Amp for Coincident Super Eclipse

I've owned the Super Eclipse III's for a few years now. They are outstanding speakers and very versatile in my own experience. I've used them with 8 watt SET amps with great success, though I think the low end drivers ultimately do require a bit more power. I've also used them with Modwright's KWA150 SS amp and that pairing was outstanding - even better with two of them (that's 450wpc - and it did not sound overkill and bested the single amp with 150wpc in that specific case, rendering better detail, staging, and airiness for lack of a better term). I'd get something with at least 25-30w minimum to push those large bass drivers, though they do sound pretty great with lower power SET, and if you were hankering to go that route they'd be great candidates to support that. If that sort of presentation is what you are after I'd suggest parallel SET or OTL for the added power. It will depend what your expectations are and what you are listening to. Great choice in speaker though.

I should qualify my comments, as Blindjim does make a good point, that brings to mind others. Not only will the volume (not just area) of the room make a difference, but the amps themselves will also, of course. I'd also pay attention to the program material people are preferring as it may differ from your tastes. Though well-implemented SET amplification can serve a wide variety of music, it excels vastly with very specific music (acoustic, vocals, small ensemble, generally more simple arrangements), while other music (rock, orchestral, very dense, complex and layered music) is better served by other topologies...IMO (and I love SET). I was not using Israel's excellent 300B based amps which I've heard twice at shows with his speakers sounding wonderful in smallish hotel rooms. I used Mike Sanders' Quicksilver 300B SET amps, also known for a relatively strong bass among 300B's which are otherwise traditionally rather flabby in lower extension. Like Blum, Sanders utilizes way overbuilt transformers (each amp weighs about 38lbs). Not to say the amps are similar in other respects, but I think transformer size and quality makes a big difference in SET amps (as in other topologies as well). Blum's amps also do not give up the ghost readily in the low end from what I heard (smaller room than my own). BUT, IMO, In both cases, if the extremes in extension are critical to you, choose a different topology, like parallel SET (slightly better with more power and very similar qualities and drawbacks), or OTL (significantly better with not quite the same kind of glowing, holographic magic, but with magic of its own, and certainly a great midrange. That is assuming you like that kind of thing - In the case of SET some would point to coloration/distortion - while I'd say OTL is more linear and neutral). God help you, there's always the old reliable standby push/pull which will tend to stress the ability to handle extension well at the sacrifice of that wonderful holographic soundstage that SET does oh so well. I have not heard Push/Pull come even close to the qualities of a great SET amp, though certainly have not heard everything out there. So my comment about 300B SET + Super Eclipse III's were based upon listening nearfield in a room of moderate volume (a bit under 2000 cu ft). It is also a rather challenging room. I don't doubt that 8W can serve the SEIII's very well. I enjoyed my 300B SET amps for about six years while other amps came and went in attempts to dethrone them, so this is coming from a big fan of what that type of amp is capable of. I also am very aware of what it's not capable of, at least my amps. When you compare amps directly within the same system over many years the strengths and weaknesses become pretty clear, as they do in the amp you are comparing them to. I ultimately chose what was, for me, a more versatile amp that served a much wider range of music very well, and found in direct comparison that I actually preferred it overall. The only thing I miss about my SET amps is that incredible holographic soundstage, which I think no amp topology does quite so well as SET can. On the other hand, putting some great high-power SS amps on SEIII's will grab the bass by the barnacles and bring out nuance and control you will not hear with any SET amp, including what I did hear of Blum's amps (which, to be fair, were on Super Victory speakers in both cases which have larger bass drivers than SEIII's I believe) - you will not, however have the same soundstage and magic. Opinions will differ...that's just my .02 cents based on my own experience and preferences.

Very wise advice from R_f_Sayles. Absolutely, if you do have the opportunity to try a wide variety of amps - do so and make your own choice. As you can see, both of us having done so came to very different conclusions as far as which amp worked best for each of us (though we are using different speakers within Blum's line). For me, what is gained by going to a high-current, high powered SS amp (KWA150) caused me to give up a six year love-affair with my SET amps. But I'd completely agree that neither yields the same qualities and each will have it's own strengths and weaknesses. One thing that has consistently impressed me with these speakers has been their versatility to sound great with a very wide range of amplification. I could not agree more with sayles' advice though - try it all out yourself and see what works for you.

Pay attention to Atmasphere's(Ralph's) reply.

Ralph's amps would be a great candidate for pairing off with Israel's speakers!

Atmasphere is right regarding ss amps with the Coincident speakers, they can/will sound good but with a quality tube amp good is elevated to a range of very good/great.

SS amps can/will sound good?...not necessarily IMO, nor necessarily will any tube amp be ideal IMO. When I spoke with him a few years ago Israel told me he used several different amps, to voice his speakers, including his own, of course. Regardless, I'm sure users will find there are those that do not pair off as well as others, and certainly did not mean to suggest that high-powered SS is the way to go - it's simply what I chose and what sounded best for me (my music, my room, my ears). The two that worked really well to my ears were the KWA150's I use, and the Ayre VX5e. Both are outstanding with the SE III's in every respect, and I would not hesitate recommending either (and I normally prefer tubes, or have for over ten years). My direct experience is relatively limited; I've only tried a few amps over the two years I've had my SEIII's, of the tube amps there were Quicksilver 300B SET's and Mini-Mites, VTL450's, and Cary SLA-70's. SS amps I've tried have been the Ayre V5XE, Bel Canto 1000's, Odyssey Stratos Dual Mono, and Modwright KWA150's. Of all of those, including the tube options, the Ayre and Modwright were my personal favorite combination, followed closely by the 300B's. None of the other combinations floated my boat quite the same. The best advice I can think to give is try them out yourself and see what works for you. Clearly no one can tell you what you will actually prefer when you put these speakers into your system in your room, and listen to your music with your own set of personal preferences. My experience has been that the speakers are very versatile and can work well with a wide variety of amps.

Neither Jax2 nor AtmaSphere (Ralph) commented that AtmaSphere and Coincident have displayed at shows together in the past with nice review. Also Sue Kraft of Absolute Sound had reviewed AtmaSphere OTL's and Coincident loud speakers together and had them paired in her own reference system with excellent result.

There is a a list of speaker links (about 20) on Ralph's site (scroll down). I did not embellish further on the pairing, since my comment was purely speculative. Just to be clear; I have not heard Atmasphere+Coincident together, at a show or otherwise, but would bet they'd be great together based on those speakers I have heard Ralph's amps with.

Rf - really no apologies necessary at all. I took no offense. As I'm sure you know, Ralph is one of the good guys (I think he's the one on the stool), and I agree; he is more than generous in sharing his thoughts (and time) in these forums. I have never read anything from him here that I'd remotely consider anything but helpful and appropriate for a manufacturer. I would just assume if he had something useful to say that I'd leave it to him to decide whether or not to say it. Cool beans that you been enjoying his talents for years - from what I've heard of them at shows I can certainly understand why!

Wowwww. That is you may wanna give the coda a try, it may sound strange to use auch efiicient speakers with high power solid state but it is very good I don't know why.

Yours is very similar to my experience. The two areas that really come to shine with my SEIII's with my KWA150's (SS amps) were bass (in spades), which seemed to be reaching lower, tighter and with more tonal texture apparent, and resolution, where I was hearing more subtle details that with various tube options I had missed. In the case of my amps this did NOT come at the expense of fatigue or any other major compromise (which was really surprising as my expectations would have been otherwise). I would say that soundstaging was superior with my SET amps, though that quality really did not suffer severely in the hands of the KWA's, but the SETs were a clear winner in that department (not surprising as this is what they're known for). Again, I think Israel's speakers are quite versatile in this way.