When I auditioned my Extremas I heard them on two amps. A ca 300 and a Sonic Frontiers equvilant tube amp. I found the tube amp a little mushy with the Extremas. There are of course a hundred other reasons why that may be but I am curios what kind of music you listen to.
I mostly listen to rock so I ended up with two ca 400 that I run with MIT push pull cables. You run two 2 channel amps and it uses an amp per speaker direction. The Extremas love all that power.
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And they sound wonderful as expected. I also tried all sort of solid state (Rowland 8TiHC, McCormack DNA-2 Deluxe, Classe CA-400, Krell FPB-300). You need to give Power 3 lots of current or your Power 3 can still clip when you push your Extrema loud. Another good choice is Pass Lab X-350 which is really smooth and sweet, almost as good as the Power 3 or any tube amp and that's what I own now. |
Now I'm thinking about Sonic Frontiers Power3 monos. With its power rating at 220 watts/ch, I think it should be able to handle Extremas well. Should it be a good match? How well SF tube amps do compare with other Hi-end tube amps like BAT, Cary, Jadis, Joule Electra, and VAC? Thanks for looking.
Ted |
i drive the extrema with levinson 23.5.
it's can be better sound. |
Thank you all for your responses.
Twilo... The 300B amp that my friend use to drive Extrema is KTA brand. It's a Push-Pull 300b amp not a Single-Ended. Before he got the 300b amp, he used the Jeff Rowland Model 5 to drive his Extremas. He told me that Extremas sound much better with 300b than JR5. He also said no matter how much power solid state amps have, no matter how good they sound, they still sound like solid state amp, not tube. I didn't mean tubes are better than SS but my taste tend toward the tube sound. That's why I want to try tube amp. |
I would think one VK-60 is inadequate. I drive mine with a pair of BEL 1001 amps in mono configuration, which works magic. In my experience, the Extremas need LOTS of power to get the pitch right in the bass range. Given your other equipment, I'd suggest the bigger BAT solid state amp (model 500?). |
I would say the VK-60 would work, but would recommend taking a listen to the BAT SS amps, which are exceptional and would probably better fit the impedance and current needs of the Extrema. |
I'll have to 2nd tireguy's opinion. I have one VK60 driving Wilson Watt 6's. Most everyone says this is a very difficult load. Impedance is 4 ohms and dips lower than that at certain freq's.
I'll take more one day, either a 2nd vk60 or the new vk75se, but it's been great for the last year. The VK60 can drive more than you think. |
Ted, i do not think one VK 60 will be able to power the Sonus Faber Extremas. The Extremas need lots of power. Are you serious, your friend said the Extremas sounded good with a 300B amp. Unless it was that high powered VAC
300 B Amp, i dont think any 300B amp would sound good with the Extremas. My friend is using 2 Meridian 557 Amps bridged on the Extremas. This combo sounds amazing. I would think, your Rowland 5 Amp would be a much better on the Extremas, then the VK 60. The VK 60 is an awesome tube amp. But i dont think it will have the power for the Extremas. |
I use a McCormack DNA-2 with the SMC Revision A.Fantastic sound. |
What's the driver configuration, sensitivity and impedence of your speakers? I am not famaliar with them. I run a VK-60 powering my Avalon Eclipse, which everyone says is a power hungery speaker with no problems. My speakers have a tweeter and a 9" mid woofer, impedence is 6 ohms and they are 86 or 87dB sensitivity no problems at all. Good luck |
I have run my Extremas with many different amps. A forte, a very small Musetex,and Dual Classe Ca 400's that I run with MIT Push Pull cables. I can tell you that they sounded very good with any of those amps. They like a lot of power and the more you have the better they sound but you can drive them with just about anything.
The reason they like the power is something to do with the crossover. I think it doesnt use compacitors but I could be wrong. |
