infinity renaissance 90-what amp to use?

I had mine originally powered with a Yamaha MX1 and it worked pretty good. Problem was it just couldn't quite keep up with them when cranked. I replaced it with a Krell 300cx and now things are happening big time. The Krell brings out the bass and makes the mids & highs sing. It works for me...
-John

I agree with Jsd, more power. I also had a set of 90's and they were quite power hungry. I was driving them with a Threshold S350e, 150 wpc and while it did drive them ok I always felt the sound was kind of lightweight and not very punchy unless pushed really hard. The store I got them from would always demo them with a 200 watt or greater amp and it did make quite a difference in the punch and bass slam department. Also with poorer quality amps the 90's can sound very bright and fatiguing. Before I got the Threshold I used a Marantz 1/4 class A integrated amp, 105 wpc and while it was a moderately good amp the sound was a little on the bright side. The sound was a lot smoother and detailed with the Threshold but they could have easily used twice that amount of power to really make them sing. Do yourself a favor and buy a good quality solid state amp of at least 250 wpc and you won't be sorry. As to which amp to buy, any higher quality amp such as the Krell mentioned above or any thing else in comparable quality should be fine as long as it is a high current design with at least 250 wpc. There are a lot of older high quality amps for sale here for a reasonable price that should fit the bill. Hope this helps.

I own a pair of Ren 90's, and I love them, they are GREAT speakers !! However, I dont think they are really all that power hungry as some people think they are. (Certainly not like the notorious Kappa 9's :)

I am a vintage Sansui enthusiast and I own a whole bunch of Sansui amps & receivers. I have used my Ren 90's with my Sansui BA-5000 (classic 300 Watt amp made in 1975-1977, I own 3 of them, actually), but I have also used my Ren 90's with as "little" as a 60 Watt Sansui 7070 receiver (and 60W Sansui G-5500) and the speakers sound fine.

Its up to you if you want to spend big bucks on moderm hi fi equipment such as the latest amplifiers that appear in 'Stereophile' mag and the like, (and I did once own an Odyssey Stratos myself) but I think you can just check Ebay and get yourself a really nice vintage 1970's amp- back in the day when things were built with real quality, no cheap black plastic junk.

By the way, on the Yahoo site there is a Message Board for Infinity enthusiasts. Simply select the 'Groups' link on the Yahoo homepage, and join the 'Infinity Classics' Group.

I hope you will enjoy your Ren 90's, as I said before, they are FANTASTIC speakers! Just curious, where did you buy them? Do you have them in blonde oak (which is what I have) or black ash? I'm not that keen on black ash, but there was a limited edition hi gloss black lacquer which look absolutely stunning, (very rarely seen for sale anywhere Online).

I remember talking to the people at Infinity in the early to mid 90's about the Renaissance speakers when I was lusting after them. Their preference of amps for that speaker at the time were Audio Research, tubed preferably. I bet a high powered Audio Research SS amp or Conrad Johnson SS amp would sound great with those speakers. I envy you.

thanks guys for the response! i found the speakers on this site. went to san fran. ca. to hear and buy. they are the blonde oak. are a stunning pair of perfect speakers. just dying to hear them.