While I understand that the right tube amplifier has many things to offer on these speakers, I must question Brian's experience, at least with respect to the Campanile High's which are a somewhat different animal from the Violons. The Campaniles each have 4 10" SEAS drivers in a sealed enclosure which benefit significantly from an amplifier capable of delivering high current and high damping. The Violon, in comparison, has a single woofer in a smaller cabinet whose frequency response does not extend as low as the Campaniles. I would be curious with respect to Mike and Nelli's comments as they have both the Lamm and Edge Signature amplifiers which each represent state of the art in their respective areas. I will say that I have heard very nice results from the Campaniles using a 50 watt Audio Aero amplifier but felt that the amp ocassionally ran out of steam.
Amp Choice for Acapella Campaniles
I purchased a set of Campaniles last summer and have been trying to optimize them since then both with respect to room placement and amps. The speakers utilize a plasma tweeter, a midrange (non-compression) horn using a Dynaudio driver and four 10" SEAS drivers for woofers in individual rather large sealed boxes (2 woofers per 30" by 12" by 28" box). I have to date tried two very different amps (Parasound JC-1's and Wolcott 220 mono tubes). The JC-1's are still breaking in but thus far are promising, still lacking the dimensionality and warmth of the tubes but with superior control of the bass and dynamics. I understand from the designer that the JC-1's will gain in both of these areas as they break in. Any suggestions with respect to other possibilities with these very revealing speakers. By the way, the JC-1's exhibit absolutely no brightness or zip in the top end. I think that 100 watts would be the minimum amp size needed.