Clash of the Titans

Hi Albert,
I personally think you have to give the Atma-Spheres another shot. They are definately much better than the earlier ones Ralph sent you, besides that they are the most reliable amps I've ever owned. You can listen day after day and know they are going to work and sound great. What more could you ask for in an amp?
Rusty

I got an update on the VTLs, and alledgedly, their "togetherness" is questionable also, whatdayagonnado?

Albert, do you bi-amp your U-1's? You might have overlooked the Double Kronzilla SET monoblocks ($40.000 per pair)
A friend of mine is bi-amping his Martin Logan Prodigy with 2 pairs and I assume if they are heavy duty enough to drive those speakers, they will drive your SoundLab also. And according to him, nothing better for an ESL than a SET amp without negative feedback.
I might be the first person in Germany to set up such a system. I have ordered a pair of Soundlab A-1 to compare the bass against my ML Prodigy in my system in Florida. I have read everything what people say in respect of the bass, so I am very curious how the Soundlab will compete against the Prodigy. But should the A-1 only equal the Prodigy, then the U1-should be the better speaker and I will hook up a U-1 to two pairs of these Kronzilla amps for my German system.
You can read about the giants of SET: www.blackforestaudio.de and click their English website if you like.

Albertporter mentioned specific products in his thread. If sidetracking is allowed, I can follow up on Tekunda's post re: KR enterprises amps. I heard the Medea (see my previous post) driven by a pair of VT 800P (have I got model right?), 40W SET. By far the best sound of the lot WITH THOSE speakers and a CAT pre. Rest of system was same as above. The big "Kronzilla" are more powerful than the 800 it seems.

Didn't mention these amps as they were not on A-P's list -- but they have VERY impressive driving power and transient attack/dynamics. Not sure if bandwidth is restricted in the low end... Reliability is outstanding; the tubes boast s/thing like 20.000- 50.000 hours. No tube rolling though, these are proprietary tubes. Cheers!

Many ideas to consider here.

I just got a call from Mike Elliott to do advertising photography of the new Aria amps. 350 watt monos that are hybrid.

I know since they are Mike's design that the sound will be good. It will be interesting to see how they balance against all tube design.