Given what you said I think a tube pre with a good solid state amp makes a lotta sense and may be the best of all worlds. I also prefer a detailed but also a very natural/musical sound, and I’d start with a Spatial Audio Raven or Aric Audio Motherload XL preamp and pair that with a good and fairly neutral power amp. Moon and Constellation would be obvious candidates since you already seem to like their sound with Magico, and I’d add Coda and possibly even GaN amps from AGD or Atmasphere. I believe Spatial and AGD offer trial periods, which would be really nice in your situation that I’d very seriously consider taking advantage of, but not sure about the others. Congrats on the nice new speakers and hope this helps somewhat, and best of luck.
Amp-preamp, Integrated paring with Magico A3
I'm looking for people who have had excellent results with pairing an amp-preamp, integrated to Magico A3 or similar Magico's. I recently bought a pair of A3's (love them) and I’m now looking to upgrade my electronics driving them. Currently I have a loner from a friend (not ideal) so nothing really to speak of.
I’ve heard the Constellation gear at the dealer on them and was impressed, also some top Moon (North series) gear also impressed. But I’m a tube guy so I’m also considering a tube preamp-SS amp or hybrid integrated. I just sold my Mac gear so I’m looking to move away from that. Friend has an Audio reasurch tube preamp thats quite nice in his system, Ref 6se i believe, paired with the Moon SS amp (new north searies). But dragging that and or the speakers around to try is not something either of us is inclined to do. Speakers being 110lbs each. Amp about the same lol
What have you had good success with?
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@glennewdick following up on part of @soix ’s suggestion, have you read this review of the CODA 16? Class A for the first 100 wpc (at either 8 or 4 ohms) and total 150 wpc into 8 ohms, doubling into 4 ohms. (The A3s are 4 ohm speakers, right?) I had neither the space (nor the appetite) for this amp, but I did just buy the integrated CSiB V2 (250 wpc at 8ohms, doubling at 4 and 2 ohms, Class A for first 12 watts), and while it’s not paired with ideal speakers (Revel F226Bes), and probably not fully broken in yet, it still makes the F226s sound very much better (more alive and musical; not as harsh in the upper frequencies) than they did before. (In February, i will get to pair it with Joseph Audio Perspective 2 Graphenes, and I’m very much looking forward to that!) In case it’s of interest, here is a review of the CSib V2 . I don’t know if it is possible to hear the 16 in the Seattle or Vancouver BC area, but I would defintiely suggest it if you want a powerful, dynamic but still neutral sounding amp, it is worth hunting down. (And of course the CSiB has enough power for the A3s at a fraction of the price, but I have to believe that the 16 with a good tube pre-amp would be magic.) Good luck! |
@soix don't forget the amazing Audionet Max amps...can be found used in his budget. Magicos love the high current and speed. Their resolution and dynamics would pair well with a tube pre. or call GTT Audio! |
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