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On second thought, are you the owner of the Graafs mentioned in another recent thread? If so, why not keep those for the Guarneri & spare yourself the trouble (& the money) of change? If not, do consider them, as well as Tenor (75 should do), Jadis (80 upwards) OR -- ss -- YBA passion (stereo is OK), S-Line Kraft 250 (stereo, one of the most enjoyable matches). BUT you'd have to consider eschewing the balanced connection...
Many other choices are sure to surface: I'm just relating my limited experience with your speakers (later model). Cheers |
My Guarneri's are from 2001, and I'm not the owner of the Graafs.
Monoblocks, because my speakercables (Kharma Grand Ref) are only 1 meter long.....
Do you feel the LAMM M1.1 blocks are overkill for these speakers ? |
I've used three different monoblocks on my Guarneri's. The first was a pair of Bryston 7B ST's, which were a bit dry with the Guarneir's and definitely overkill in the power dept. I then switched to Aronov 9100 monoblocks with KT99 output tubes (about 130 watts), and these kept me VERY happy for a couple of years. The Aronov's had very good control of the bass, a reasonably tubey midrange, and nicely extended highs. Then came the CJ Premier 8 in XS configuration (about 120 watts per side of EL-34 triode power). Night and day. By far the best sound I've gotten out of the G's, with a much more realistic, palpable image, awesome transient attack and decay, etc, etc. CJ monoblocks are a good match with the G's, but they don't do balanced (I use custom terminated AQ cables with XLR's on the preamp end and RCA's to the amps), and they have one set of binding posts. However, my speaker cables are set up for internal biwiring, so no a problem. Another option is to have a set of jumpers made out of the same high quality speaker cables and ditch the pretty but sonically crappy SF jumpers. This works well also |
Peter -- no, I don't think the 1.1's are overkill. I find the G's very seductive speakers, possibly the best SF has produced (within the Gs' frequency response range) -- but also difficult to drive to "perfection", i.e. to get the last ounce of their capabilities out of them.
For example, the ss choices I refer to above are all apparent overkill (esp. for the physical size of the speakers).
These are the result of a "tournament" we conducted with a friend (owner of the G's, also 2001 pair). We were trying out amps (such, as were made available to us AND he could afford/payment terms were acceptable), looking for a SS that could approach/emulate the musicality AND the perceived accuracy of a loaned CAT combo (tube) we used as "reference". We listened exclusively to symphonic music, lieder, and some opera. |
the mac 602 drives sf's effortlessly and hits some bass notes that your not going to here with a lot of highend monoblocks...smooth tubelike midrange too. |
jrd@direcway.com for some reason your statement, "the mac 602 drives sf's effortlessly..." is pretty funny to me. I mean, the McIntosh 602 is 600 watts per channel. Do you REALLY think they would drive the Guarneri's effortlessly? :)
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How would the 602 do with the Guarneri's? I have a pair on the way frm Italy now, and have a 602 amp with a Mcintosh Tube pre (2200) - Im using a Sony SCD-1 for playback. Will the 602 be OK with the G's? I CAN NOT change amps, so I am stuck with the Mcintosh 602. Its an awesome amp, but I just hope its OK with the Guarneris....Right now its powering some Signums, and they ar eincredible with this amp. |
Videoman, since you like the 602 sound, don't worry. They're big enough to drive the Gs easily, as well as powering the washing machine and the lawn mower at the same time :). |
You may consider vertically biamping with a pair of quality ss amps. I've been using a pair of Blue Circle BC-28 hybrids to drive Meadowlark Blue Herons (not a particularly difficult load) with noticeably more powerful and articulate bass. I've biwired with other system iterations and never perceived much or any benefit. The BC-28s are single ended, but the BC-22 and BC-26 are ss and balanced topology (FWIW, Mr Yeung has said the BC-26 is far better than the BC-22). There's a biamping primer on the Audio Asylum "Audio FAQs" link, which covers the basics (clearly biased toward horizontal biamping w/electronic crossovers which are NOT used with vertical biamping. The author also states that vertical biamping extracts a greater benefit from amps with a single toroid rather than true dual mono designs, but read for yourself). The Cary Audio website also has an article on vertical biamping emphasizing benefits specific to their amp designs, but another useful primer. I'm not an engineer or an authority by extensive practical experience. Hopefully, others will comment on and make any corrections to what I've written. I do know that, for me, this option has been positive. |
Thanks, I was just worried that the 602 would be too powerful for the G's! I should have the speakers by Friday, Monday the latest.
Thanks |
