Best AMP for Avalon Eidolon, ARC, CAT, VAC..?

Accent: Mr. Levi reviewed and purchased the EAR 890's a few years back and just rereviewed them. In this latest review his opinion was that the NuForce did hold an edge over the 890's in bass reproduction though.

I listen to a great deal of FM. My tuner sits just 18" above the NuForce SE's which are close to the floor. My yagi antenna is masted on the roof of my ranch style home. The only FM interference I've encountered with the SE's was from my clock radio whose little wire antenna was moved up off the floor and the problem was solved. I should point out that I use heavily shielded DIY VAC cable, stare grounded long before the SE's arrived.

I also own Eidolons and use a CAT Ultimate MKII preamp and a CAT JL-2 MKII Signature amp. I was happy with my system until I evaluated a pair of NuForce 9.02 amps in my system. I did not realize that the Eidolons needed an amp with a much higher damping factor. I just ordered a new pair of NuForce 9 SE amps. They are that good.

Gregadd, the bass reproduction capabilities of the Atma-Sphere MA-1 and MA-2 amps is one of their remarkable features. With appropriate speakers, one has the best of solid state bass with the beauty of tubes through the midrange and top.
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The debate between tubes with lush images and the damping factor of solid state is stil alive. I have a friend who is runnig Grand Slams with Lamns (try saying that fast)and he just ordered a Karan 450 because the Lamns weren't able to control the speakers through a really long run of speaker cable.Another friend owned the class D amp of significant merit and thought that any other amp would loss signal in comparison with it.He was shocked when the Karan gave him more info and did it in a more natural way ( mind you the damping factor of this amp is 10,000 and that is approaching what is measurable by today's standards)He not only bought the amp,but also purchased the preamp ( the digital amp he had used room correction in it)and has sound that is excellent.This Karan amp uses technolgy that is new and does things in a super natural way.If you get the chance then check it out!Take care Dennis

I think it is very hard to make any specific recommendations, given different tastes, room setups, completely unpredictable interaction between components, etc. So, at best, we can recommend items for you to try in the hopes of achieving what you desire.

I am a bit surprised that you found the Eidolons to be cool and lean. The various iterations of the Eidolon I've heard, while not particularly lush, seemed to be on the warmer, less analytical side. My own take of the speaker (based on limited exposure) is that they needed a touch more liveliness (something from the OTL camp, perhaps, would help).

Still, if you are looking on the warmer side, I would suggest trying the Hovland solid state amp. I heard the Eidolon (diamond) with a Hovland chain of amplification and it sounded pretty warm and sweet.