I think Bobby is not particularly keen on SET with his speakers; I had considered that route. I own the Ars Sonum and the Joule/CAT JL2 combo and in the Ars is certainly comepetitive in terms of musical pleasure. I think it will be hard to beat an integrated designed with a specific speaker load in mind - I suspect design philosophies (SET PP Class A Triode Ultra linear, etc) are not nearly so important as excetution. P.S. I have also heard the Stingray is a good match with the Merlins.
Good tube integrated for Merlin speakers?
Hi,
Other than the Ars-Sonum integrated, what is the current crop of recommendations to drive a new Merlin MXe?
The Ars-Sonum is a push-pull A/B amp, so I was wondering if a straight SET integrated would work, and/or something strictly class A?
I'm not dismissing the Ars-Sonum (far from it -- synergy is what this game is about), I'm just looking for alternatives (and the Filarmonia has a rather long lead time, so what do I do in the mean time?) ....
I was looking at Audiomat (specifically the Opera Reference or Prelude Reference 20), the Mastersound (300B or 845) amps, Art Audio Jota or Carissa (I think the PX-25 is going to be woefully underpowered but the Concerto might work), and well, I'm not sure.
If possible, I'd like to keep this under $5k (used or new). Oh, and if it has a remote, that's a really nice feature ....
Separates are fine, but a different conversation -- just looking at integrateds right now ...
Thanks for you input!
Other than the Ars-Sonum integrated, what is the current crop of recommendations to drive a new Merlin MXe?
The Ars-Sonum is a push-pull A/B amp, so I was wondering if a straight SET integrated would work, and/or something strictly class A?
I'm not dismissing the Ars-Sonum (far from it -- synergy is what this game is about), I'm just looking for alternatives (and the Filarmonia has a rather long lead time, so what do I do in the mean time?) ....
I was looking at Audiomat (specifically the Opera Reference or Prelude Reference 20), the Mastersound (300B or 845) amps, Art Audio Jota or Carissa (I think the PX-25 is going to be woefully underpowered but the Concerto might work), and well, I'm not sure.
If possible, I'd like to keep this under $5k (used or new). Oh, and if it has a remote, that's a really nice feature ....
Separates are fine, but a different conversation -- just looking at integrateds right now ...
Thanks for you input!
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- 15 posts total
- 15 posts total