Fritz carbon 7SE MK 2, Upgrade

To @robshaw have you tried other amplifiers in addition to the ATI 6002 amplifier with your Fritz speakers?

I’ve owned an ATI designed amp with 200wpc for many years, and used with with my home theater and tried it with my audio speakers. For some reason it sounded overly neutral, lacked some body imo, great for movie dialogue, and everything you’d expect for movies. When I tried it with my two-channel audio system I never could seem to be engaged with the sound as compared to my other Class A solid state or mono tube amps, fwiw.  Just curious if you’ve tried other amps with your Fritz by chance, fwiw.  

To @robshaw you can reach me over on DIYAudio or AK without violating anything here or private email addresses.  I'd prefer to share more offline about other amps all using the same slot modules (all made at the same OEM), with one assembly line right beside the next., and with slight tweaks each different branding on amps. Also, you can read up on what I'm referring to.  Btw, I live near Coda, Pass, 15 minutes away, and grew up with all of that.  I run an older Pass (Threshold / Forte' Audio) variant upgraded by Jon Soderberg with the older Toshiba Mosfets, in pure Class A 50/80 watts. It sounds glorious golden sound compared to my super clean HT amps btw :) You probably already know this from your X250.8, i suspect. See you on the other forums.   

@robshaw while its a larger room, are you able to setup a close listening position in your big room, and bring the Fritz speakers there to try with your Pass X250.8 amp?  It’s not an ideal test, yet another way to start to get ideas about other amps. 

Listen for tone and see if you can hear something different from your ATI amp.  Be sure to use the same interconnects and speaker cables you’re using now with your ATI amp.  Hey, that ATI 6002 is no slouch, and it’s just one person’s opinion, yet I place it in the super-neutral camp. Some crave this type of sound, I don’t. It’s all preference.  You can put five people in a room, and they all like something different, some times.  Trust your ears, that’s what most important.  

Trying the Fritz over with you X250.8 might be easier than carrying the 250.8 amp back and forth, ???.  Just a thought for a quick test to try.  It will be interesting to hear the difference with your Fritz with the Pass amp. The better test is to carry over that Pass 250.8 and try it in the same room where your Fritz speakers are now, but that might not be an option for you - understandable if that’s the case.. It will be interesting if you can try either of these options to try and test. Have fun! 

@robshaw ...I may try today to move the Pass into the room that is smaller, that houses my fritz speakers. That would be the best comparison test. ... 

Yep, and you'll know more [relatively quickly] once the 250.8 amp gets fully warmed and you play a few of your favorite test tracks on the Fritz speakers. 

@robshaw good for you!, and if I may say, your wife is quite the trooper to help you move your 100lb Pass Labs X250.8 amplifier back and forth for a test to prove your Fritz speakers are good!  Seems she just saved you from buying another pair of speakers unnecessarily, and you don’t have to "hate" the subject title of this thread any more .  It’s great to read you actually did the swap-test without wasting any more time wondering, and found out first hand, quickly. Great job. 

Now let the amp suggestions run wild! 

@robshaw "Now to find the amp of my dreams. So far CODA is #1,   willl see    tks again".

Sure thing.  You mentioned the #8 V1 and 5.5 both.As you read more and ask private non-dealer owners of both, you might find out a bit more about the signature of each amp. It would be interesting if you try both amps with your 8ohm 88db Fritz speakers.

While not as easy to do, it might also help if you share more about the room itself, it's it hard floors/walls, or damped with carpeting and objects around etc.  If I wanted more weighty sound and needed that, I'd likely lean to the #8 V1. If I was more in to low level critical listening and did not care about extra body, I might go for the 5.5. These amps do sound different from each other if you read up more.   

Note: I use those same woofers in custom speakers I've built that Fritz uses in your speakers. Paired those with soft and metal dome tweeters too.  If I needed more power and wanted to fill the room with sound pressure, I'd possibly opt for the #8. If was more into low-level critical listening and did not need a ton of extra current/weight and body to the sound, I might opt for the 5.5. You can call Doug at Coda and I wonder if he might steer you to the 5.5 amp since its the latest.

I like both of those amps for different reasons. Came close to trying both last year and ended up going a different direction with a Soderberg [ex Threshold] upgraded amp, true Class A 50w / 80w in 4 or 8ohm loads. This amp sound now makes me want to do the same and try two of them in mono form.   Do you do a lot of low-level or higher volume listening?  What is the listening room like, walls/floors? 

@robshaw wile I’ve not owned either, and have studied your final two, there is another small yet mentionable factor to consider I’d think. Service, Repairs, where you live, and what’s around you for any reason you ever need to have them checked, re-biased, and while that’s not an issue usually - its not the first time these amps get sent back in (shipping cost two ways) and checked or repaired own down the road. They are built to last and that’s a good thing.  

If you like to consider weight and current specs, maybe other things to ponder, and can validate this. I had to re-check a few times on the MC312 to confirm it.  Also look at physical size too. Bottom line, you are the one that has to look at either. What inspires you more in how it looks [to you], big meters, in your room with your Fritz?  Personally I think you’d be happy with either.  Now splitting hairs a bit more.  

The MC312 is 105 lbs weight unboxed, with 60 amps of current.  [re-check this]

The Coda #8 is 62 lbs with 75amps of current. [re-check this]

Either will drive your Fritz fine [with grunt] and provide the extra body/weight you are looking for. You might even find you’ll mess with IC cables a bit too if one or the other amp is a bit too meaty in the lower/mid bass range. With wood floors in your room, hard to say.  Make sure you can return either amp if you don’t like it for any reason. It’s worth ensuring you get an amp you’ll feel keeping long term and not looking back. Some don’t care and rotate many more amps, maybe find one you’ll keep and enjoy! ;) 

To @robshaw I'm thinking the no. 8 V1 will be a nice match with the Fritz for you.  I use to play quite a bit with smaller high-end monitors paired with high current amps. Its lot of fun to show what smaller speakers can really do with the right amp.

As you might know already, your upstream source, streamer, DAC also will have a lot to do with this if you play a lot of digital content for Rock music, and particularly the older original recordings vs. newer and remastered stuff.  Maybe tune that later after you've run the Coda for a while. Yep, others will appreciate your journey here, and keeping the Fritz speakers to pair with other amps. It's the right move, imo.