What amplifier do you use with your Daedalus speakers?

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audiotom

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Re: What amplifier do you use with your Daedalus speakers?
« Reply #40 on: 6 Apr 2015, 04:04 am »
I ran my Ulysses with Atma-Sphere MA-1 mono-blocks in conjunction with Speltz Autoformers.  Sounded fantastic.

Catastrophe

I have the Speltz as well

Kept the Atmas - let everything settle in

Each amp has some very captivating sound qualities

catastrofe

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Re: What amplifier do you use with your Daedalus speakers?
« Reply #41 on: 6 Apr 2015, 12:26 pm »
Catastrophe

I have the Speltz as well

Kept the Atmas - let everything settle in

Each amp has some very captivating sound qualities

Oh, I've kept the MA-1s.  Had to sell the Ulysses as I don't have the room in my new home.  Luckily, they went to a local buyer. . .he's loving them (as he should).

jonbee

Re: What amplifier do you use with your Daedalus speakers?
« Reply #42 on: 16 Apr 2015, 11:26 pm »
I use a Crayon CFA 1.2 integrated amp with my Athena v.2. The Crayon puts out about 75 watts into the steady 6 ohm load of the Athenas. It is a solid state amp from Austria. See 6moons for a good review. It is the best pairing I've heard with my Athenas. Extremely good bang for the buck at $6k. Crayon just came out with a less powerful integrated that promises even better bang for the buck at about $3200.

Initially, I drove the Athenas with a 10-watt Shindo Cortese single-ended tube amp and a Shindo Monbrison preamp. This pairing produced some luscious, dense, immediate tone and was very musical. Together, these amps retail over $20k but did not prove as accurate, transparent, or ultimately satisfying as the Crayon. Still, there was absolutely no problem that I had with dynamics, headroom, or ability to play loud music loud.

I've also driven the speakers with a 15-watt Bakoon integrated solid state amp that was similar to the Crayon and is another good value.

I've heard the Ulysses with a 200 watt Modwright amp; this was another good pairing. And I've listened to jonbee's DA-RMAs with his very powerful N-Core amps and completely agree with him that the sound is transparent, fast, and conveys a sense of total ease, especially with complex music. Fantastic value.

Bottom line:  it is a testament to Lou's acumen as a designer that his speakers sound so damn good with so many disparate amps!
Amen. I've heard several of easystreet's amps with his Athenas, and in every case the sound was utterly captivating, even startling, and hearing his Athenas with Shindos the first time is what convinced me that I needed to own Lou's speakers.  I'm very pleased with my NC-400s as well, although they sound very different than the Shindos. I've not yet heard a matchup that didn't sound very good to awe inspiring, but all the amps I've heard are good amps in varying degrees, and with different flavors.
Someday I'll try out my TBI Millenia with them.
« Last Edit: 23 Apr 2015, 05:48 pm by jonbee »

dodgealum

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Re: What amplifier do you use with your Daedalus speakers?
« Reply #43 on: 23 Apr 2015, 03:50 pm »
Just wondering if anyone has tried the new Quicksilver Silver 88's or V4's with Lou's speakers. They are now sporting the KT150 tubes and I have read a number of positive comments on these amps. I've always had a fascination with the Quicksilvers--back in the mid-80s I heard a pair driving some ProAc Studio 1's (with a Janis subwoofer) that was my first real exposure to high end sound--utterly captivating.

LP1

Re: What amplifier do you use with your Daedalus speakers?
« Reply #44 on: 28 Apr 2015, 05:10 pm »
I'm going to shamelessly plug the Pure Sound 845 SETs I have posted for sale in the classifieds. I owned Lou's marvelous Ulysses for a few years and only sold them when I thought my custom horns would be ready (I was off by a couple of years!). I have no doubt that there would be a fantastic synergy between the Pure Sound and the Daedalus speakers. I am so confident in this, that I plan to bring my amps over to Mark's house so he can listen to them on his DA1.1 V2. I will let him post his opinion on this forum after he's had some time with them.

Audioclyde

Re: What amplifier do you use with your Daedalus speakers?
« Reply #45 on: 28 Apr 2015, 06:12 pm »
As of the past 2 weeks, I'm driving my DA-RMas with a pair of Audio Note Quest Silver 300B low gain monos (with upgraded 2w Tantulums)--I'm in sonic bliss   :D!

Randy

roboss38

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Re: What amplifier do you use with your Daedalus speakers?
« Reply #46 on: 6 May 2015, 08:16 pm »
I have an Accuphase e560 Class A integrated amp on the way for demo. The Pass Labs XA30.8 was scary good with my Argos, so would no less and even more from the Accuphase.

jriggy

Re: What amplifier do you use with your Daedalus speakers?
« Reply #47 on: 6 May 2015, 10:51 pm »
I have an Accuphase e560 Class A integrated amp on the way for demo. The Pass Labs XA30.8 was scary good with my Argos, so would no less and even more from the Accuphase.

Hi roboss38,

I have an Accuphase E-560 with Argos, too! I was coaxed away from an integrated with an am demo. Purchased the amp so I now using the E-560 as a preamp only, before finding a pre.

The Acc benefits greatly with good power. Like most gear does really.

Actually, I just went back to the Acc as a full integrated for a day and I was surprised how good it held up! VERY musical, with a interconnectedness of everything and a nice full sound. My current amp goes a lil deeper and more articulate in the bass, a lil better detail, more separation and more realism BUT the Accuphase was still very pleasing to listen to. I was surprised. With the right cables, this integrated can really stand up!

Drop me a PM, if you'd like. We can chat about it... I could go on and might have a question for you, too.

Jason



mca

Re: What amplifier do you use with your Daedalus speakers?
« Reply #48 on: 25 Sep 2015, 03:45 pm »
I wanted to give an update on my Ulysses speakers. I have been running them with my Modwright Oppo 105, Modwright LS 100 and a pair of Ncore monos. The setup sounds great, lots of power, detail and great tight bass. The amps are maybe a little to honest for my liking, so I set out to try something different.

I ended up with an Allnic 300b integrated amp. Unfortunately, the amp arrived DOA and it took me about a month to get it fixed. When I got it back and hooked it up, I really liked what I heard. Sure, it cant push the speakers like the Ncore amps do, but within it's limits, the sound is wonderful. Plenty of detail with a nice rounded bass and a midrange that is so real and warm that it's intoxicating.

This sound now has me wanting to take the next step and get a pair of mono blocks that I can use with the rest of my system. Right now there is a beautiful pair of Fi 300b monos for sale. I love the looks and reviews on Don's amps are always good. Now someone has tipped me off that the Zu guys are selling a pair of Melody 845-1 amps.

Now I have a conundrum, I know I like the 300b sound, but 8-9 watts only goes so far. I have not heard a 845 based amp before, but have read that it has the same qualities as a 300b, but with more than double the power. Does anyone have experience with a 845 based amp and Daedalus speakers?

sunnydaze

Re: What amplifier do you use with your Daedalus speakers?
« Reply #49 on: 25 Sep 2015, 03:50 pm »
No experience with Daedalus speakers, but I have owned both 845 and 300B amps.  I much prefer 845, FWIW.  May be a function of the speaker used, and with a different speaker I may prefer differently.  I dunno.      :dunno:

Hugh

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Re: What amplifier do you use with your Daedalus speakers?
« Reply #50 on: 25 Sep 2015, 03:52 pm »
Same here.

No experience with Daedalus speakers, but I have owned both 845 and 300B amps.  I much prefer 845, FWIW.

mca

Re: What amplifier do you use with your Daedalus speakers?
« Reply #51 on: 25 Sep 2015, 03:54 pm »
I also wanted to take a minute to thank Lou for his work on my speakers. They were an older pair of Ulysses and the seller shipped them directly to Lou to have a little work done on the finish. Lou ended up completely refinishing the speakers and they look fabulous. I also had them fully updated to current v2 specs. I also had him install his new woofers and trim rings and added the new outriggers to the bases.




Audioclyde

Re: What amplifier do you use with your Daedalus speakers?
« Reply #52 on: 25 Sep 2015, 03:54 pm »
MCA,

My speakers are the original DA-RMa's (can't be without 'em to ship them back to Lou for upgrades  8)).  At one time I used the Mastersound Compact 845 amp with them and it sounded great.  That being said, although I liked the 845 better than most solid state options I've tried with them (admittedly I haven't put any real high end 2 channel SS amps in the system since I've owned the DA-RMas), I still much prefer the sound with my 300B SET amps (now running Audio Note Quest Silvers, and absolutely love the sound even though their only 8wpc or so).  My listening room is not large, so I'm able to easily listen at levels I prefer (and I'm not a headbanger by any stretch) with the AN 300B's.

So, in my experience, a good 845 will be a nice match with your speakers; that being said, I hear a more refined sound when using 300B SET amplication.

So, the above may not be helpful, but thought I should at least share my experience.

Best,

Randy

Hugh

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Re: What amplifier do you use with your Daedalus speakers?
« Reply #53 on: 25 Sep 2015, 03:56 pm »
Those must be our M845 SET monos. :-)


...Now someone has tipped me off that the Zu guys are selling a pair of Melody 845-1 amps.

Now I have a conundrum, I know I like the 300b sound, but 8-9 watts only goes so far. I have not heard a 845 based amp before, but have read that it has the same qualities as a 300b, but with more than double the power. Does anyone have experience with a 845 based amp and Daedalus speakers?

sunnydaze

Re: What amplifier do you use with your Daedalus speakers?
« Reply #54 on: 25 Sep 2015, 03:57 pm »
Wish I could afford a nice pair of 845 monos.  Heaven!     :thumb:

Hugh

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Re: What amplifier do you use with your Daedalus speakers?
« Reply #55 on: 25 Sep 2015, 04:00 pm »
The AN series Integrated Amps (AN211, AN300B, & AN845) is a step above the standard Melody models.

MCA,

My speakers are the original DA-RMa's (can't be without 'em to ship them back to Lou for upgrades  8)).  At one time I used the Mastersound Compact 845 amp with them and it sounded great.  That being said, although I liked the 845 better than most solid state options I've tried with them (admittedly I haven't put any real high end 2 channel SS amps in the system since I've owned the DA-RMas), I still much prefer the sound with my 300B SET amps (now running Audio Note Quest Silvers, and absolutely love the sound even though their only 8wpc or so).  My listening room is not large, so I'm able to easily listen at levels I prefer (and I'm not a headbanger by any stretch) with the AN 300B's.

So, in my experience, a good 845 will be a nice match with your speakers; that being said, I hear a more refined sound when using 300B SET amplication.

So, the above may not be helpful, but thought I should at least share my experience.

Best,

Randy

roboss38

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Re: What amplifier do you use with your Daedalus speakers?
« Reply #56 on: 25 Sep 2015, 05:54 pm »
This weekend I will demoing a buddies Line Magnetic 518IA with my Argos v2. I've always wanted to hear  an 845 based amp with Lou's speakers, so I figured Line Magnetic is a good place to start.

vinyl_lady

Re: What amplifier do you use with your Daedalus speakers?
« Reply #57 on: 25 Sep 2015, 05:59 pm »
Dan Wright is developing 845 mono blocks debuting at RMAF, http://www.audiocircle.com/index.php?topic=137224.0

roboss38

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Re: What amplifier do you use with your Daedalus speakers?
« Reply #58 on: 25 Sep 2015, 07:51 pm »
Dan Wright is developing 845 mono blocks debuting at RMAF, http://www.audiocircle.com/index.php?topic=137224.0

I'm sure they will be outstanding as all of Dan's products are. I think I'm on my fourth or fifth Modwright disc spinner. Unfortunately, I'm looking for an 845 integrated amp, so Dan's mono's will not fit my agenda. Once I'm done with my Line Magnetic demo, I hope to be able to demo a Melody AN845 as well.

mca

Re: What amplifier do you use with your Daedalus speakers?
« Reply #59 on: 25 Sep 2015, 08:26 pm »
I believe Dan's 845 amps are going to be cost no object designs which will certainly put them out of my league.