Integrated amp for Wilson Audio Cub 2's

Bought a pair of used Wilson Audio Cub of a trader without listening to them. These will replace my Audiovector K3 speaker. The room that I use is 310cm x 400cm. Paid $ 1,400 question is whether it would be better to buy a new pair of bookshelf speakers? Of course you should listen before purchase but it is 100mil then you have no choice.

What amp did you chose? Brandosoman23

"07-27-13: Jimmy2615
You may want to try some great integrateds from the same time period as the Cubs, such as the YBA Passion or Rowland Concentra (if you can find them)."

The Rowland should be a very good choice. I have a Roland 112 and it sounds great with the Cubs. I forget the specs, but if the Concentra is the one with 150 watts/ch, then the amp portion is based on the 112. If it has 75 watts/ch, then I believe the amp section is the Model 2.

You may want to try some great integrateds from the same time period as the Cubs, such as the YBA Passion or Rowland Concentra (if you can find them).

If it was my choice, I would hold off and just get the amp you really want. After your first post, I had a look at your HK because I wasn't familiar with it. It looks like a really good product. There's no guarantee the Primaluna will be better than what you have now. If you can't do a demo, I wouldn't risk it.

What about a Primaluna Dialogue Premium Integrated for now? Ultimately I would like to end up with the new Audio Research VSI75 integrated. What do you think?

Just to be clear, I didn't mean to imply it definitely would not work, just that I feel there is a real possibility it may not be a good match, and therefore would recommend an audition as mandatory before buying. The reason for this, is that when you are working with a speaker as sensitive as the Cub, its very easy to get gain related noise issues. I like ARC and have set up and owned many of their components. I find quite often, some of their entry level gear, is not the cleanest sounding. That's why I think the Ayre or BAT would be a better choice. Both of those companies make very quiet components. The only thing you will need to be careful of if you choose the Ayre, are your sources. Ayre doesn't feel that at the Ax-7's price point, they can build a good sounding amp and active preamp, even if they put in one box as an integrated. Instead, they give you an amp and a passive linestage. What that means for you is, without a traditional active line stage to act as a buffer between your source and your amp, a burden is placed on the quality of the output stage of your sources. For most people that don't have very efficient speakers like you, its usually not a noticeable issue. For you, however, it can be. You need to pick sources that have a quality analog output stage and don't have too much gain to be a problem. If you end up getting the Ayre, using matching Ayre components would be a great way to go.

If you go with the BAT mentioned above, you are less likely to have gain issues because that unit uses an active line stage. The downside is that its about 2x the cost.

Thank you very much for all your responses. To Zd542, why don't you think the Audio Research won't work very well? I have always liked the compliment of Audio Research and Wilson but I do admit I have never heard the Cubs on Audio Research. I have heard the Sophia 2's, the Sasha's and the Alexandria's and they all sounded very nice.

"06-30-13: Keithr
BAT 300xSE"

Another great choice. You should have no problem getting great sound from a 300x. It also has 3 different preamp options.

BAT 300xSE

Take a look at Coda Technologies...There are threads and other history of their gear...I own the CSI integrated..LOVE IT and drives my 4ohm Tyler Acoustic Woodmere II's

I have a pair myself. They aren't my main speakers but I do like them because they are a bit more forgiving than the speakers in my main system. A couple of things you have to be careful of with the Cub's is gain and how clean the components upstream are. You can get a lot of hissing/noise if you don't match your components right due to the fact that they are so sensitive. The Ayre is the best choice of the 3 you list. Its as clean and quiet as they come. The fact that it doesn't use an active line stage is a big plus. The ARC probably won't work very well for you. I would only consider it if you are able to try it in your system first. I have heard the Pathos, but I'm not sure. I don't know it as well as the other 2.

In case you are wondering, I use a VAC 30/30 on mine and I also took one of the Ayre V-5's out of my main system and tried it as well. They are both a great match. I do prefer the VAC, but its pretty close.

I heard the Wilson Cub 2's probably about 10 years ago. They were being driven by Ayre electronics and the source was a flagship Sony cdp. To this day the Cub 2 remains one of the fastest box speaker i've heard. It does have a "pro monitor" sound that I would try to tame. I would look for an amp with some warmth/texture and capable of creating a big 3D soundstage. Of the amps you mentioned the Pathos would be my first choice.