Solid State Power Amps

Get enough power.

JA: "The Focal will play loudly when fed only a few watts, my estimate of its voltage sensitivity being 89.2dB/2.83V/m. However, as fig.1 shows, the Sopra No.3 is a difficult load for an amplifier to drive, with a minimum magnitude of 2.75 ohms at 96Hz and a combination of 4 ohms and a –56° electrical phase angle at 68Hz, both frequencies where music can have high levels of energy. Because the magnitude is considerably higher in the treble, the speaker will sound brighter when driven by tubed amplifiers, with their typically high output impedances."

When spending that much $ on an amplifier, McIntosh is the way to go.

McIntosh is good gear.  IMHO you pay something for the brand.  But one good thing is they maintain value, and occasionally gain in value (probably not from new price), whereas with most other gear you'll take some loss on resale. 

I know you are looking for Solid State amps, but something else you may want to consider are Octave Audio monoblocs with the super black boxes(a must IMO).   I owned the Sopra 3 and now the Utopia EVOs and originally used the Gryphon Diablo 300 on both.   Worked great and terrific synergy.   I got the upgrade bug again and started looking.  I'm not a huge tube guy but after trying several amps I ended up with Octave Audio with KT150 tubes.    Has a lot of the characteristics of tubes in the mids and highs that I love, but also good authority on the bottom end like SS.  Very good synergy with Focal.

Good luck!   Once you find the right amp for your tastes, I'm sure you will know it right away.

I now own the Michi 8 power amps, check out my review in the Members review section.

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