Lamm, Cary and Parsifal Encore - what combo?

thanks for the responses. hovlands have a phono, which i dont need, and tend to run over 3K, which is actually OK, but if i dont need to spend the cash, would rather not. i think my finalists are:

lamm ll2
calypso
herron vtsp 1a/166

i did a little tube swapping, and then realized i really need/want more juice to drive my speakers, so i got some new amps, coming in a couple days. canary 160. also thought i'd try some silver cables. the stereovox sound like they are a little less lean than other silver cables, i could definitely use some transparency.

i did get the audiopoints and the svelt platform for between the woofer and top cabinet, and damn did that make a huge difference!

just thought i'd give an update on where i finally landed... i got a hovland hp100, up to current specs, and am using some finely matched, low noise mullard 12ax7 from andy at vintage tube svcs, and a cleartop rca for the 12au7 (not using the phono stage, so just got some cheapos in there). the hovland is sitting on some walker valid points, and i got some walker HDL for the speakers. everything is sounding AMAZING. i'm goin to be listening for a while, but i have a feeling i might be swapping in some 12ax7 that are a little more open on top, just hoping i can get a little more air without sacrificing the midrange that is just absolutely the best i've heard in my system. not bloated, not slow, so open, and still very palpable... really enjoying it!

hey john. yep, still running legend audio triodes. everything sounds great, but the amps are new, the preamp is new, and the speakers are relatively new, so i'm still settling into the sound. it's incredibly open, very 3 dimensional, great balance from top to bottom, good imaging which probably could be a ton better with some room treatments, and actually a nice tight bottom end, the top end maybe could be a little more open, definitely think mullards all throughout is not the way to go. i'm sort of curious to see what a higher powered amp could do, but i think i'm sitting with what i've got for a while. RE: the cabling... not sure i want to swap cables, i really love the PAD sound. would rather swap out some tubes... overall less expensive, at least imho.

what amp are you using john w/ your parsifals? the legend triodes are 42w/ch, which is fine for fairly high listening levels, but i definitely am missing some slam and authority on rock. i thought maybe somewhere i saw you were using nagra vpas.... are these 50w enough for you?

yo john. got some stereovox cables to replace my purist audio. i'll let u know how they fare. 600ii + LSP. if they don't work, i'll just sell them, hopefully wont take too much of a bath. :P

i hadn't thought of that. oh well. the sveltes are great.

hey all, just saw this. I LOVE the canary's!! they blew me away. powerful, without strain on the parsifals. wonderful tone throughout without sacrificing energy or life. in fact, that's their strong suit, they have a lot of life to them. they present things forward on the stage, which i love, and i think mates well w/ the parsifals which i feel are a bit too laid back for my liking. my previous amps ran out of steam, i think partly because of my room size. the canary's have a tight bottom end that's controlled for a tube amp.

midrange of course is to die for. detail is excellent. separation of instruments is excellent, i hear zero congestion. dynamics are good but not the strong suit. i have yet to hear a tube amp that has that balls to the wall dynamics, but i also think it's partly due to the speakers i choose (electrostats, dynamic, never tried horns). that said, the canary's have more jump and excitement than most tube amps i've heard. they sound like VTLs in that way, but are more transparent and have better detail retrieval than VTL's i've heard (ST150, ST85). my previous all time favorite amp was a VAC 70/70 mk3, which i loved to death... the canary's have that same magic, altho i wish i could listen to the two amps side by side to listen to their differences. my bet is that they are much more alike than they are different.

i'm now at the point where i really WANT to listen music. i look forward to it, which honestly it's been a while since i've had that feeling.