Solid State Power Amps

@zuesman 

but have you heard the 861 amplifier that's a whole different league better than the 860A V2? I have heard the 861 and it's much better than the 860 A V2.

Last Friday, driving back from LAX airport (a nightmare). I stopped by a dealer on the way home. I wanted to hear the 861 with my Yamaha NS5000. Unfortunately, they had closed early that day. I am heading down to LAX again in 4 weeks and will try to make a stop at the dealer once more.

SimAudio and the Be driver on the Focal may not be a great match. I heard the 860A V2 on Paradigm Persona 5F. While I enjoyed the sound I knew I could not listen for long periods.

For a Be driver, I would look at Class A like the KRELL Duo 175XD (or the rumored new model) or the CODA #16. The new CODA S5.5 that people are raving about is also something to consider if the speaker does not need a lot of power. I have the CODA #16 and had the KRELL. Great amps, though I wonder if the SimAudio 861 would be a better match with my slightly warm Yamaha NS5000 over the CODA #16.

Ok, here’s an opinion — pairing a $25k amp with a $5k preamp is stupid.  Hope that helps. 

I resemble that remark. I usually recommend my $2.5k preamp with any amp. My amp is $16.3k MSRP. I have had more expensive preamps before, and they did not sound as good.

If I had bought the KEF Blade 2 Meta speaker, I would have used the $2.5k preamp with a $36k amp.

Sometimes a stupid is the correct move. A bit of Forrest Gump there.