Best Pre-Amp/Amp for Focal JMLab electra 920


Hi everyone,

I am pretty new to Hi-Fi, and just bought a set of Focal JMLab electra 920, and kindly wish you could please give me some advices on geting a good amp to get the most out of it.

I mostly listen to classical music, sometimes a little bit rock and Jazz.

Thanks.
jaguarcondor

Showing 2 responses by saki70

I have not heard your specific speaker . I have owned the 906 and the 926 in the Electra line , newer models. My experiences with these were with midfi and highend SS components such as Rotel, Classe, Plinius, Musical Fidelity and McIntosh . I could not get these speakers to give me any life !
They sounded very good , doing all the correct things but without any 'heart' for lack of a better term . I have
found that 'my' tastes run in favor of tubes and would like to , again , try the JML's with tubes sometime .

Given 'my' preferences , I would suggest some nice inexpensive tubed integrateds . Two giant killers would be Cayin A-88T and Primaluna Prologue 2 . The Cayin is what I would term a traditional tube sound , warm mids and rolled off at the top and bottom . Very close to the Cary SLi-80 for less money . The Cayin has a remote and is switchable on the fly between triode and pentode . They are selling in the $1300 range used . The Prologue 2 is more in the modern day direction of tube amps that try to incorperate the advantages of SS and tubes . Not so warm in the mids with better extension and detail . The Prologue does not have a remote or the triode/pentode switchability but is self biasing . They can be had for under $1,000 used if you can find one . Both amps can tailor their sound by switching out various tubes .

Good luck and try to listen for yourself .
Price is not necessarily indicative of sound quality or , more importantly , synergy . You would do better to just state a dollar amount as some here may not know what your speakers originally sold for years ago .

Some of today's newer tube amp designs are trying to incorperate the plus's of SS with those of tubes . That is to say that they will not be rolled off at the extremes . My Primaluna Prologue 2 is one example . But , as Aball eluded to above , you may need more power than the 40 w. that they produce . Higher powered tube amps can get expensive .

Good luck .