Best power amp for Avalon Opus Ceramique


Trying to downsize my system to a speaker/power-amp/ cd-player set-up (with digital volume control e.g. Wadia 581, Audio Aero Prestige or EMM Labs).
Which power amp (ss or tube) in the range 5k-10k is recommended to use with Avalon ?
Will ICE powerd amps like BelCanto, JRDG or NuForce work as well ?
frankpiet

Showing 10 responses by frankpiet

Jond: nevertheless -thanks for the hint. I just talked to a Kharma dealer and he strongly believes that the Khrama Matrix amps will be one of the top five matches with the Avalon Opus Ceramique regardless of price.

I´m considering as well Lamm and Convergent amps. The Pass X 350.5 failed against my Ayre V-1xe in a two hours listening session this morning (not so liquid, transparent and detailed as the Ayre). Soundstageing was better with the Ayre as well. Pass was more about macro dynamics and base line. Furthermore - this beast is damn heavy.

Had the NuForce 9.02 here as well - not my piece of cake - to lush (warm sounding). Can´t comment on its sibling the Ref. 9 SE -and to be honest: I much preferred the JRDG 501. Probably I was biased because of its awesome looks and the superlative build quality. Handling was easier as well as the rear is not as tiny as the NuForce ones.

From these bunch of amps I still strongly lean toward my Ayre V-1xe.
Sphere: you are absolutely right. The longer I listen the more I have to agree (whereas I must say that I swapped my Nagra PL-L with a friends Ayre K-1xe which seems to suite the Avalons better than my PL-L). But as I have placed an order for Boulder 865 integrated I wonder if this was the right decision...-although I know that Boulder builds the best sounding SS gear (especially the series 2000 components). The all Ayre gear is very synergystic. Strangely I like the Cardas Golden Reference inbetween the Ayre gear more than the much more expensive Indra.
Heard great things about Lamm too.. Steve from GNSC highly recommends CAT or DartZell with Avalon and thinks Ayre is a great match as well.
At trade shows in Germany you always see them paired with Pass or Hovland amplification - sometimes at dealers show rooms with Ayre or Boulder but never ever with class D amps.
Mikefi: your thoughts about Active Audio are absolutely right. They combine the brands (Ayre, Hovland, Pass, Transparent and Avalon) in their show-room set-ups. The sound in most cases is very good -although the very expensive (to expensive for me) combo Boulder 1010 + Boulder 1050 + TaraLabs Omega / Zero + Esoteric X0-1 Ltd. is far superior.
Nevertheless I once had a Pass X 2.5 pre and replaced it with an Ayre K-5xe which I found to be superior to the X 2.5.
I do not know the X 150.5 only the X 350.5 and find it a mighty fine product (its on my short-list) if I don´t decide to keep my excellent Ayre V-1xe. I believe Pass power amps are much better than their pre´s.
The Rowland 302 mentionned by Jfz is a mighty fine product but in Germany rediciously expensive - around US $ 25.000,00.
Thanks for the comments. Regarding the Ayre V-1xe - I´m going to replace it soon with Boulder 850 mono amps (different league).
Regarding K-1xe (awful design - great sound but no contender to my nagra PL-L). I had a D-1xe on loan (grat sound but awful design and inferior to the new Audio Aero Capitole Reference SE with build in pre). The GNSC modded 861 is far better than D-1xe and offers build in pre as well.
Stillpoints are great !!
Vicdamone - thanks for your question. The V-1xe is going to a friend. The 850 are more detailed, more 3-dimensional and have much better bass control. Nevertheless: the V-1xe is a killer product in its own right. I like Ayre a lot and as far as I can say: Charles Hansen is a very honest person who builds the products with the best price-performance ratio I know.

Mu6: you should give audio aero a try. The new Capitole Reference SE rests among the very best cd-players on the planet - regardless of price. Nagra - own sound ??? NO, never ever. A bit weak in the base line: YES.
regarding class D amps: I found a combination which works with the Avalons(at least with my Opus Ceramique): Kharma Matrix 150. Tiny little boxes with a very very nice, neutral and highly detailed sound.
Awdeeofyle: I switched to an Ayre K-1xe + C-5xe system with Ayre V-1xe (much better than the Boulder entry level stuff). I use an Ayon Spark tube integrated as well. Both amps are driving new Ayon Hawks which I preferred over the Avalons as they are more live like on electronical music. If you solely listen to non artificial music the Avalons are the better choice.

I decided to swapp cables from Shunyata to Virtual Dynamics - huge improvement and a very good match with either Ayre and Ayon. The Spark integrated will be replaced with the forthcoming Ayon Sunfire triode integrated which is to be said much better than any other integrated currently available. Release will be in mai 2007.