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!
Ordered Qualiton A75 today, got black friday deal :) neverthless, i still believe this one is best shot for my first serious system. Will see, will let know as soon as i will have it at home. KT120 tubes at the begining, in nearest future i would like to try KT88. Also control tubes will be switched to lions. Thanks Gents for support! |
Congrats ! That amp looks a lot like my McIntosh Mc275s, so, I am sure it will sound great ! Very interesting that it has a built in Pre-amp with "one less" small tube than the Mc275 - which is an amp only, although, one small tube in the Mc275 is only for "single ended" input. It would be interesting to know if the preamp line stage is "tube" or "solid state". Also, I am guessing that your system will be all digital input, because as you may already know, it look like there is no phonograph preamp in the A75. I noticed that your original post said, "I listen to mostly Analog". Remember, a phonograph cartridge outputs a very low voltage, typically between 0.0002 volts and 0.007 volts, which is then amplified by a phono preamp to a standard line level of around 1 to 2 volts. The specs for the A75 say "input sensitivity" is 0.92 Volts Unbalanced, 0.92 Volts Balanced. So, for your phonograph, you would need a separate phono preamp to boost the signal to the A75.
|
@hjdca thanks!! :) Surely, ive got phono preamp, as mentioned. Im happy owner of phasemation ea 320 :) |
