Montana Speakers? Have they fizzled out?

Hi all. Jamesg quoted my response to him regardng the Montana SP IIs that I sold him. Let me reiterate and say that I did indeed regret selling my SP IIs as these were the most musical speakers I have ever heard; among them dynaudio
Contour 3.4, 1.8 mkII, medowlark kestral & osprey, soliloquy, vienna acoustics, triangle, etc. etc. etc. The defining attribute was (and still is in my opinion) a crystal clear, delicate and truly life-like sounding mid-range. Like Barry Willis wrote in his Stereophile review, "as though the performers were present in the room", at least a paraphrase of it. These speakers, while not forcefull at the lowest bottom octave, have a tight, controlled and body-felt thump, and the highs are smooth and liquid as I have ever heard. I must say that I am quite happy that I sold my SP IIs.....because if I had not I would have never obtained the SP IIIs, for which I got a killer deal in the most beautiful birdseye maple finish. In summary, I believe that I will grow old with these speakers since they provide my the essence of music and the reason why I am into hifi at all. I realize that much of this hobby is subjective likes and dislikes, but my advice is to build a system around the speakers, not the electronics. With the Montana SP IIIs my sytem has come into its own and I am happy as a clam.

Regards to all.

One more thing...I have bought and sold at least a dozen speakers on Audiogon. My experience is that used speakers sell for roughly half retail cost, specifically those in the 8/10-9/10 rating. I agree with Jamesg the larger/heavier model such as Montana EPX, Wilson, etc. can actually sell for less than half because of the shipping hassles with moving them. The recent pair of Montana SP IIIs I bought were nearly new (less than one year with 4 years still under warranty) and flawless in every way (better yet because I do not have to break them in). My cost for these were again less than half retail, but the sellser probably could have gottem more on the open used-market (I found them through word of mouth).

I have a pair of 1yr old KAS speaks. Now I bought these to crank up and not worry about anything(within reason). So far I've gone through 2- Parasound 5.1 amps now I'm on my second Aragon 3005. Everything is bi-wired, $5000. speaker cables and so on. But after almost a song same ol' stuff,Keep blowing fuses or tripping amp to shut off. Very ebarassing when showing off your system. I realize that I turn it up louder than the average bear, but I thought the amps mentioned could handle it. Any suggestions? I feel I need a monster pair of mono amps to get the most out of these guys. Let me know, Thanx. G

Inspex, I owned the KAS's for a long time and never had a problem but it sounds like you are certainly having one. The Aragon 3005 should drive it pretty well -- at least on paper. I'm interpreting your post as saying that your amp blows fuses or shuts down whenever you really turn it up.

Four quick questions: 1) Have you talked to your dealer about it? 2) Does it work well if it is not cranked up? 3) How cranked up is cranked up? 4) Does it blow immediately upon cranking it up or does it take awhile (btw, how hot is the amp when it blows)?

I really like to crank it up, the audiogon is ok for home theater only, but that is just me. I do like how the speakers sound. Any suggestions on amps. I'm looking into Peters line, Pass Labs x-600, Krell fcp 400. Are tubes the way to go? Is there a big difference in class A amps? Any input would be greatful. Thank you, Gregg