What Amp with Sonus Faber Olympica 3?

I can’t help much other than hearing them on the new Classe Delta series and I thought the combination sounded great with strong bass, clean highs and large soundstage. Pricy amp though. 

Which Classe Delta? 

Put Luxman M-900u on your list as well. I have the little brother Olympica II that also craves high current. I have a Luxman 590AXII and it never runs out of steam. the m900u is a significant step above mine though.

Simaudio Celeste :P
I think I saw a dealer on Audiogon selling a ARC REF 150 in Silver...but the binding posts and screws looked worn with some rust....hopefully the circuit board is in good shape....maybe you can get a good deal and talk him down?

I also heard that the ARC 110 sounds wonderful with the Sinus Favors. Oh nvm...you just sold yours. lol

Tom you're a regular comedian 🙄🤣

Samzx12

“Which Classe Delta?”

I believe it is just called the Delta Stereo amp and they were using the matching pre amp. Very nice sounding setup. I think it is $12,000 though. Class A for the first 12 watts. 
https://www.classeaudio.com/products/delta-stereo/

Are you referring to the Olympica 3 or the newer Olympica Nova 3? I have the newer Nova 3 and use the Audio Research Ref 75se. My room is 13x13. I listen at 80 db or less usually. The meter on the amp never goes over 1 watt. I think the newer model is easier to drive and more efficient.
Happy listening.
Phil

The discussion may help

https://forum.audiogon.com/discussions/upgrade-quandary-ref-75se-vs-ref-150-non-se

tube amps really don’t like to see impedances 4 ohms and below... arc handles them better than most... if you have sold a ref 110 feeling it was lacking i don’t see how a primaluna or ref75 would do the trick

i think solid state power amp is where you need to go... you've got plenty of tube-i-ness in the pre stage as it is...

@woodman2  referring to the Olympica 3 not the newer Nova 3. From my understanding the Ref75SE is a bit warmer than the bigger Ref110/150 brothers? 

@jjss49 as far as the Ref 75SE I figured with the beefed up power supply and KT150s it would have sufficient power to push the O3 and sound lovely also. 

@samzx12

don’t think so... 8x kt120 in ref110 vs 4x kt150 in ref75se, through same transformers, even with slightly beefed up power supply

https://theartofsound.net/forum/showthread.php?49901-Technical-Differences-Between-KT120-and-KT150-V...

kt150 draws 20% more peak current than kt120 via datasheet (see link above), nowhere near double... and that assumes the power supply can deliver it through the 150...  so double the number of kt120's will still be 70-80% more powerful in transients -- thus i would expect that the ref110 will push and pull harder, greater grip, greater current, esp. with impedance low @ 2 ohms with difficult phase angles in bass region frequencies of the speaker ...

I might be comparing apples to oranges, but FWIW, I tried a GSi75 that took KT150s with Olympica II. The sound was impressive but it just didn't exert much control over the woofers. 

@jjss49  thank you for that comparison and I suppose you are correct. The 110 with more tubes had better control but still not enough as also holds true for the Ref 75SE.  I have read a couple of Olympica 3 reviews where the reviewer used a Ref 75SE and was very satisfied with the combination however, did not really comment about lack of bass. But we can see the O3 needs current down low and typically tube amps can't solve the low impedance issue. 

@samzx12 

You will not get the most out of those Woofers unless you use a High Current Amp. Tube amps are Volts...not High Current (Watts). An amp like the Pass Labs would be a great choice. But you being a ARC fanboy, it will take A LOT of convincing for you to go the best route.

Why Tom why do you hate ARC so much haha?  But I think it is clear as mentioned above I DO understand the O3 needs CURRENT :)

Spoke with Mark at Reno HiFi. He recommended a Pass 150.8.  Looks like I'll be getting a 150.8.  

i think the pass is an excellent choice sam - you will some tubelike warmth and fullness with solid state bass control on the low end

let us know how you like it

Thanks. I’m excited to get it jjss49. Should really open these speakers up. I’ll report back in a week or so. Thanks again everyone for the advice and these threads are always fun. Well not for Tom 😆😜

@jjss49  

I am enjoying the 150.8. It has taken some time to grow on me but my speakers needed some break-in as did the preamp.  Things are smoothing out quite nicely. At first I wasn't sure I was going to warm up to the amp however, as usual everything needs to settle for awhile. Changing the front 2 tubes on the EVO 400 preamp to Mullard CV4003 really helped the focus and take some edge off. The stock tubes aren't bad but this is where I was experiencing unwanted energy so to speak. The 150.8 has PLENTY of power and the needle doesn't even move so I am staying in Class A. Lots of depth and layering  :)

sam

glad everything is settling in and you are enjoying the music!

best thing all primaluna owners can do for better sound is get those grim chinese input tubes outta there (and buy a pass too LOL)

Working on those tubes 😜