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Sonus Faber Extremas

Heading to the CES and have high hopes for the Duetta by Wilson. Seems like the inverted titanim tweeter has been replaced, the only drawback I heard in the 7's and Sophias otherwise I would buy those speaker. Question is I enjoy tube amps and would appreciate any input on ayone who has owned Extremas. Demos are unlikely, they are hard enough to find let alone get a demo out here in South Fla. Could the Extremas be properly driven by amps or integrateds by Jadis or VAC? Sifting thru the threads Im reading 400 watts not being enough, and some even bridging to 800watts! Would a 60 watts Jadis class A or say the 130 watt VAC phi beta have enough current to make the extremas sing. Will throw in room size which I beleive is the key to this setup..20 wide 30 deep. Speakers maybe 6 feet away from wall. Listen only to Jazz and standards with a little classical on occasion. Thanks!
velo62
rcprince
3,059 posts
 
The only amps I ever heard on SF Extremas that made me understand what the fuss about those speakers was about have been the big Cello Performance monoblocks (the "red eyes") and a Gryphon stereo amp from the early 90s. Given the size of your room, while I love the Jadis and VAC amplification, I just don't know if they would be enough for your speakers (my old JA80s put out about 60 watts, but the guy who was trying to see if I'd buy the Extremas from him admitted that those amps could not have driven the Extremas to their potential). If you are considering buying new, I would insist on a return and refund privilege from the dealer. Maybe there's an A-gon member in your area with one of those amps?
raquel
841 posts
 
Extremas really suck power and you're better off going solid-state.

That said, the big VAC monoblocks (Renaissance 140's or 220 watt/channel KT-88 amps) will drive them -- they have excellent output transformers and power supplies -- but if you really want to use a tube amp with a speaker like that, the CAT amps are the best choice (because Ken Stevens uses far and away the best output transformers). I own Renaissance 140's.

I would go with something Rcprince alludes to, namely, a Class A-biased solid-state amp, like the Lamm and (especially) the Gryphon monoblocks, with Extremas.

There are previous threads on the topic of powering Extremas here on A-Gon and at Audio Asylum.
velo62 OP
255 posts
 
Thanks guys, I always respect and enjoy both your posts and follow your threads. I remeber the CAT thread on driving the MBL101e's and was interested in the watts vs current issue. I am opening an Audio shop in South Florida and have already secured the Jadis line. Was looking to add a nice retro section to the shop and was hoping the DA88 would be able to pull it off with the Extremas...I will still try however ad could always switch rigs around. After years of trying different solid state amps they just dont do anything for me anymore, had a Plinius SB300 here a few months ago hooked up to my Focus Audios sigs and man did that setup stink. Lean and harsh, everything I had acomplished before with a 75 watt tube intergrated just collapsed with the addition of the Plinius. Worst case scenario if the tubes and Jadis fails is I'll try a pass 600 or maybe even a Gryphon Antileon.
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