Amplifier for Sonus Faber Cremona M

Thanks guys for your responses so far. I made the mistake of saying McIntosh 6900, I meant to say 6600. Anyways, the 6900 would be great too if I could find a nice used one.
@Stevecham, The B&W's were hooked up to by far the nicest McIntosh gear in the room. Monoblocks and I believe solid state pre. The ML's were also hooked up to McIntosh, but it was a one piece 3 channel home theatre amp and home theatre pre, albeit still expensive. Sounds like an unfair advantage for the ML's. But the SF Cremona M's were only hooked up to a Marantz PM 15S2 integrated amp and matching CD player. Even though the Marantz's price tag was much cheaper and I would think not equivalent to either of the McIntosh set ups, the Cremona M's still sounded the best to my ears. I think the Marantz was good enough to showcase the Cremona M's strengths.
@Jallen, Quicksilver always intrigued me but there are no dealers around here.
@Vgrubb, same goes for Pass, no dealers around. I really need to make it to some shows!
@Rudge, heard the Pathos Classic One Mk2 before. I assume that's the integrated you are talking about? I liked it. I have read good things about people using two of them. Something to consider. Although, I might just look into the Pathos Logos then.
Thanks again

Thanks again guys for your helpful responses!

@Defride, I like the idea of Pathos. In fact I have many different speaker amplifier choices in my mind, from Opera, Unison, Nola KO, Quicksilver ect. The problem is I need to listen to them all and no dealers around. So I have to stick with what I have heard and seen personally. Thinking about attending the Audio show AXPONA in Chicago this March. Maybe hold off my purchase until then?

@Rgs92, I used to own some Luxman gear a long time ago. Very nice! I haven't heard their new gear but from what I remember I might want a little bit of a warmer sound than the Luxman's provide. I might be wrong. No dealers here.

@ Lewinskih01,

That is a very good idea to look into. I could buy one McIntosh MC275 and a McIntosh tube pre amp. Live a while with only 75 watts. It should be fine, but then buy a second MC275 later and use them as mono blocks. It would be more expensive, especially over the MA6600 integrated, but worthy of consideration. I will have to make the people at Magnolia move some things around as those amps are now in the front of their store. Magnolia is not the best when it comes to rearranging gear to listen to different combinations. Prefer the independent stores for that, but not many of them left.

@ Johnnyb53

Marantz makes some pretty good gear that always seems to punch above it's price. I owned the PM-8004 for a very short time to play around with in my second system. I was very impressed with it. It could sell for twice the price and I wouldn't think it was overpriced. Perhaps it wasn't broken in fully or perhaps it was my Proac's I had it hooked up to but I found the PM8004 a little too bright sounding and preferred my little Creek 4330 so I sold it. Other than the brightness it did everything better than the Creek. I doubt the Marantz was even broken in all the way. Maybe I should have waited longer.

@ Paraneer,

You make some very good points. It seems like we had the exact same setups at the Magnolia's we went to. You are right! I did prefer the Cremona M's hooked up to the Marantz 15S2 LE over the much more expensive B&W 802 and McIntosh mono block amp, preamp, combination.

I thought it was because I just didn't like the B&W's that much. They were a bit to analytical and mechanical in their musical approach and a bit too bright. The Cremona M's played with more emotion, warmth and beauty without sacrificing detail. In fact I thought I could hear more details and layering in the recordings over the 802's. All this while being hooked up to inexpensive Marantz 15S2 LE! So that must say something. Don't get me wrong the 802's are still excellent speakers. But for me they just sounded more "Hi-Fi" and less like music.

I will try to get Magnolia to set up some different amps with Cremona M's. After I hear the Marantz, then hook them up to the MC275 tube amp and tube pre. Magnolia does not carry the MA6600 but does have the MA6300. Not as good but maybe that will give me a better idea.

Hi Freedriver, welcome to this thread. No you not hijacking anything. You have some good questions. I owned the Marantz PM8004 for about a month in my second system. The Cremona M's at Magnolia that I listened to were not hooked up to the PM8004 they were hooked up to the Marantz PM15S2 Limited, $2500. Differences? I think the 15S2 is a bit more powerful and a little smoother sounding than the PM8004. Anyways, I sold my PM8004 even though it did almost everything well. Why did I sell it? There was a brightness in the upper midrange and lower treble that I couldn't live with. A) It may not have been broken in all the way in just 30 days. B) It might not have been a good match with my Proac's. The PM15S2 hooked up to the Cremona M's sounded great and I didn't notice any of that brightness. I never heard the Unison Unico but I am sure it would be very nice. I did hear the Pathos One Mk3 and it sounded pretty good. Looks awesome too. If you only want to spend $1000 then the PM 8004 should be a good match for your new Toy towers. I can't think of another solid state integrated at the price range that would be a better match or sound as good with Sonus Faber's. If you like tubes then for $1200 you could get a Jolida 502BRC EL-84 tube integrated. Heard that and it's really good for the price. You could also get a Rogue Cronus. For around $1500 you could check out the hybrid solid/tube integrated from Sytnthesis Audio called the Magnum. I own one of their beautiful wood in cased tube tuners and love it. They are not well known in the States but you can contact DeJa Vu Audio. They are the importer of the line. Then you can have an all Italian system. Good luck. Let us know what you decided on.

@ Lewinskih01

Thanks for the info. Never had the chance to hear Laam. I am sure Laam sounds great! I may hold off a purchase and attend the AXPONA in Chicago this spring time.

Freediver, one more idea. If you want to keep it all Italian you could buy the Italian made sold state integrated Audio Analogue Crescendo. Only $1000. Never heard it but something to look into. The reviews are pretty good. Audio Waves sells them. You can check online. They have some deal, only $850 and free shipping right now. Audio Analogue also makes some more expensive nice hybrid integrated amps.