Budget Amp for Avalon Eidolon

I personally know of one person who used to run his Eidolons with Atma-Sphere MA2 Mk2.3's. He sold the amps to me only because he had a modded Jadis preamp (single-ended only) that he did not want to part with. He kept his Joule-Electra Rites of Passage OTL's. The big Atma's can be had for $10-12K if you keep your eyes open.

Also, there is an individual here on Agon, Rushton, who uses the big Atma's to drive Eidolons. Maybe he will chime in on this.

Bill

You have made an excellent speaker choice! I have heard Eidolons sound magical with BAT VK-150 SEs, which are not outrageuosly expensive. Of course the likelihood of finding those used is not great, but their new price of around $15k is not outrageous by high end standards.

Obviously, the Avalon Eidolon is much too good a speaker to use with a "budget" amp. The better the amp, the better the Eidolon sound - - - however - - - there are a number of very good amps that may be purchased for under your $10,000 figure.

I sold a pair of Eidolons just over a year ago, and have regretted the sale ever since. I owned the Eidolons for almost 5 years and tried them with a number of "very good" amps.

You may recall that Keith Johnson (yes "that" Keith Johnson) had a hand in the design of the Eidolon speakers and is also the designer of the Spectral amplifiers. You might say that Eidolon speakers and Spectral amplifiers are made for each other - - and - - if you have ever heard them, you might say that they are a match made in Heaven.

The Spectral DMA-250 is the latest design from that firm and sells new for about $8500. This amp is unbelievably perfect for the Eidolon speakers. The problem with Spectral is that most of their amps require the use of a Spectral Pre Amp and dedicated MIT cables. This is not a problem sonically, because these component parts add to the wonder of the sound, but it certainly adds to the financial commitment.

Spectral, however, does offer amplifiers that work with other preamps and cabling. I've just not heard those amps. I own the DMA 250.

The Eidolon speakers are incredibly refined in their presentation and the Spectral amps allow the speakers to perform at their very best. If you have ever heard the term "holographic" applied to speakers, the Eidolon/Spectral combination will take the term to a new level. The sound will wrap around you and hug you.

I'm sure that the amps listed in the previous posts are excellent choices for the Eidolons because they are "good" amps. You just need to listen before you buy. There are also lots of other "great" amps that may be had at your price point.

I've actually heard the ARC VT-100 amp used very successfully with the Eidolons, as well as the VT-200. You actually may have just what you need already. You might find that you need more power, but you can evaluate the sound with the your 100 watts, and go from there. In my own situation, I preferred solid state on the Eidolons but tubes also sound wonderful.

I used Mark Levinson and Krell equipment for extended periods with the Eidolons and found the Spectral to be far superior. The Levinson and Krell amps just didn't match up well with the Eidolons. They lacked the refinement, speed and finesse that the Eidolons need to sound at their best.

I tried a Rowland amp (good), Classe (the Omega amp - great, but Spectral sounded better). I also tried a pair of Accuphase monoblocs that sounded wonderful but I couldn't afford them.

All in all, the Eidolons can provide astonishing sound within an incredible soundstage but the choice of a synergistic amplifier is critical to the overall sound of the speakers. It is hard to make the Eidolons sound bad but with a little work, you can make them sound fantastic.

Awhile back a friend and I compared Spectral vs ARC on the Eidolon (old version, not vision or diamond). No comparison: the Spectral just blew away the ARC. I use strictly solid state gear on my Avalon Radians( which in my opinion is a better speaker than the original Eidolon, particularly if you like chamber music like I do). I use the Spectral DMC 30SL with the DMA 180. mk1 version with the Spectral 2000/3000 DAC and player. Unbelievable separation of the players in a string quartet with unbelievable lack of blur unlike tube amps. Of course this is not a warm unnatural sound like tubes, but a true vibrant, edgy sound, like a good string quartet should sound like. The Emersons' version of the late Schubert quartets with this setup has yet to be equaled, nobody has come close, particularly tubes, just stay away from that syrupy sound with at least non OTL tube amps.

Hi Bill, I did chime in about Atma-Sphere amps with the Eidolons on Eavr11's first thread "down to earth amp for Avalon Eidolon." Thanks for thinking of me.

FWIW, I've listened to Eidolons with a variety of amps in other people's systems over the years. For my listening priorities (and I listen primarily to classical music, jazz and acoustic blues), none of the solid state amps combined with the Eidolons make music that is as involving and as true to the timbre of acoustic instruments as are good tube amps. And none of the tube amps I've heard are as articulate, resolving and neutral (with absolute authority at the lower frequency range of the speaker) as the Atma-Sphere MA-2s. (And, yes, I've heard various Spectral amps matched with these speakers several times, in all Spectral systems and with MIT cable. No offense intended, it's simply not the direction I would chose to go given my listening priorities.)

Of the large tube amps that I think would be a good match, my first preference would be Atma-Sphere MA-2 or MA-1 (no surprise there), followed by Joule Electra, Wolcott and BAT 150SE. All of these are available from time-to-time on the used market at prices that are more "down to earth" but certainly not "budget" category.

Eavr11, you've acquired a marleous speaker with the Eidolon. I hope you will enjoy it!
.