Amp for Piega P-8 Ltd.s


I am looking to replace my Mark Levinson 383 for something with a little more authority on the P-8 LTD.s

Has anyone tried something more muscular, say Krell FPB series or Rowland?

I want something a bit more textured than the Levinson too. But for various reasons - none of them having to do absolutely with sound - I don't want to use tubes.

So something in solid state around or under $10,000

Many thanks - Michael
mwb
Dear Michael

I have had the p8ltd for the past 2 years till I replaced it with the c8ltd (a big improvement by the way). I have used a nuvista m3 integrated with 250 watts per side and with tube pre and ss output. The tubes have 100,000 hours so there is no fuss. The combination is terrific with as much authority as I could ever want. A friend had the vt100 (not sure if it was mk 2) and p8ltd and after hearing my p8's and nuvista bought the nuvista. You could pick up the nuvista used for a very good price,there are several on audiogon. Another friend has the rowland and likes it a lot with his piegas (though he recently downsized the piegas due to change in living space size). A third chap has the moon w5 (the bigger ones) and this too sounds very good but I'm not sure worth the difference. If you talk to the people at sanibel, the importers, they would suggest aloia, perhaps biamped with a 13.01 and 15.01. Calloway, who posts here, has had a number of amps and has tried everything from tenor on down. He settled with goldmund, but it is very expensive. By the way, I didn't ask the rest of the system, your room or listening tastes but these will all infulence your choice. My system is up on line for what its worth. One final thought is to go with the nuvista or keep your old gear and consider an upgrade to the c8ltd. Thats what I did and the effect is stunning. Hope this is a help. If you have any questions drop a note.
I am still extremely happy with the Aloia 150I in the vertically biamp ed configuration with the p10's and the c10ltds. It was very important in my large room to sit 20 feet away and 4 feet from the back wall to get optimum performance. Some have noticed a brightness to these speakers which may be because of their placement and associated components. I have not. The aloia 150I are more powerful and dynamic than the 130I with these speakers.
I have a pair of P5-ltds, which I tried with a krell kav 2250. The sound was in a word, poor. Soundstaging suffered most of all. Perhaps the only plus was the extremely authoritative bass response brought by the 2250.

I finally ended up purchasing an accuphase e407 integrated amplifier, which I would highly recommend. The combination is fantastic. Perhaps in your situation, accuphase separates would be appropriate.

I have also heard very good things about the piega-rowland combo...