Power Amp..opinions please

i did not audition the tvc with the nuforce. the nuforces were gone before i received the tvc, which is now being used with the Cary and a very nice combo. fwiw Nicholas at Promitheus said the nuforce would pair fine with his tvc.

I have been listening to the Wyred4Sound ST-1000 stereo power amp for about 300 hours and they are fabulous sounding: ultraclean, dead quiet, sweet top end with complete elimination of phase distortion, zero audible distortion, and power reserves that are the thing of legend (~600W into 8 ohms; ~1200W into 4 Ohms). The ST-1000 are hands down better than any AB SS amp I've ever owned. As for the supposed rolled off top end - I can't detect it at all. But, I'm 52 years old and can't hear a whit above 14 KHz. Cymbal crashes and high strings and bells sound just so right - never grainy or offensive. The ICE amp will deliver whatever your CD transport/DAC can scrape off the little silvery disc.

sweet review mamboni. what's cool is wyred is right up hwy 101 from me, neighboring town of paso robles.

Milpai i didn't answer your question in full. sensitivity can be an issue if your amp/speaker combo needs the juice. with lower sensitivity speakers and the passive pre you could find the volume doesn't go high enough. impedance, however, is also an issue, the higher input on the amp side the better, which was my concern with the nuforce at 47k ohm. Nicholas at Promitheus assured me through email that his product would work well with my Nuforce.

Hi Milpai, I was not suggesting a new Bel Canto Ref 1000 Mk.2 at $6K. . . rather, there are a couple of Mk.1s on Audiogon for approximately $2K. Given the times, you might be able to negotiate the final price down a few $$s. The original Mk.1 has most of the sonic characteristics of the Mk.2. . . and some people prefer Mk.1 over Mk.2.. Guido

Mamboni,
I am glad that the Wyred 4Sound delivers the sound that you want. What other Class AB did you use earlier before you settled with Wyred? In my system I have never heard a stand alone power amp. So I can only "imagine" the "ultraclean, dead quiet phase distortion, zero audible distortion" when compared to my NAD. One thing that got me looking for a separate power amp was I need to set the volume control on TVC to position 12 (from 1-24 available) for a decent sound in my 12X14 listening room. Though I love the sound I think a more powerful amp can eleveate the sound to a higher level - I believe.

Tholt,
My Quads have sensitivity of 88dB and a nominal impedance of 6Ohms. So this seems to be a speaker with low sensitivity and I would need more power than what I currently have for better dynamics at lower volumes. I almost decided to buy the Marantz SM-11S1 on Audiogon that is available. But found that it's low sensitivity (2V) would not match my TVC and the input impedance was alo on lower side (22kOhms). I see the spec on Wyred site that the SX-1000 has an even lower sensitivity (> 2.5V) but the input impedance is high at >64kOhms. So I am looking for other amps as well - like the Parasound A21. The sensitivity of this amp is 1V and it has a high input impedance. Besides, it has a high power ratings and that would mean very good dynamics at lower volume. I also want to check on other SS amps with higher sensitivity and input impedance. I will have to rely on the published specs and experience of users on the forum.

Thanks,