Triangle Antal Speakers - How to drive?

I listened to the Triangle Antals vs the Triangle Zerius. Surprisingly, the Zerius impressed me more. Then I read the reviews online, and discovered that the Stereophile reviewer had listed the Zerius as one of the 14 best speakers in 2002. I wonder why Triangle is dropping the line. In fact, the dealer where I heard the speakers in Illinois is dropping Triangle altogether due to difficulties dealing with the distributor. What a shame. I am not an audiophile; To my ears the Triangles were the best I heard. I compared them to Quads and Tannoys at this store, and I had heard the Polk LSi 15 and Kef Reference Model 2 at other stores. I'd love to hear the Polks side by side with the Triangles. The other speakers sound boxy in comparison. Only the Triangle speakers made me want to linger and listen. I suspected the Triangles would be good for classical. What blew me away is how good they sounded when I plugged in a McCartney live CD. I got a closeout price, but even at retail they seem to concentrate more on what counts compared to the competition. The sound!

I own a pair of Polk LSi15 speakers and I think they are impressive...but then again, I'm biased. I think they are a steal at the price and many audiophiles wouldn't even go down to the store and listen to them for 5 minutes because they bear the name "Polk".

I have never heard the triangles so I can't comment there. Another pair of speakers I'd recommend to audition would be the Von Schweikert VR-2 floorstanding speakers.

I agree with the above comments. The Antals are superb speakers, I had a pair of the XS which I sold to dabble in time and phase coherent designs, but I miss their phenomenal speed and dynamics. I got the best sound driving mine with an ASL 50 watt tubed integrated (AQ1001DT). I got the distinct feeling that 50 watts worth of tubes was waaay more than enough; I could literally move the earth with the volume knob about a quarter of the way up. As others have said, the Antals are super revealing, so you want to feed them something rich and grain-free--ie, tubes. I got tolerable results with an Audio Refinement integrated, but the tubes are a better match. One of those "you don't know what you're missing until..." kind of deals. Check out ASL, Jolida, Cayin, Golden Tube etc. BTW another nice thing about the Triangles is that they sound great with Triangle's TC-4250 cable, which can be had for a measly $4.50/foot. So much for endless cable hassles!

The Antals have a distinctive quality of quickness which is almost adictive. The midrange is phenomenal and the bass is tuneful and very tight. There have been complaints about the highs... too bright, in particular for the older xs version (improved in the 202). But part of the reason for these complaints is long burn in time, these speakers get better and better with age.
These speakers are very revealing, and thus sensitive to the quality of associated electronics. They were indeed too bright in my system to begin with, but a better digital cable (Acoustic Zen MC2) and Monarchy Upsampler took care of that... the Antals just revealed a weak link in my system and now there is just better music.
I think these are probably the best bang for the buck if looks are not important to you. I like the Antals more the longer I have them, they grow on you, and the only complaints I have are their looks and "tiltability"-they are tall and light.. and it doesn't take much to throw them over... worth consideration if you have large dog or toddlers arround.. I drive them with CJ Sonographe, which seems to be a good match, but can't comment on other amp combinations.
Good luck,
Arni

Antal are very sensitive so should work well with a lower output amp. So, go for either class A ss or a good (SE) tube.
I've heard & enjoyed the Antals with a number of European amps -- which are expensive at the moment. If you go for Antal, try a few "beefy" local devices (plinius, etc)