Tubed Monos for Focal Aria 948s

@ikluemper00
I did get the isoacustics you mentioned. They do make a bit of a difference. Overall, I love these speakers. I was considering the Kantas but when the opportunity to get these popped up I jumped. Very glad I did. I’d love to try the Sopras some day just to hear the difference 

Congratulations on the Sopras. They are beautiful speakers. I've been playing around with placement of the 948s. I positioned them a third of the way into the room and set them 3.5 feet off the side walls without toe-in. The soundstage really developed nicely after that. I've been using Tool's Fear Inoculum to test it. Could always hear the guitar and bass directly from the left and right speakers respectively before but since spreading them further apart, the band is all in the center now. I raised the front of the speakers about 5mm to raise the soundstage a bit and the bass really came to life. On cello soloist music it's like I can feel the vibration of the wood body now. I don't think I will mess with the amps now. I'm going to enjoy this for a bit.
Glad to hear you're enjoying the Sopras

@arctikdeth I'm running a pair of 180w mono blocks into them now. I would like to keep the wattage up there if possible.

@erik_squires That's exactly what I noticed too. I spread the speakers further apart and removed the toe-in which seems to have worked in my room.

@atmasphere Can't bi-wire these speakers and the preamp is tubed not the mono blocks. They are solid state. The whole post was about switching the mono amps from SS to tubed and what the trade-offs would be.I've added a TT into the mix recently, so I may just leave everything as is now. The sound is great right now except for minor placement tweaks

@atmasphere First I've heard of it. The amps don't have a 4 ohm option otherwise I'd give it a try

Thank you everyone for the replies. As I expected, there is a good bit more to understand before making a selection and your information cuts down on research time.

@erik_squires I was wondering where that part of the signal went. I love the sound of these speakers but always felt that they needed a little something extra. Thank you for defining the problem.

@213cobra I was under the impression that the crossover design made it easier for amps to drive the speakers. If that is incorrect then I will have to take that into consideration. I was looking at a pair of Prima Luna Dialogue 7 monos ($4800) or the EVO 400 which are twice as much. The 7s I could get in a month, the EVOs would be 4-6 months but I am going to look into your recommendations now. I have the Odyssey Kismets hooked up at the moment so SS is not a deal-breaker at all. I'm looking at tubes just to see if I can warm things up a bit but as Erik pointed out, whatever I choose will have to compensate for the 100Hz dip.

@oddiofyl You are the second person to recommend the Quiksilver 120. I will send a message to the company and explain what I have. Erik_Squires mentioned the 100 Hz dip so now I'll be focused on that as well.

Again, thank you everyone for the information.

@decooney I agree with bass on the 948s. I thought Focals were a bit light on the bass by nature but not these. I'm using a Prima Luna Dialogue HP for the preamp and love the sound.

@big_greg I figured that I would need around $5k for a good set of tubed monos so the Rogues are possible.

Just read a post about speaker impedance and amps which should help. Looks like a lot of math but that should narrow the parameters considerably 

@decooney I have a Prima Luna Dialogue HP pre amp that is connected to a pair of Odyssey Khartago mono blocks. They sound fine as is but the Focals are so clear that it sounds a little lean in the bass. As erik_squires pointed out, there is a dip in the upper bass range so my thinking is that the warmth of the tubes may help the tonal balance. Is this is incorrect?

@gmercer I'll bet that sounds great. If the Sopras sound half as good as they look you must be pretty stoked. I heard a pair of Kantas at a dealer's home and that's what got me hooked on Focals. The clarity and detail was like nothing I've ever heard so when an opportunity to score some 1.5 year old 948s came up at the price they did, I jumped. I figured they would be lean in the bass like the Kantas but they are not at all. They just need that something extra to push them across the finish line.