Bill & Dave - Audiogoner Jadem6, owner of Jade Cables reviewed and still uses this combo with his Dunlavy IV/a's with good success. Jade & I also both use the Aesthetix Calypso.
The C4's are rated @ 4 ohms nominal / 3.3 ohms minimum / 88dB.
The Plinius SA-102 owners manual states that bridging them as monoblocks will "provide and extremely high performance option". The manual goes on to state that care should be taken when matching speakers... "the total average impedance for each chanel should in a range between 4 & 8 ohms" . So hopefully I'll be okay ???
If I'm wrong and it does not work out, at least I have two amps with good resale value. |
To all: Thanks for your input / advice. I was thrilled to wake up to so much feedback on my question.
Albert - You have instant credibility in my book and you have been quite helpful to me in the past when I've asked your advice. Your suggestion of powerful VTL tube amps is intriguing, and it has passed my mind several times before. I'm quite certain the sound would be top-shelf, however, given the issues with heat, blown fuses & tubes, I think I'd probably be too stressed out to be consistently happy with them. I tend to like gear that's relatively trouble free.
Dave - Thanks for the speaker cable recommendation. I'm not very familiar with MIT's offerings. I've always been a bit leery of their products because there always seems to be a large glut of inventory available. I'll do some research on the Magnum M3.
Eljif - I think following your advice on getting higher powered amplification is sound. I do love my SA-102 and am hesitant to part with it. So as it stands right now, I may wait for another SA-102 to come available in the states and run them as bridged mono-blocks with 400 WPC into 8 ohms.
Bob - After an initial rough patch, my Aesthetix preamp was adjusted to operate in the low gain setting & is working nicely with the Plinius amp. Tube rolling with NOS tubes has made a night & day difference with the sound quality achievable in the Calypso. It's a keeper.
Goatwuss - My room is 21' x 15' and partially open-ended on the far wall perpendicular to the speakers. The front of the speakers are 62" from the front wall and a min. of 36" off the side walls. The room was acoustically treated with GIK panels... made a HUGE difference ;). |
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The SA-102 owners manual states input impedance @ 47K ohms. I'm using single ended cables... am I okay? |
Well, I went over my budget and have cut a deal for a second Plinius SA-102 to run as a bridged monoblock with my current SA-102 amp. I'm cautiously optimistic that going from one amp @ 125WPC to two bridged monoblocks @ 400WPC in 8 ohms will help me get the most out of my C4's (within reason considering the mega-dollar SS amps from MBL, Lamm, Levinson, Krell Evolution, Boulder, DartZeel, etcetera) .
I'm also ordering Silent Running Audio (SRA) isolation platforms (VR series) to put under my amps and preamp. I've never really invested much in isolation gear, and the inexpensive tweaks I've tried just seemed to dull the sound. From all of the reading I've done, SRA seems to be the "real deal" when it comes to isolation platforms.
I'm crossing my fingers that these new additions to my system will take me to a new level of satisfaction.... worst case, I'll look at the silver lining knowing that all of these components have strong resale value! |
Doug - I hopeful the 4 ohm load of the C4's won't be a problem for the bridged SA-102's (as suggested in the earlier posts from Audiofeil & Dave b). However, if bridged SA-102's don't cut the mustard with my C4's, your suggestion of the Pass 250.5 will be a serious consideration.
My second Plinius SA-102 should arrive by the end of next week, so I'll report back on my findings. |
Keithr - Pass .5 series amps are intriguing. If my soon-to-be realized plan of bridging a pair of mono-blocked Plinius SA-102's end up not meeting my expectations, my fallback plan would have me leaning towards replacing them with either a Pass 250.5 or 350.5.... or if I feel I'm up to the challenge of trying tube amps, I'd try VTL 450 sigs.
Johnnyb53 - I have three Silent Running Audio VR series isolation platforms on order & due to arrive next week.... so my isolation issues should be largely addressed... and the C4's have nice plinths with adjustable threaded points that isolate the speaker to the floor.
I've tried Vibrapods, but prefer the sound without them. I have twelve of them laying around if interested. |
Well, I just agreed to buy a pair of Simaudio W-6 monoblocks, so I should know in a few weeks how these more powerful amps (425 WPC / 8 ohms) match up to to my trusty Plinius SA-102 @ 125 WPC. I've really enjoyed my SA-102 for a long time... so I'm cautiously optimistic that the more powerful sim monoblocks will take my system to a new level???
I appreciate everyones suggestions on amps. I was really leaning towards a Plinius SA 250 mk IV or the PASS 250.5, but neither would fit into my rack. |
Well, I tried the Sim W6's for a few days, but found them to be too analytical and bright for my tastes and have already sold them... so I'm happily reunited with my trusty Plinius SA-102, and have no desire to stray.
Not sure what my next move will be... maybe a nice Stealth power cord for my amp.... or better speaker cables like Stealth MLT's or Kimber KS 3035's? |
Missioncoon... I have no doubt the Pass X250.5 would be a nice amp for the C4's, but its too large to fit in my rack, so I'm sticking with what I have.
On a side note... I had seen your listing of your C4's... so I assume you sold them, and if so, what are you replacing them with? |
Missioncoonery - I agree that the C4's are very undervalued right now. Probably a good idea to stick with what you have and focus on ways to improve via room treatments, placement, IC's, tube rollling, etcetera... |
