As a Watt/Puppy 8 user, the lastest W/P incarnation prior to Sasha, I would never consider an inetgrated. Not sure what your amp budget is, but I would consider a higher power separate power amp either stereo or of mono block type. I used to drive the W/P's with an old Mark Levinson 27.5 which is 200 watts into 4 ohm load. I now use Pass XA-100.5 monoblocks which deliver pure class A power at 200 watts/4ohms. Those amps hardly break a sweat with my Watt Puppies and sound glorious. As other's have said..an integrated will not deliver the maximum performance out of those speakers (not enough peak current). Sure they will work and sound good with the right inegrated, like the pass, but you will enjoy them much more with better amplification (separates), imo.
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Keithr: You stated: "just going back from memory on the stereo amp, in which multiple reviews said lower impedances weren't its thing (I believe Mike Lavigne told me that as well a long time ago)" You are making a statement about an amplifier that has 2 1/2 times the power as the amp Mike was talking about. It is an assumption based on no experience and misused hearsay. Also there are no reviews that made that statement. The stereo amplifier does not have a problem with lower impedance speakers. It just need to be matched with speakers that have the proper efficiency just like any other amplifier. :) I have had enough personal experience with Wilson and darTZeel products used together that I can assure you they work well together. All the best, Jonathan Tinn darTZeel Distributor (Sorry for the forgotten disclosure earlier) |
In fact, you would absolutely not want a "higher power" amp, whether it be a power amp or integrated amp, if you have reasonably efficient speakers, and certainly not on a 91+ db. efficient speaker like the Sasha, as the vast majority of such amps use a lot of global feedback to control the circuit, as well as numerous output devices (i.e., numerous transistors or power tubes) to achieve high power. Feedback imparts a muted, closed-in, two-dimensional sound, and the numerous output devices reduce transparency and just generally muck up the sound on high-resolution systems. In this regard, it is frequently said, with good reason, that the lowest powered amp in a line of amplifiers is the best sounding one - the simpler the circuit, the better. The new Rowland 625, the Ayre amps, and the darTZeel amps use no global feedback and none has a rated output of more than 300 watts/channel into 8 Ohms. Most Pass amps do not use any global feedback, and a few models have only three gain stages. The darTZeel stereo amp uses only a single pair of transistors per channel. If you have really inefficient speakers (84 db. or less), if your system is in a really big room, or if you listen primarily to disco at 120+ decibels, then there may be a compelling reason to buy a high-powered (400+ watts per channel) amp. If, however, you're running efficient speakers like Sashas and have a reasonably normal room, high wattage is not what you want. |
I was just listening to a pair of very well set up Sashas last week. The electronics were the Audio Research Signature Anniversary line, specifically powered by their 110 wpc VS115 power amp, a huge all tube beast rated at 110 wpc. All cabling was a high level (but not top level) Transparent. The sound was stunning in every way. In fact, I've been going to the Seattle Symphony quite a bit lately, and this ARC/Transparent/Sasha combo had an immediacy and ability to energize the room and air much like a live performance. It's one of the best illusions of the more elusive aspects of live performance that I've heard. Not that it's pocket change, but at $12K that ARC VS115 power amp is an absolute stunner powering the Sashas. |
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