As the title says, I am the proud owner of a pair of the lovely Sonus Faber Olympica III's, as of yesterday, on a great end of the year deal from an area dealer. I had been auditioning many, many speakers for literally a month (at least 60-70 hours of actual auditioning) and fell in love with these after hearing them extensively on two different sets of electronics. Surprisingly, to my ears, and those of an audiophile companion, the Olympica III's sounded even better (more musical/more lively, more smile inducing) than a pair of the Ellipsa's they were also offering me quite a large discount on. The Olympica's sounded absolutely wonderful being driven by the Audio Research REF75, and even moreso by an incredible McIntosh system composed of the C1100 preamp, and MC1KW monoblocks.
Unfortunately, the REF 75 (an amp I am very fond of) is balanced only, and will not pair with my preamp, and my finances cannot begin to afford that Mac system I noted, sadly.
I would greatly appreciate any insight or expertise you might be able to offer as to some amplifiers to consider which will allow the Olympica III's to truly perform optimally. I've heard that they are not an easy speaker to drive, as they dip down to 2 ohms at times, and have heard, conversely, that they are not that difficult to drive, but do require an amplifier with a lot of gain. A number of people, including the salesman and the tech at the audio salon, have recommended at least 100wpc tube/150wpc solid state. As for my tastes in amplification, I am a longtime tube aficianado, but suspect I may not be able to afford a truly high quality tube amp of sufficient power for this application. A solid state amplifier with a somewhat warm, liquid midrange and sparkling treble would be acceptable. My budget is a maximum of 5k (US) and I would preferably purchase used gear to maximize my chances to acquire the best possible amplifier. Thank you very much for any assistance with this.
JC
Unfortunately, the REF 75 (an amp I am very fond of) is balanced only, and will not pair with my preamp, and my finances cannot begin to afford that Mac system I noted, sadly.
I would greatly appreciate any insight or expertise you might be able to offer as to some amplifiers to consider which will allow the Olympica III's to truly perform optimally. I've heard that they are not an easy speaker to drive, as they dip down to 2 ohms at times, and have heard, conversely, that they are not that difficult to drive, but do require an amplifier with a lot of gain. A number of people, including the salesman and the tech at the audio salon, have recommended at least 100wpc tube/150wpc solid state. As for my tastes in amplification, I am a longtime tube aficianado, but suspect I may not be able to afford a truly high quality tube amp of sufficient power for this application. A solid state amplifier with a somewhat warm, liquid midrange and sparkling treble would be acceptable. My budget is a maximum of 5k (US) and I would preferably purchase used gear to maximize my chances to acquire the best possible amplifier. Thank you very much for any assistance with this.
JC