Tim,
Talk with Downunder (lots of posts in AGon and very knowledgable). He owns Strads and uses CJ Premier 8s which he had CJ overhaul 12+ months ago with Teflon capacitors used in their current ref series. and and ART III. I have Strads and use Gryphon Antileon SS and CJ Act 2. I am tempted to go balanced with ARC Ref 5 (CJ is SE only).
What i found in this combo was a tremendous power and depth of sound (and quickness of bass) along with the lifelike pitch and tone i always seek in my music. I've heard the Strads (Annis, and nearly the rest of the entire SF family back thru 1993)...and found that SS amp and Tube pre was a nice combo (to my ear). I used to own tube SS (CJ) and CJ pre...and moved to SS amp Gryphon about 2 yrs ago. hope that helps. enjoy and please update! |
Hi Tim,
good luck! sounds like you have 2 very good options there. Plinius has a great reputation, and i have heard very, very good things about the 845 tube when properly matched. Look forward to your post when you've settled in and compared them. enjoy! |
sounds like a winner! very nice. Congrats. Cannot comment on either CD player unfortunately. look forward to your next post. |
Congrats!!! Nice rig!!!
How does the Palladio compare to the regular Amati (if u can, feel free to compare to any of the 3...i am familiar with all of them).
Your experience does not surprise me...imho, the Homage series sound great with mid-powered tubes...but react exceptionally well to high current amplification PROVIDING the 'voice' is not hard or overtly forceful which the Sims are not.
Enjoy!!!!! |
|
That is really, really great to hear Chatnoirmeow. Enjoy! sounds like you've considered your options very very carefully and made some very good decisions in the enjoy. I know a little bit about Class A, having lived with it for several years now, and i realized all my fav SS amps (Forte 4, older Krell, reference Boulders to a lesser extent, and of course Gryphon)...all run Class A. and i used to run mine with SF speakers at one point as well. So very much can appreciate the kind of sound (or rather the music! ;) ) that you must enjoying! Nice one! |
Totally agree with CNoirMs comments about bass. I have owned SF G's and Strads...and i have heard the Amati original, second and anniversario as well. Probably the most successful implementation of deep bass of the 3 Amatis. |
Hi CNoirM,
I have used Transparent REference cables with SF for many years. I also know a number of people use Nordost successfully and could believe it, depending on your tastes.
Some people love encouraging the midrange magic thru the use of midpowered tubes and organic cables. The SF, imho, is clean enough to do that without getting too 'honeyed'. OTOH, others will use SS and Nordost to 'liven' up the sound...but the richness of SF remains organic under these circumstances too, and the liveness/quickness can equally be exciting. I do like SF!
I have heard the Futuras...they are a bigger change from the Amati Anniversario, than the Anniversario was from the original imho. In particular, the Futura maintained the special midrange, tonality of the SF voice...but the signal is now very, very clean across the spectrum and the bass seems more damped...much more damped. I like it, though not all do.
Based in Europe and now running Zanden, CJ, Gryphon (all second hand) with Wilson X1/Grand Slamms I managed to get thru trade-in. I got the 'voice' i like from Zanden, a natural, low noise floor attenuation thru CJ and an effortless amplification thru Gryphon...and Wilson just delivered the original voice of the Zanden. It is a formula that works for me after many years of learning. and still learning! Enjoy your great system!!!!!!!!!!!!!! |
Hi Twilo,
Yes, i have compared the two and owned the SF Strad. The depth of soundstage and bass capability of the Strad is greater than the Amati apples to apples...however, there are several factors one needs to be careful of with the Strads. They require a lot of control to get the bass response smooth and taut...the impedance dips to around 2.7 as i recall during certain lower elements of the range.
I found the Strad retrained the beautiful voice of the SF/Franco Serblin heritage that is the hallmark of this work, and was particularly beautiful (imho) in the Guarneri (which i also owned).
The Amati original was strangely 'tipped up' in the high treble...we compared G to Strad to Amati and there were very specific tracks where the Amati was bringinforwar forward high-frequency information that was more in the background in all other speakers in the room. The bass also could be excellent or faint...lots of factors there.
The Anniversario seemed to ameliorate both issues.
The Strad went beyond the Anniversario in bass, depth and richness of the overall breadth of soundstage and effortless capability. However, many also found the bass difficult to control and keep damped. So while midrange tubes sounded great with them...i eventually found SS Class A worked best (Gryphon).
I loved the Strad and knew at the time of only 2 speakers i would ever 'trade' for the mighty Strads. One of them came my way, the Wilson X1/Grand Slamm, and i took it and have not looked back.
Nevertheless, the Strad is an all-time great in my book. The Amatis equally are an amazing speaker, and with the right amps/electronics will fill most any room with beautiful, rich sonorous music.
all one man's experience. feel free to follow up with any specific questions. hope that is somewhat helpful. |
Hi Tim,
Happy to help if i can. You have a very, very nice system and i can imagine it sounds great. A few questions:
1. why do u think you've got mains pollution? inconsistent sound depending on time of day? or just a general grain that you sense in your system?
2. To find the right upgrade path...the next question is...where would you like to have the sound be 'better'?
- even lower grain?
- greater dynamics?
- more 'magical midrange'?
- greater detail/decay?
|
CNMeow,
I've gone back to read up on the Plinius pre and amp you have. Two suggestions to explore based on my own experience:
1. You could look into Nordost Thor which was spectacular and not crazy expensive. i would NOT use your Pass SA103 with it! Just your CD, source. The amp is far too powerful and it will blow.
Specifically, the Nordost lowers the noise, grunge level; it also makes the individual musical lines within, say, an orchestral piece both more delineated...but also better integrated. In other words, rather than a blur of musical lines...you will start to hear individual musical lines that ALSO have a clear interplay with the other musical lines. Dynamics changes only in that noise floor is lower.
2. If you are looking for a wholesale step up in midrange clarity but retaining your Plinius apparent beauty, and also improve soundtage and dynamics...i would say consider preamp upgrade. Lyra Connoisseur, ARC Ref 5, CJ ET5 perhaps.
Why? I have not heard your Plinius myself...i just know that i have begun to understand why some say the preamp is the heart of the system. Moreimportant than i first realized. i noticed going from CJ PC14L to ACT2...but fully appreciated when hearing GAT. Stunning increase in midrange, treble, extension, dynamics. and with your amp...you'll be able to push what ever signal comes thru effortlessly thru to some amazing transducers.
my two cents. |
