Anyone Familiar with Consonance Cyber 800 SE amplifiers? I've just read some very impressive reviews, and some are available at my price point. |
Rrog,
While what you noted, adding a tube preamp to a solid state power amp is more common, I've heard some exceptional systems set up the reverse way. Those tended to be more expensive than I can afford, but there has to be good options for me. |
Thanks for the recommendation, Meadowman, I will add the Snappers to the list of options.
JC |
Rrog,
Combined pre and amplifier costs were in the $6-7k range of the two systems I heard. Also, several people reported wonderful results with good solid state preamps and Cary power amps. |
Michae,
My speakers are the Silverline 17.5. This is a nearfield system in a small room. |
I am a very great admirer of your wonderful products, and my first choice was to go with a used pair of M-60's, or even an S-30, my budget simply would not also support one of your preamps.
I then originally purcased the Meridian, since it was balanced, with that in mind, and buying a used Atmasphere power amp. However, I have since been told that your amplifiers only perform optimally when linked with one of the preamps of your own design, unfortunately. |
My Subject title was somehow lost when I posted my last reply. Sorry. |
The more that I think about it, and given a great deal of input from audio aficianados here, and elsewhere, my speakers would almost certainly be driven better by 60wpc than 30. Which means the M60 MKII.3 are clearly my best option. And, having given this a tremendous amount of thought, that is what I want, heat be damned.
The issue now, is that I've seen these on Audiogon no more than a couple times in the past few years. They were only made from October 2003, until December 2005. And I really just don't like the look of the newer, wide chassis.
Sadly, this makes it almost certain that I will have to make a secondary choice of amplifiers to purchase. And I really, really, want an Atma-sphere. Based on that, I can hold out for, say, six months, but after that, well, I will have to make a hard choice and actually buy something. |
Thanks to everyone for all of your thoughts thus far.
Al said "I could not find an impedance curve for the 17.5's, but if you or someone else could locate and provide a link to one I think it would definitely help to focus the recommendations you will receive."
I also could not find an impedance curve for the 17.5's but the specs are as follows:
Silverline 17.5
Specifications
Design (Bass Reflex): 2 way
Drivers: (carefully made for Silverline by Dynaudio*)
One Dynaudio Esotec D260 1.25" soft dome tweeter
One Dynaudio Esotec 17WLQ vented double magnet
long throw 7" mid/woofer
Frequency Response: 32 - 32,000 Hz
Sensitivity (2.8V/1m): 90 dB/1W/1m
Max. Transient Output: 127 dB
Nominal Impedance: 8 ohms
Crossover Frequency: 3,000 Hz
Recommended Power: 15 - 300 WRMS
Dimension (H x W x D): 14" x 8'5" x 15"
Shipping Weight: 90 lbs.(pair)
Speaker Connections: Bi-wire |
I'm now leaning towards an Atma-Sphere S-30 as perhaps my best choice. However, this choice may be problematic.
What finally sold me was a lot of additional research and uncovering something I had never known, and which is very unique. According to what I've read, all of the Atma-Sphere power amps have equivalent sound quality (assuming they are the current version, or upgraded to it) the difference is simply in power. Having heard some of their top amps, granted it was a few years back, that has me convinced this is the right way to go.
As for why the S-30 specifically? , Well, the M60's would drive my very small listening to temperatures that would make it impossible to use them almost half the year. Trust me, I had a friend who owned those in Chicago, and his room was larger than mine and still became very hot during extended listening sessions and were unusable in the summer.
And now to the problematic aspect of this. I don't know how many S-30's have been sold, but my guess is that it is not a terribly large number. I base that on the fact that they show up for sale so seldom here on Audiogon. Of course, their owners may be so happy that no one ever sells one? Honestly,though, I don't recall ever seeing more than one or two of these appearing for sale here in an average year. You see far more M60's and MA-1's, etc. And to complicate matters further, I would only want one of the older style Mk II's that are long, front to back, as opposed to the newer wide style models (I just really don't care for the appearance of the newer models). I would then send the unit off to Atma-Sphere to be upgraded to 3.1, all of which my budget can accomodate.
And to top it all off, last week, just moments before I was considering purchasing it and just risking that it would work well with my preamp (which Ralph has answered), someone closed a deal to buy one in mint condition for a very good price here on Audiogon.
So, in the end, please keep any recommendations or advice coming. While I can get by for say, a few months, I cannot honestly wait six months, or even a year for another S-30 MKII in great condition to pop up for sale, and may be forced to go in a different direction simply due to that reason. Things are never simple in the audio world. |
Ralph, is the S-30 equal in sound quality to the M60's? I read something a while back that stated that, other than the wattage differences, all Atmasphere power amplifiers had the same sound quality.
Just wondering as I wait for either the M60's MkII.3, or an S-30 MK.II to show up for sale. I would then plan to send the unit(s) to you to upgrade to 3.1 status. |
After some further research, I seem to find myself back at square one. As noted in previous posts, I had more or less made up my mind to go with one of the rare pairs of the longer style Atma-Sphere M60's when they appeared used on Audiogon(or elsewhere). The big concern was how long that wait would be. I can be patient for a while, but not forever, as I have a preamp sitting in its box unable to be used.
Earlier this week, I had an unplanned business trip to Chicago materialize. Since I was to be there over two nights, I contacted an old friend I had not seen in some years who then owned a pair of M60's. It turned out that he still owned them, and had upgraded them to 3.1 status. This gave me a recent opportunity to listen to them, as a reference point. I must say that I loved the sonic qualities of the amps. To me, they did not truly sound like other tube amplifiers (and I have heard a lot)or like solid state, simply like pure music. I was also amazed by how well each instrument and vocal was reproduced, and by the depth, and quality of bass reproduction. My friend is associated with a large group of Chicago area audio enthusiasts, and one of them that he contacted even brought his pair of Silverline 17's (virtually the same as my 17.5's) so that I could hear the amplifiers with them (THANKS Fred!)
And now, on to the unfortunate part. My friends system is in a room approximately 11x15. After perhaps two hours of listening, it had become very warm. And this was on a day when his home thermostat was off due to the 59 degree outside temps. His thermostat was at 65 orior to our listening session. My listening room at home is a mere 10x10. I am certain the heat put out by the M60's would make them imposible to use except during the winter months. No air conditioner could cope with it, Im afraid. We did try Ralph's recommendation, and we removed four of the power tubes of the M60's to see what difference that made. While the heat output dropped noticeably, the Silverline 17's sounded much less optimal with the decrease to 30wpc. They really seemed to benefit from the full 60wpc. The Dynaudio drivers, I expect.
Give the above, and my room size, I think I am now forced to go back and look at other options due solely to my room size limitations.
Ralph, if you happen to be continuing to read this discussion, your M60's truly sounded superlative. The ONLY thing keeping me from picking up a used pair and likely being happy with them forever, is the small size of my listening room, and the heat issue. |
