Best amplifier for Sonus Faber Concerto Home??

I'd think you might want to look into Ayre. Great gear that is perhaps a bit on the "clinical" (whatever that is understood to mean by now) side. And though I'm not a huge fan of either, given your stated preferences MF and Naim are reasonable suggestions especially if you are in Europe. However, I have to strongly disagree with Larryi's suggestion that Hovland doesn't mate well with SF. I have heard that combination and love it - perhaps not the final word in dynamics but not overly warm or soft to my ears. A refined, detailed pairing that wants for very little in overall musicality.

I ditto Steve5725's suggestion that you look into Ayre. I have not looked into their integrated amps, but I generally like their sound. The Ayre gear sounds nimble and very open on top without being harsh or mechanical. Actually, I find a lot of solid state stuff to sound dull and uninvolving and lacking in microdynamics. Ayre's stuff is an exception.

I'm not sure I would mate MF with Sonus Faber. This maybe a little too syrupy LOL. I'm thinking an integrated like the Portal Panache or the Audio Sector could work well.Instead of clinical, I think you mean more transparent without the haze..correct? Basically you want musical sound without feeling like someone stuff cotton in your ears.

Thank you again for your replies

Hovland doesnt carry an integrated amp, the rest of the line seems way out of budget (meaning up to 125% the value of the speakers), it doesnt make any sense to me to buy a 3500-4K USD amp, id rather have 4K$ speakers and 1.5K$ amp.

Ayre looks great but i just called and have no chance to audition it, plus its around the 3K Euro price range, and id probably go for the Musica for that money.

The Panache looks really great, (even headphone output yippie!!!) and am trying to find the local reseller. Audio Sector i dont think is imported.

Again, thank you for your valuable feedback, whenever i get somewhere i will let you know. Many thanks again to the people that shared their knowledge with me.

Its been a while since i opened this thread, and i just thought i'd let you know since i have bought an amp (finally!)
I auditioned amps like the YBA INTEGRE DT, SONUS FABER MUSICA, AUDIO REFINEMENT (dont remember which), the USHER combo, some local expert valve amps.

I ended up with Cary SLI-80, and here is why:

- The sound is great. The SLI and the MUSICA were the best sounding to my ears, followed closely by the Integre. However both the YBA and the S/F come with no remote, no headphone output and are not as powerful as the Cary.

- Extremely easy to live with (remote + headphone output).

- Has a terrific cd to match, the 308T, which i also purchased.

Quite frankly i was so disappointed by not finding a match for my S/F's that i was about to sell them, but no more!

Right now i feel i have a system i can live with, a system that can play all of the records i put in (right now its sufjan stevens' "illinoise"), its aesthetically pleasing and if i want to fiddle with it i might as well look on the net for different tubes.