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Sonus Faber Sonetto 8g2 - amp pairing

Hello, 

since some time im looking for new amp to my freshly bought Sonettos. 

At this moment they are runing with Rega Aethos. I feel that they deserve a little bit better company. With "better" i mean with a touch of warmness, more musicality, smoothness. More engaging and exciting. What is more, all rounder amp, for any kind of music - main sourse is analog, but my girls will often listen to DAC and they might play anything. 

So far my picks are: 

1. Sugden a21se - only one SS pick. Already listened it with SF, i liked it a lot! But im not sure, if 30W will from SS but A class will be enough for quite big 8 series? 

2. Qualiton A75 - it is AB class, but i supposue that if i will switch to KT88 and also switch other tubes to f.e. gold lion`s, i might be more than happy. I feel, that it is just great value for money. My top pick. 

3. Cayin Soul - want to hear it and probably i will. But, it is build on KT170`s, a lot of power, not sure if triode mode will deliever smoothness and a bit of warmness which im looking for to feed Sonettos...? 

4, Jadis I35 or I50 - extremely expensive for my budget.. but pure A class as Sugden, which i felt in love. Is it worth? I suppose that i should look for I50 instead of I35? Anyone can compare them with Qualiton A series? is it really worth to pay extra for Jadis vs. qualiton? Im not interested in DAC included, what is more, i do not really understand and like such gadgets in tube amps.

5. Leben cs600x - hard to get, will it drive Sonetto`s 8 well? To be honest, this one is second choice after Qualiton. Prices are quite high in EU, significant higher that Qualiton (obvious reasons). 

6. Any other..? But not SS sound signature? 

Thank you very much in advance for any tips!

kojo123
kojo123's avatar
kojo123 OP
8 posts
 

Thx! what kind of pre are you using..?

soix
11,233 posts
 

What’s your budget, and are you looking for new or used?

1bitsoul's avatar
1bitsoul
34 posts
 

The Sonetto's are somewhat demanding (4 Ω nominal) but 90 dB sensitivity is decent. So you’ll want an amp that handles low impedance loads well. Recommended 50 W‑400 W means you have a lot of headroom, if you run at moderate listening levels you might get away with less than 50 W, but if you push dynamics or room size is large, more power helps.

Given your goals being “warmth, more musicality, smoothness, engaging/exciting, all‑rounder, analog as main but digital also”, my pick in your list would be the Qualiton A75. It strikes the best balance of “tube warm/engaging” + “sufficient drive/power/headroom” for your speakers. 

The Qualiton gives you a strong tube flavour, smooth voice‑centric richness, and enough power (75 W Class A) to drive the Sonettos in many listening situations, especially if your room isn’t massive and you don’t push extremely high SPLs or heavy bass‑extensive music constantly. If you listen moderately and want the “tube musicality” as a priority, this is a very good match.

 

kojo123's avatar
kojo123 OP
8 posts
 

My budget? Well im from europe, so: 

1) Qualiton 75 is affordable, it costs 6,7k EUR, 

2) Cayin Soul costs around 9k EUR, 

3) Jadis around 11k EUR (it is expensive for me, if difference vs. Qualiton in sound signature doesnt justify its price - it is out of scope)

At the end of day, point one and second are my top picks. Qualiton is significant cheaper, and i can even squeez more from this piece by switching to KT88 and lions. Jadis is being to expensive for me. Gear might be new or used.

My other gear: phasemation ea-320 + Rega P8, Lab12 Dac1 ref + holo red, all wires - Ricable dedalus. 

Room is in L shape. Gear is being placed at the top of longer side of L. Longer side has around 28m2, rest ca. 20m2. Im siting around 2,5-3 meters in front of speakers.

Thx Gents! 

PS. Audioqualiton - both 50 and 75 - are not class A. They are AB. Only first few watts are A (confirmed directly with AH/Qualiton).

kennyc
2,873 posts
 

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