Sirspeedy I'm glad you responded to this. We have a lot in common. I lived most of my life in NJ and owned the Ascents for about 15 years before purchasing these. I hated to sell the Ascents but I finally had a room that was too large for them and large enough for the Osiris.
I reinstalled my Manley 350's (running in triode) on the Osiris today. What an IMPROVEMENT! After looking at the Osiris threads on agon concerning the Osiris I was misinformed that they were a difficult load to drive. They are easier to drive than the Ascents (by one db).
The Manleys are driving them with much greater authority than the powewrhouse Levinsons. I have the same consideration as you about the heat generated by tube amps.
I spoke with Lucien at Avalon yesterday about amps for the Osiris and he told me he heard them driven by the Audio Note Ongaku (I think a twenty something watt SET). He recommended Spectral or Rowland if I decided on SS. I heard them at the show in NYC in 96 and to this day it is the best system I ever heard. I am financially drained after the speaker purchase and will wait and listen to as much as I can for at least a year before trying something.
I am trying to put my last system together so I can get off this very expensive merry go round. I know the Spectral gear is remarkable with the MIT cabling on Avalon speakers (96 show). I want to try to go in a different direction for now though. I can't afford to do a whole Spectral system in one shot and since you must do that I'm out for now. Two pair of MIT 850 EVO shotgun speaker cables (one bi-wire and one tri-wire)came with the speaker purchase and evidently they work best with Spectral gear because they were awful with the Levinson amp. I should have kept them just in case I decided to go Spectral down the road. I have already sold the tri-wire pair for a song. I may in the future put two sets of electronics together one Spectral (summertime setup) and a tubed setup for winter. I think part of the reason people are constantly changing gear is that no matter how good the system is their ears crave variety. That is why two superb systems with different sounds may be a good solution. I hear the Dartzeel splits the balance between SS and tubes better than anything else. The Spectral are very liquid sounding for SS and just do layering/soundstage
tricks that are jaw dropping. It sounds like you feel the Antilleon has the best of both worlds. I saw one for 10 grand on agon yesterday. I'm tapped out financially right now but there will be other opportunities. I would also like to hear the ASR Emitter. The CAT amps are an option for my last set of tubed amps. So much to do so little money. I am certain that I have found my last pair of speakers though. I loved my Asscents for 15 years the Osiris should hold me for at least thirty. Thanks for the advice and if you have any other thoughts I'd love to hear them. If you haven't heard the top of the line Stealth wires yet check them out, they are on a different level than anything else I have heard.
Bart
I reinstalled my Manley 350's (running in triode) on the Osiris today. What an IMPROVEMENT! After looking at the Osiris threads on agon concerning the Osiris I was misinformed that they were a difficult load to drive. They are easier to drive than the Ascents (by one db).
The Manleys are driving them with much greater authority than the powewrhouse Levinsons. I have the same consideration as you about the heat generated by tube amps.
I spoke with Lucien at Avalon yesterday about amps for the Osiris and he told me he heard them driven by the Audio Note Ongaku (I think a twenty something watt SET). He recommended Spectral or Rowland if I decided on SS. I heard them at the show in NYC in 96 and to this day it is the best system I ever heard. I am financially drained after the speaker purchase and will wait and listen to as much as I can for at least a year before trying something.
I am trying to put my last system together so I can get off this very expensive merry go round. I know the Spectral gear is remarkable with the MIT cabling on Avalon speakers (96 show). I want to try to go in a different direction for now though. I can't afford to do a whole Spectral system in one shot and since you must do that I'm out for now. Two pair of MIT 850 EVO shotgun speaker cables (one bi-wire and one tri-wire)came with the speaker purchase and evidently they work best with Spectral gear because they were awful with the Levinson amp. I should have kept them just in case I decided to go Spectral down the road. I have already sold the tri-wire pair for a song. I may in the future put two sets of electronics together one Spectral (summertime setup) and a tubed setup for winter. I think part of the reason people are constantly changing gear is that no matter how good the system is their ears crave variety. That is why two superb systems with different sounds may be a good solution. I hear the Dartzeel splits the balance between SS and tubes better than anything else. The Spectral are very liquid sounding for SS and just do layering/soundstage
tricks that are jaw dropping. It sounds like you feel the Antilleon has the best of both worlds. I saw one for 10 grand on agon yesterday. I'm tapped out financially right now but there will be other opportunities. I would also like to hear the ASR Emitter. The CAT amps are an option for my last set of tubed amps. So much to do so little money. I am certain that I have found my last pair of speakers though. I loved my Asscents for 15 years the Osiris should hold me for at least thirty. Thanks for the advice and if you have any other thoughts I'd love to hear them. If you haven't heard the top of the line Stealth wires yet check them out, they are on a different level than anything else I have heard.
Bart