Amp for Genesis 500's?

heard those speakers with a VAC avatar in a large room, and they rocked, VAC was set to ultrlinar, at time could not afford 500's, ended up buying VAC avatar se, and sonus faber cremona's, you don't need alot of power for the 500's VAC was rated at 60 watts, the room was really large, had GEN 1's in it also with 500's

When I first got G350's, had Monarchy SE100's that I had biamped with the previous speakers. There was a hole in the crossover area. Tried Manley Snappers but ended up with Plinius SA100, which blended seamlessly. So seamlessly that trying to optimize phase became an effort. Eventually got two and ran them as bridged monoblocks (400 wpc). All were rated at the same wattage but not created equal. Granted, the 350's ribbons are not a tough load but, like Maggies, love power. Because the Plinius is much more sensitive, the gain on the bass amp had to go up considerably.

BTW, The Genesis system is only an active low pass (Tidal does similarly). Got a NHT X2 and used the 12dB/oct active high pass section at 110 Hz and it sounded cleaner in that area with only the slightest loss of transparency in upper frequencies. Not bad for a few hundred bucks.

GAT sold out of the M60 amps that were designed for the 5/6/7 series but they might be found used.

The Genesis' have a laid back soundstage and the ARC tends to be more forward and "bloomy", so it can make a good combination but that's all subjective. The Plinius, like many (not all) solid state, is more laid back. The toe-in of the speakers affects that presentation as well.

Sc53, I have the same questions you do. I have Genesis G6.1. They also have their own bass servo amps. Currently I am using G6.1 with Proceed HPA-2 amp. It’s extremely dynamic, detailed and powerful sounding combination. Sometime I think it is too powerful for my taste. I am tempted to switch to tubes or class D amps. So far I tried 40W Assemblage ST-40 tube amp. On low level and with jazz it sounds OK. For rock, the power and control are not there. As a next step, I will try KT88 based amp with 60W of power. Hopefully I will also audition D-Sonic amp. I am afraid it will sound too bright, but I could be wrong.

Thanks for the responses; I am glad to see there are some other Genesis fans out there! You don't hear much about Genesis but the sound of my 500's is the one thing I never find fault with or get tired of. I agree with Mooch, I think I can use less power (and spend less $$) with these speakers, maybe 60 watts. Tubes definitely sound great with my speakers, but I"m also interested in trying out SS again. Thanks for the ideas.

Shhh... Some privileges should be earned, not just bought.

It's amazing. I have a pair of 500's being driven by a pair of VTL MB225T tube amps and was thinking of trying SS also. Nothing too exotic, but able to do at least 15 watts of pure class A.

I was thinking maybe a Nelson Pass or John Curl design.

I also built an Assemblage ST-40 when Sonic Frontiers was around and that amp makes the 500's lifeless.

I don't know if you're budget will allow it (mine sure won't), but I've heard a pair of 500's with a pair of Cary CAD-805's driving them. Total amazing. Aural orgasm!!

If you really want to try SS, make sure the amp of choice can handle driving 3 ohms. That's the average impedance. These speakers flirt with 1.75 ohms between 400Hz and 500Hz. That is a huge demand for any amplifier.