (or a big Pass amp) on the bass, though I would not rule out VAC or VTL in that region either--you might lose just a bit of control and extension compared with the solid state amps, but you might get a bit better integration with the Baby Grands. Just my $.02.
rcprince
3,059 posts
 
In the bass, I think you'd have a toss-up between the Boulder and the Krells. While the Boulder I heard was indeed exceptional in the bass, Krell has built its reputation in large part on its reproduction of the bass frequencies, and I've heard a lot of their amps and they do not disappoint in that area. I don't think you'd go wrong with either brand, so I'd suggest you get the Krells and use the money saved to get the VTLs.
rcprince
3,059 posts
 
I can't comment much on the VAC preamps, as I use a Shindo preamp with my VAC amplifier. I had used VAC's Renaissance preamp (an older top-of-the-line model) in my old system for a little while a long time ago, which system went down below 20 Hz, and noticed no lack of bass, but I can't comment on their current models. I'm surprised by that information to some extent, given the fine engineering and power supplies in VAC's products. I would expect, unless the source you're referring to has measurements, that the VAC is at the worst fine to at least 25-30 Hz, which might cover a lot of the music you listen to unless it uses a synthesizer to go down to 20Hz and below. Rolled off highs don't bother me, I'm too old to hear them and I think the rolled off highs sound more natural and closer to what I hear in live venues anyway. Out of curiosity, what is the source of the rolled off comment? Were there measurements?
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