Power amp for Reference 3A speakers?

That is a fine speaker. Personally, I liked tubes with mine. I used several different tube amps ranging in power between 1.5-5 watt/channel SET tube amps to 30 watt/channel P-P tube amps. All produced plenty of volume in my smallish room, but the 1.5 watt unit was near max volume.

What is your budget for amplification?

Enjoy,

TIC

These are indeed nice speakers .

I have auditioned them with tube and SS amps . Because they were designed for tube amps , tubes naturally sounded better , during my auditions .

I have heard these with a 5w SET amp , it was not really enough power .

The best is highly subjective .

I would suggest that you look for something that is quite resolving with good extension on both ends and decent detail . These speakers will show you what is delivered from your upstream components . They are capable of delivering crisp , clean and airy highs while putting out bass that you can feel .

You did not list your musical preferences or a budget . If you are not clear on these subjects , I would suggest a Primaluna Prologue 2 tubed integrated amp . The Prologue 2 is inexspensive , will sound good and allow you to experiment with a myriad of tube types . Coupled with the Di Capo's , you will be able to easily differentiate between upstream components and different tube types allowing you to seek the sound that pleases you . If you are new to tubes , the Primaluna's are self/auto biasing making tube rolling much easier and hassle free .

Then go looking for an amp that will give you more of an area that the Prologue is lacking with a minimal change upstream . The Primaluna's should be quite easy to sell .

This is the path that I am taking now .

Good luck .

I drove my De Capos with Quicksilver Mini Mite Monos for several years. Sounded great. The Mini Mites can typically be found used for around $650/pr.

Not knowing your budget, I agree with Saki70's recommendation. By all accounts it is a fine amp and they tend to be easy to re-sell if you don't love it.

I hear jazz, classic and rock. My budget between 2000 and 3000 dollars. Thanks for your answears.

First find foam/felt surrounds for the tweeters as they tend to splash. Next bi-wire. Clear Day Solid Core Speaker Cable- silver shotgun. Finally get rigid stands and Herbies BFDs to couple

Check out Wyred4Sound smallest stereo amp, or a PS Audio amp modified by Cullen Circuits

There is a Pass labs Aleph 5 on the GON right now for 1400.00 and a Pass labs Aleph 3 for 1000.00 I would suggest either one with your De Cappo's
Also Antique Sound Labs 845 tube amp.

Our customers have always reported good results with the Ref 3As. They are very tube friendly- you won't have any trouble finding a good amp for them.

I had very good results with 8wpc 300B monos - a little more power might be best. Tubes rule.

I have a vtl 5.5 pre and a st 85 vtl amp, it replaced bryston .5 pre&4b amp .What a difference, lots of base, sweet highs and every thing in between.I bought the amp for $1000 used.

I'm using an Anthem Amp 1 (40 watts EL34 tubes) and Anthem Pre 2L. They sound great and I have lots of headroom on the power (I never get past 10 o'clock on my preamp volume. Good bass, great mids and highs.

I auditioned the Ref3a's a few years ago and they sounded great being powered by a Shindo amp and preamp. I don't recall which model's the Shindo were, but they were really good.

does anyone have an opinion about Rogue Audio Cronus driving Reference 3a DeCapos?

I had those monitors for years powered by a simply gorgeous LSA Statement integrated (hybrid tube pre- and ss output). Loved them.

You may want to ask @Rebbi for his advice. He had de Capos for years and tried a variety of amps with them.

I think you will love those speakers. I have had the Reference 3A Decapos for a couple of years. I tried them with a Pass 30.5 and it was a little flat. A friend of mine in the industry recommended tube amplifiers with the Decapos' so having no mind of my own, I went out and bought a pair of audio note push/pull 300b monos. OH they were really good, three dimensionality, clarity / texture you know all the stuff we always hope for but actually never experience. Then not satisfied (yes I have the audio OCD disease) I bought some really expensive Sophia 300 b replacement tubes and put them in the mono blocks and everything was even better in fact much better, I was in heaven...until one of the tubes blew up ouch! Frustrated I sold the 300b's and bought a pass 30.8. It was terrible at first BUT when it finally broke in it was absolutely FANTASTIC!!!! If you are interested in auditioning the pass 30.8 call Mark at Reno HiFi he's the best and he has a wonderful home audition policy. BTW someone above mentioned Rebbi and he is very knowledgeable about about the 3a' amplifier interface .
Best Charlie

I received my Rogue Cronus Magnum via UPS today. I'm expecting a big improvement over my JoLida 302b. Source components are very basic, Oppo universal disc player and ProJect Debut table. Speakers remain...Reference 3a DaCapos