Plinius amp and Conrad-Johnson 16LS

Thank-you Brandon, what are you using now?

I have not heard the Plinius mono blocks but the other Plinius amps I have heard sounded a little brittle and one dimensional when compared to the Sim Audio hooked up to a 17LS for example.

I have spent the past two weeks trying some different set-ups with the Plinius. I've found it to be more sensitive to cables and footers than the Aloia. The Plinius can sound edgy and dry or can be very nutraul with the right footers. The Plinius I would not define as one dimensional, in fact the depth is amazing and very well defined. I guess it comes down to personal taste more than anything. If one was coming from Krell the Plinius would tend to sound too warm, where alot of the Plinius intrest has been from tube people, and the Plinius is not tube by any means. At any rate I ordered two Plinius 102-SA's to use as mono blocks, I continue to look for thoughts on pre-amps. I tend to like solid state and digitial over tube and vinyl. Just my personal taste. I find the slam, pace, imaging and dynamics of solid state to out weigh th warmth and glow of tubes. Again, I believe both are great directions and do not wish to start up that old war, Just my taste. I do tend to like a bit of a warmer side of solid state, thus the tube pre-amp has always been my choice.
I should also point out my budget keeps me from some of the elite gear that can do both extremely well. Maybe some day...

Hi JD

Remember those Plinius amps need 3 months of decent use to come right. You will also find the SA102 to be warmer and more liquid than the SA100 MkIII. I doubt that a tube preamp is the way to go since you will lose the pacing of the Plinius (will get me some reactions to that one, I'm sure).

Contrary to what Peter Thompson says (Mr Plinius) I find the Cardas Neutral Reference, or Cardas Golden Reference are great with the Plinius (Peter recommends Siltech - but hey, he also listens to Shahinians).

Plinius uses a very hard footer that can dry things out a bit. I keep recommending them - so maybe I should buy some shares - but the E-A-R feet are what I use under my Plinius.

I sincerely hope you are well JD. Sorry about being out of touch for so long.

Hi Redkiwi my old friend. It's nice to see a Plinius/New Zealand thread brings you north!
I was going to try the EAR footers but was wondering if weight was too much. They tend to deform with very little weight, I'm guessing your saying that's fine. I was also thinking the Walker points might be a good choice in that the weight of the Plinius is too much for the Nuance.
What would you think as a good pre-amp to try?