Keith's Dream Amplifier Thread
- Thread starter jeff1225
- Start date
Adding Jeff Rowland 625mk2 to the potential amp list. Sounds like Jeff is back to designing organic-sounding amplifiers after a long digital hiatus.
Removing Pass as they dont work well with my preamp.
Making a speaker cable swap as well that should arrive shortly.
Removing Pass as they dont work well with my preamp.
Making a speaker cable swap as well that should arrive shortly.
So the next set of amps is on the way: PS Audio BHK 300 monos. While not Lamms, they are a 6922-based hybrid amplifier with a mosfet output stage that yields 600 watts into 4 ohms.
Rowland 625mk2 is still the other amp on my radar. I have declined to research McIntosh and Pass further after talking with several dealers who don't find them a good match on YG.
And yes, I'm still having fuse woes on my Ampzillas. I've tried about everything. Great sounding amps otherwise.
Rowland 625mk2 is still the other amp on my radar. I have declined to research McIntosh and Pass further after talking with several dealers who don't find them a good match on YG.
And yes, I'm still having fuse woes on my Ampzillas. I've tried about everything. Great sounding amps otherwise.
symphonic line, symphonice line, symphonic line 
- the kraft in particular.
seriously, it's magic and while expensive i think it can put even FMA to shame. worth giving Klaus Bunge @ Odyssey Audio a call to see what he may have in stock or shortly arriving. his kismet amps are no slouch either but he'll the first to tell you that the kraft is better than the kismet (i have both, and i'll be the second to tell you that haha)
- the kraft in particular.seriously, it's magic and while expensive i think it can put even FMA to shame. worth giving Klaus Bunge @ Odyssey Audio a call to see what he may have in stock or shortly arriving. his kismet amps are no slouch either but he'll the first to tell you that the kraft is better than the kismet (i have both, and i'll be the second to tell you that haha)
wow - that is serendipitous. i use them on magicos and the magicos have never sounded so natural and flowing before.
I think the Kraft 300 amp is currently at a good price thru a UK dealer. Had I gone Apogee Duettas (a real possibility once), I'm sure this would have been my default choice.
without derailing the thread, i owned the odyssey for about 2 years and then the upgrade itch was kicking in but i was enjoying the amp for sure. i tried to read everything i could about the kraft online - it was limited but ultimately just went with my gut when klaus said it was going to be "more of everything" that the kismet brought to the table.
he was right, it is more of everything and thats understandable given the power its capable of. what i discounted from his comments that i can now safely say i agree with is that this amp has a very special sound. the tone is beautiful. i mentioned this on another thread but it sounds like a 1000watt 845 amp. really amazing. doesn't get crazy hot either despite the class a topology.
he was right, it is more of everything and thats understandable given the power its capable of. what i discounted from his comments that i can now safely say i agree with is that this amp has a very special sound. the tone is beautiful. i mentioned this on another thread but it sounds like a 1000watt 845 amp. really amazing. doesn't get crazy hot either despite the class a topology.
I’m not opposed to it and, in fact, the Odyssey Stratos was my first hifi amp back in 2000.
Used Symphonic Line is rare in the US.
Heard them at a dealer with the PS audio preamp as well on Magico S5MkII and it was not a happy result. It might be a hybrid but it didn't have much in the way of what I would call "tube like" qualities but sounded quite hard, which surprised me. I was thinking I would finally get to hear a Magico with an amp that has some nice tone (I like a number of hybrids I have owned/heard) but alas, it was disappointment. I will be curious what you think.
The Lamms are not my favorite either but they are not bad sounding by any means...just a bit underwhelming. The old Dutch Sphinx Laboratories hybrids (Project 14 and Project 16) are very good and I owned a PJ14 for years. The old Conrad Johnson Evo2000 hybrid sounded very nice on Apogee Duetta Signatures (only time i heard this interesting amp). Some of the Pathos hybrids were quite good but probably you would consider them underpowered on your YGs (although the Pathos InPower monos might work). I like the Yspilon Phaeton very much the two times I heard it...more than the monos. The hybrids from Triology also seem to garner praise. The Blue Circle hybrids were quite good as well...worth a try to find one, IMO.
The last hybrid I had, the NAT Symbiosis SE is perhaps the most unusual amp that company has made (from a company of unusual amps). It was single ended hybrid with two triode stages and then an output stage with a large single MOSFET per channel! It was strapped onto the bottom of a HUGE heatsink tower (there were four such towers because the output stage was regulated and that dissipated just as much heat as the output transistors). It made a true 100 watts and once fully warmed up sounded very special...however, it ran hot, hot, hot (dissipating over 800 watts continuously) and weighed over 160lbs.
I would say that hybrid is a good way forward but that the PS Audio one might not be it.
While I suspect these will not quite be what you are looking for, I'll bet PS Audio will let you have them for a pretty extended home trial, giving you some time to check out several other candidates at the same time.
Thanks, Dan - Aesthetix isn't ideal with my preamplifier unfortunatley.
@rbbert I purchased them used, so all the time I want. @213Cobra will help with tube selection to make them shine as best as possible. My guess is new issue Gold Lion 6922 may shape opinions poorly on them. I am debating trying a new Rowland but it's somewhat of a risk with my preamp. I've reached out to the company for more technical information.
What I've learned is i'm just going to have to break a few eggs and figure out the best match. Luckily there isn't a lot out there that is interesting in my price range.
@rbbert I purchased them used, so all the time I want. @213Cobra will help with tube selection to make them shine as best as possible. My guess is new issue Gold Lion 6922 may shape opinions poorly on them. I am debating trying a new Rowland but it's somewhat of a risk with my preamp. I've reached out to the company for more technical information.
What I've learned is i'm just going to have to break a few eggs and figure out the best match. Luckily there isn't a lot out there that is interesting in my price range.
I use a fully upgraded Odyssey amp with my Pioneer S-1EX speakers, which are not easy to pair well, and the amp really is excellent for the price. I think to do better would require a pretty big budget. I could see Kismet monos doing really well with the YGs, although the tone is slightly on the warm side so maybe not the ultimate in neutrality.
I should also add that YG has shown with PS Audio in the past - even on Sonja 1.3s:
https://www.audiostream.com/content/ps-audio
https://www.audiostream.com/content/ps-audio
Whew. Everyone jumps to the immediate conclusion that Keith won't like PS Audio amps. Keith, I have a decent selection of 6922/7308/6dj8 pairs sitting on the shelf that I'll send down for the tuning phase if you'd like. Congrats on the amps and curious to hear your impressions.
yep, i had the kismet in a stratos case as a stereo amp as i couldnt swing monos due to lack of outlets at the time. the kismet is more neutral i'd say than the sl kraft but the kraft just sounds so realistic because of the way it nails the tone. the kismet is also a bit thinner through the whole frequency range, not as much flesh on the bones. for what it's worth, i've always sacrificed body for resolution and speed and the kraft is the first amp where i feel like i'm not making that sacrifice. it's not as fast as a soulution but its certainly not slow. where it lacks in speed it makes up by being able to sustain heft and body through the notes in a way that soulution doesn't. when i first plugged in the kraft it's like the magicos stood at attention...i thought i was giving them enough power before with the kismet but with more power the speakers really opened up and i no longer have that between-the-speakers soundstage that plagues magicos. sure it doesn't disappear the same way as a ribbon but the soundstage is wide and deep. the kismet is great but the kraft is just something else.
i run my kraft with a soulution pre. i'm happy i went with the kraft instead of a solution amp and, to me, i think thats a big compliment for the kraft. i'm getting precision, speed, resolution and a tone that is just magical. im tempted by the synergy of an sl pre but i'll see if that comes to fruition. (on a personal note, i like to mix and match amps and pres). i'm sorry if sound like a commercial but i just really love this amp and wish that more people got to hear it.
Klaus himself posted on another forum that his 3 favorite amps of all time (not that he's heard all of them) are the kraft, one of the big cat monos, and lamm ss hybrid - in no particular order. that's just his opinion but regardless of whether or not the amp is right for you, one thing is for certain: klaus is a stand up guy and real easy to work with. i hope kiethr and others get a chance to hear this amp particularly on the high res power hungry speakers.
so as to not be a broken record and only talk about symphonic line: i heard the hailey 1.2's over at GTT audio on audionet monos. i think it was the AMP, i remember it being smaller than what the MAX looks like. Certainly wasnt the scientist series. we had it paired with a soulution 520 and there was a beautiful midrange but i did feel like speakers could have used some more power as the sound stage was between the speakers and they were not completely disappearing. there was a fuzziness in the lower bass that i picked up on. HOWEVER, i want to make it clear that these were not massive issues and if i were living with that system i'd be really happy. it was making good music but when you're listening to flaws you'll find something. unfortunately the hailey was out of my budget at the time but i was very impressed by the speaker and hope to listen to the 2.2's in the future.
Honestly I don't think the PS Audio will be what he wants either. Will he think it sounds good? Ya, I'm sure to some degree, but good enough? I have doubts.
Skanda, are you saying that speakers need more power or the soundstage will be between the speakers? In your first post, you seem to say that Magicos are plagued with "between-the-speakers soundstage" implying that it is a characteristic of the brand, but with YG, they do not seem to be plagued with this same affliction. With YG it is a matter of having enough power. Are Magico's different from YG in this regard?
In my experience, if one hears the soundstage between the speakers, any speakers, it is either that the amplifier is not well matched, or there is something seriously wrong with the room or set up.
Keith, are you hearing different soundstage characteristics with the different amps that you have been trying, or is it something else?
Similar threads
