Integrated amp for my Sonus Faber Guarneri

About my system:

Source: iMac playing flac or wav files via Toslink to iDecco DAC output to integrated amps: Luxman L-507, L-309 (both starting from 1973), L-550 (1983), or McIntosh MA6800 (all amps SS). Belden Studio 497 Mk2 speaker cables.

My Gs are about 2 m apart, toed-in a bit, and my seat is at the apex of a triangle formed with their separation as a base.

I know this is a low-to-mid-fy system and inadequate to show what the Gs can do, but I think it does tell me in relative terms at least where the strengths of the Gs lie in the spectrum of musical genre in terms of my own taste, and that the Gs for me are exquisitely superior for small acoustic groups but inferior to my lesser speakers for most other genres.

Deaf_in_left_eye, I think that as I have said before, you are simply NOT hearing the GH's for what they can do.
As we talked about before, the other equipment that you are using is just not in the same league as the GH's! What you are now listening to, is not in fact really the GH's doing there thing, BUT the true sound of other gear.
It may seem hard to fathom this, but the GH's are truly dependent on what is fed to them upstream. I can well understand your preference for the Yamaha's since they are far more in synergy with your other equipment. I really think that you are attributing various attributes to the GH's that are in fact not their fault at all.
For instance, in my system they have a VERY wide and deep stage that allows all the musicians to be in their own space with plenty of air around them. The reproduction of human voices and strings of all kinds is IMHO as close to real as any speaker I have heard. ( I have owned 'stats',planars, and many other speakers over the many years).
It seems to me a real pity that you are coming to these conclusions with out the benefit of truly hearing what these speakers can do.
If I can give you an analogy; it would be like this: You just bought a Ferrari and you are using diesel gas in the tank... Not only does it not run well, BUT you cannot even out accelerate your Honda Accord. Therefore, you feel that the Honda is a quicker and better car!

D-I-L-Eye,

Sounds like you've made a lot of progress in your assessment! I would agree with your assessment, with some minor additional things you may wish to try. First, your assessment:

- yes, chamber music will be very good, jazz ensembles
- yes, this is a small speaker...it will not reproduce anywhere near live. in fact, if it helps you at all, i have not heard a speaker that comes close to live
- the power of a live instrument is sometimes very shocking to people when they actually compare side by side. however, what you will find in reproduced music is 2 things: variety of music from amazing artists you cannot have in your home, and sometimes a microscopic view of the music playing (which you cannot get in a concert sitting 150 feet away)

As for the Gs and possible "tweaks":

- Greater toe-in can sometimes "concentrate" the sound to give more impact...play around. toe-in such that you cannot see the sides of either speaker from your main seated position. you may have set them up perfectly already...obviously i cannot say.

- How far from the back wall? how you set up the speakers relative to the back wall will have an impact on bass quality and quantity

- Sub...i know, i know...more money. but i used to run the G's with a Velodyne Sub, and it make quite a difference. In my room, i had the sub cut off around 40-45hz, and it not only gave me bass...it added an overall larger soundstage and fullness of sound.

- if you can possibly "squeeze" it...budget wise and also room wise, its worth a shot. Subs are very, very difficult to tune into a system as demanding as the G's, but when dialed-in properly, you may get the best of both worlds...wonderful chamber music, life, organic human vocals...with the fullness for "Talking Heads bootlegs".

Just mho. good luck and best wishes,

D-I-L-Eye,

Depending on your budget/desire to maximize the output of the Gs, i can say that i found a dramatic change when i switched speaker cables. i used to use Audioquest Crystal from the early '90s. i then bought a pair of very old, used Transparent REference cable...holy smokes, big difference. not a subwoofer, but i was surprised at how much more full it was. i do not know Belden, so i cannot say how good/not good Transp Ref might be...just another thought. good luck.

Loydelee21

I'll toe them in a further as per your suggestion.

The Gs are over 4 feet from a bookshelf in front of the back wall, which is a thin Japanese-style plexiglass sliding door. The first true concrete wall is another 8 feet behind the sliding plexiglass door. I've got some thick cloth hanging between the bookshelf and the plexiglass to reduce reflections. The room is very small, about 10 X 12 feet, 8 ft ceiling. I wonder whether a sub would work in this small space, though I imagine it might. The 12-inch woofers of my Yamahas do fine.

My cables are not special, just what the shop where I bought the Gs uses for all their gear and better than typical K-mart stuff.

Many people recommend a sub, in particular a Rel, which I can't find here and would have to order from the US. The timing is good for me in terms of Yen/Dollar, but impossible in terms of my listening trial period with the Gs.

I've got until the 28th of this month to decide whether to keep these, or face possible long-term disappointment (in terms of diversity of enjoyable genres) and the difficult task of trying to resell them in Japan myself someday. That makes it tough to try other components. In addition, the shops here don't generally allow listening trials. I have to take a loss of 10% on a return within 30 days, even for the Gs. Beyond 30 days the return price drops to joke level.

Do you agree with Daveyf that I am not hearing the G's potential at all yet because of the limited quality of my equipment, and with much better equipment I would probably love these, or feel that perhaps I am hearing the basic character of the Gs at least in a relative sense, which is apparently not well-suited to my tastes, and that with better equipment I will still be "sitting in the middle seats" rather than at the front, and limited to enjoying small ensembles, even with a better amp and sub?