There's a used InnerSound amp listed for $1800 here at Audiogon. That amp will drive your CLS's very very well. I know it's a bit above your budget, but you might stretch a bit and/or make an offer and see what happens. |
Power cords and speaker cable make a big difference too. I do not know any amps in that budget I could recommend, sorry. |
Pass Labs X-150. A little beyond your budget(1750.00-used) but its a great match for your Logans. I used this amp to drive my Ascents. Its a great match to Martin Logans. In 4 ohms it will put out 300 watts(Logans love power)Its also very musical,and detailed. What ever you decide-side with power. They love power........... |
Rowland works well try model 1 or bigger models are even better try model 5 probably available in your price range |
VTL run in triode will sound best. |
As an owner of CLS2Z I will try to provide some insight. The HCA-2 will not work. It will sound nice but will not handle dual transients.
On transistor amps you need at more than 175wpc. I once spoke with Roland and they told me the older 150wpc amps were a little short on power for this speaker.
I use Odyssey stratos Extreme monos. I beleive they are wonderful.
I also hear that the McCormack can be a good match. Classe newer amps are a good match. Symphonic Line and the Innersound are good. On older amps the old Acoustat, Counterpoint and Mac's can be good.
I don't know of the BEL Canto.
Big tube amps maybe. Samll tube amps no. I have heard that tubes are very good with these speakers. |
I dont know, How much are the Blue circle, but the
guy who makes the amps use this type of speakers
to tune them.I might be wrong. |
PS Audio actually advised me against using the HCA-2 with these. I use a Sonic Frontiers Power 2 (2 ohm taps) and am generally pleased.
|
Thanks everybody,
That's a very interesting comment about the HCA-2. Not sure of why (technically) this is the case, but it's sure good to know.
I believe that Blue Circle's designer (can't think of his name) does use them as his reference. I think I'll shoot him an email and find out what he thinks.
MDL - The Power 2 is 110wpc, no?
Any more suggestions are welcomed. I really would like to stay with tubes if at all possible. In fact, the gentleman that I bought them from told me that he had good success driving them with a VTL running at 60wpc SET. Obviously not to particularly loud levels, but very sweet and 3D, according to him. |
my vote for tubes as well. edsawyer uses a 20watt custom tube amp with his CLS, swears by them. |
I owned CLS IIz for several years and went through a number of amps. The impedance on theses speakers gets pretty low and varies quite a bit. They need a quality amp.
The Inner Sound amps (designed and built by Coda-Continuum) work very well. They are actually Continuum Stages. I had better results with a genuine Coda amp, which is a big step over the Continuum products. I ended up with the model 20.5 (which is the same as the more common 11.5 with a diferent bias).
I've heard the Pass Labs X-150 and it is a good amp, but the mids and highs on the Coda are much cleaner and better delineated. I sure that this is a personal preference and will not be viewed the same by all listeners.
Rick |
A bit off topic. I like the Granite Audio 555 or 560 power cord for the speakers. What do you use? |
I owned the CLSIIZ's for about 8 years and was very happy driving them with a pair of ARC Classic 120's. Can be obtained for about $2300 used. I tried the Synergistic Master A/C power cords on the CLS's and liked them quite a bit.
Randy |
Did you find that the power cords make a substantial difference? |
The reference for Gilbert Young of Blue Circle were the CLZII paired with his now, out of production BC-2 SS monoblocks...which are hybrid. When I had them, they used to produce prodigious amounts of heat, and were quite heavy for the specified wattage...of about 75 watts pure class A watts. 75 lbs and can be obtained at 2-2.5 K, not quite enough for your budget. I think other class A amps will do, what about the now classic DR-25 by Classe? |
I went through several power cords about the time that Elrod Sig 3 rolled out. I found that the power cords did make a difference and thankfully, I liked a less expensive cord.
The most noticeable difference for me with the power cords was the presence of, or lack of air. |
I compared the Synergistic Master Coupler with a pair of XLO cords and found that the Synergistic had a much better midrange with more sparkle, especially on piano recordings. They went a fair bit of the way towards alleviating the thinness which is the primary drawback of the CLS, IMO. This thinness ultimately led me to sell the CLSIIZ's and get a pair of Alon Circes, which are also dipolar in the mids and highs, but use dynamic drivers. |
I'll check out the Master Coupler |
I use jolida mono block tubes 200 wtt/ch sound good but looking at emotiva xpa 1 gen2 (600wtt /ch mono block ( class A first 60 watts ) |
