Amp to drive Dynaudio C-1

I'm listening to them right now with a 30.5 pass amp. It sounds okay, but it's a somewhat lean compared to tubes IMHO. I'd say it has juice to play up to moderate/loud fine. Reno hifi iirc will let you try them out if you pay shipping, no affiliation etc. Good luck.

I was amazed at how big and deep the bass was when I heard these speakers driven with the complete ASR Emitter 11 set up at a local dealer(bless them,support them,keep them in business).No I am not a dealer.

Yes alot of money on amplification,but it worked for me.

One of the better systems I've heard in a long time.

In no particular order: Musical Fidelity, Bryston, Accuphase, Simaudio, Plinus. Also, I agree with Xti16. You do not need tones of power but quality power.

i drove c1s with an cambridge audio 840v2 and now with a bryston 3bsst. i thought both combinations sounded great.

I'm second Pass Labs,start with 100w up all to 250w,the bigger the better

I am driving c1 with krell kav500i,if it was not best match with contour s1.4 with c1 is completly diffrent level,everything was improved from imaging to soundstaging,from bass to highs.I would say with s1.4 sound is Hi-fi with c1 high-end.

I absolutely enjoyed the C1's when I owned them awhile back. They surely need a lot of power as I recall to get the most out of them. I didn't use them with tubes, but with a Belles 350a Reference, which was a great combo. I'd recommend a x250.5, or x350.5 Pass amp. The .5's aren't as lean sounding, they are a bit more tube-like in presentation. I had a Pass x250 mated with Dynaudio 3.4's, and that was one of the best set-ups I've owned. Then dynamics of that combination was outstanding, my only nit was that is was a bit lean sounding which, again, I believe was addressed with the .5 models.

I am currently driving my C1 signatures with an Octave V70SE. The only time it runs out of steam is when I run it with the EL34's. No problem with 6550's KT88's or KT90's. Dyn's sound best with high current amps. Unfortunately most manufacturers do not offer current ratings in their specs.

I second Musical Fidelity. In addition to the Tri Vista 300, a solid state model to consider might be the M6PRX, a 260w/ch dual mono power amp. The M6PRX has received stellar reviews, but for whatever reason, you don’t hear much about it here on Audiogon.

I use it in combination with the solid state M6PRE to run B&W 804 Diamonds in a room that doesn't remotely lend itself to warmth (hardwood floors, plaster walls and ceiling, and only a few pieces of upholstered furniture) yet the sound is still remarkably warm.

There’s a used M6PRX available on Audiogon right now, the first one I’ve seen listed in the past 6 months or more. The seller (who I don’t know) is asking $2100, which is a very good buy. List price new is $3500, and even at $3500 the M6PRX compares favorably with amps that cost more.

The seller’s ad says he has been using the M6PRX with Dynaudio Contour S3.4s with excellent results.

I ran mine with a Musical Fidelity Tri Vista 300. A nice warm sound with buckets of power in reserve. Tasty!

I ran Dynaudio Contour S1.4 with McCormack amps and it was very good. Fast, clean, nuetral and musical. The dealer carried McCormack and CJ in addition to Sim Audio. I have heard all three thru the Dyns and all are more than capable.

C-1's are great, and I have heard them sound tremendously impressive with Gamut mono blocks. If I had C-1's, that's where I would go.

I have heard the C-1's at my local Dynaudio dealer many times with a plethora of different amps, no combination sounding better than the current one of C-1's and Audia Flight integrated amplifier. Not sure if it's the model one or two. Fanatastically killer combo with the newest Shunyata signal cables and power products. I was blown away. I have always liked the C-1's a lot, but I have never heard them sound better.

Pass is a good choice. A good Class D like better Spectron and Bel Canto models is the other option I would consider. Bel Canto ref1000M monoblocks sound great with my lesser Dyns as they do with my much larger power and current hungry OHMs in a much larer room. No overkill whatsover. ref500M models would probably do very well also with Dyn C-1s.