Synergistic amplifiers with Daedalus speakers

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david12

Synergistic amplifiers with Daedalus speakers
« on: 12 Oct 2009, 07:59 pm »
Some advice please, having placed an order for the Da-RaMa speakers at RMAF with Lou, I am looking at a good matching amplifier. Any experience with different amps would be appreciated.

  I know the speakers are sensitive, but reports suggest they like power too. I have a 22watt SET I am sure will work well, but I am looking for suggestions. I use an integrated amp and would like tubes somewhere, if only as a Hybrid.

   My thoughts include:
             Ayon
             Jadis
             Pathos
             Graaff perhaps the GM50
             Jadis, second hand, I think they are overpriced
             LSA signature or statement

   Part of the reason is that a 2nd hand LSA statement  is available at a good price at the moment, here in the UK, it may not be for long.  any thoughts, including from Lou of course, would be welcome.
   David
 
 

Wayne1

Re: Synergistic amplifiers with Daedalus speakers
« Reply #1 on: 12 Oct 2009, 08:16 pm »
You may want to look into the Korato integrated amp.



Ikarus

The second valve integrated amplifier that Korato produced was designed with top quality and power in mind. Built to very high standards it has a triode-pentode switch so you can enjoy the sound of the KT-90 valves both ways.

Internally wired with van den Hul wires it also features ultra fast recovery diodes, Mundorf polypropylene coupling caps, gold plated connectors and an Alps volume potentiometer. The input stage consists of two ECC 81/12AT7 valves and two 12BH7's. The output stages are a push-pull ultra linear connected pairs of KT-90's.
Enjoy the full power of the pentode mode or the subtlety of the triode mode

Power:     50W/8ohms - pentode mode; 25W/8ohms - triode mode

We heard the larger Ulysses speaker driven by a 60 watt Atma-Sphere OTL in Lou's big room. The speakers had no problem being driven by the tubes. I have heard from the US distributor that the Korato gear matches up well the Daedalus speakers.

I believe there is a UK distributor for Korato.

Tyson

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Re: Synergistic amplifiers with Daedalus speakers
« Reply #2 on: 12 Oct 2009, 09:17 pm »
If you want it LOUD, then a good SS amp like the Audio GD C10, the Modwright KWA amps, or the Odyssey Kismet amps would be a good match.  Based on what I heard at RMAF, it will go very loud and very clean with these types of amps. 

But, if you want more "magic", tubes are the way to go.  They won't do rock-concert levels like the above SS amps will, but they will still play quite loud and the sound quality is jaw dropping.  The Atmasphere amp sounded great with them, and I wouldn't go much less that 60watts per side, base on what I heard at the show.

david12

Re: Synergistic amplifiers with Daedalus speakers
« Reply #3 on: 12 Oct 2009, 09:37 pm »
I am not looking for loud and to be honest, whilst I liked the speakers with Modwright, I did'nt hear a tube sound. That may seem a strange thing to say, but they sounded SS to me. I have heard Atmosphere amps before and liked them a lot, but they are too large for me to accomodate.
   The other reasonably priced amp I liked a lot at RMAF was Moscode 402. It is a power amp, but the manufacturer explained he could put a passive pre in it. Another possibility then.
    Wayne1, I will try and find the UK distributor of Korato tomorrow, thanks.

zybar

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Re: Synergistic amplifiers with Daedalus speakers
« Reply #4 on: 12 Oct 2009, 09:52 pm »
If you want it LOUD, then a good SS amp like the Audio GD C10, the Modwright KWA amps, or the Odyssey Kismet amps would be a good match.  Based on what I heard at RMAF, it will go very loud and very clean with these types of amps. 

But, if you want more "magic", tubes are the way to go.  They won't do rock-concert levels like the above SS amps will, but they will still play quite loud and the sound quality is jaw dropping.  The Atmasphere amp sounded great with them, and I wouldn't go much less that 60watts per side, base on what I heard at the show.

If you need more headroom or watts, you can always move up the line to the MA-1's from the M-60's.

I use MA-1's with Vandy 5A's and there is definitely some magic there.

When used with properly matched speakers and preamp, the Atma-Sphere amps are really hard to beat.

George

jazdoc

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Re: Synergistic amplifiers with Daedalus speakers
« Reply #5 on: 13 Oct 2009, 02:20 am »
I'm very pleased with my Einstein Light In Dark hybrid amplifier.  Einstein also makes an integrated amp.  I have heard reports of exquisite sound from several people who listened to the Ulysses with a pair of Atma-Sphere M60's.  These folks also report that the Quicksilver amps also worked well with the Ulysses (although there was consensus that the Atma-Sphere was better).

I tried my Ulysses with the high current Art Audio Jota.  It was great at low volume but audibly ran out of gas a mid-high listening volumes.

Daedalus Audio

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Re: Synergistic amplifiers with Daedalus speakers
« Reply #6 on: 13 Oct 2009, 02:31 am »
many good responses here already!  I would say that power is subjective re: taste and room size. My room @RMAF eats low bass, the M60's in most real living rooms would do very very well for most tastes. For general taste I would recommend 40 watts per channel or more, but this can vary widely from amp to amp. If possible I'd recommend waiting until you get the speakers to make an amp choice so that you can see how they pair up in your room.

thanks,
Lou


david12

Re: Synergistic amplifiers with Daedalus speakers
« Reply #7 on: 13 Oct 2009, 08:48 am »
I would clearly like to wait for the speakers to come, but if anyone had said that LSA was a great match, I might have taken a chance and bought the ex dem model being sold here.
  It is useful to know that 40 watts is a good area to aim for

vinyl_lady

Re: Synergistic amplifiers with Daedalus speakers
« Reply #8 on: 13 Oct 2009, 04:50 pm »
David,

if you are willing to go with an amp and pre amp instead of an integrated amp, I have found that coupling the ModWright KWA 150 with a good tube pre amp like the Gill Audio Design Alana provides the best of both SS & tubes--tight, articulate bass with the warmth of tubes without being mushy.

Laura

david12

Re: Synergistic amplifiers with Daedalus speakers
« Reply #9 on: 13 Oct 2009, 05:00 pm »
  Laura
   In fact, from the horses mouth, as it were, I asked Dan from Modwright at RMAF and an integrated seems to be his next project. That would be some variant of his pre amps with the new KW100. An interesting prospect.
   David

Audioclyde

Re: Synergistic amplifiers with Daedalus speakers
« Reply #10 on: 13 Oct 2009, 10:44 pm »
David,

I've been a very happy owner of ebonized walnut DA-RMa's since about May  :drool:.  My primary amp has been the Cary SLI-80 integrated, full triode mode only, and it drives the speakers wonderfully.  Just this past week I have replaced the Cary with a Grant Fidelity A-534B integrated (300B SET amp rated at 8-10 wpc).  I am absolutely loving this amp with the DA-RMa's!  I listen at less than headbanging volume levels (but still reasonably loud) and this amp is great with the speakers!!  Just thought I'd give you this to think about as well in case you have any inclination to consider a single ended amp (this if my first SE amp and I think I'm hooked).

Randy

david12

Re: Synergistic amplifiers with Daedalus speakers
« Reply #11 on: 14 Oct 2009, 09:20 am »
Thats helpful Larry. I use a Viva Solista 22watt SET now. I am sure it will drive the Da-ramas adequately. Some of the forum entries suggest that the speakers will run well with low watts, but respond to more power too.
  Another reason to change the Viva is, my wife hates it. I think it looks good, but it is BIG and runs very hot. I may be going for a rack with fixed not adjustable shelves, so need to settle on an amp to get the right shelf space.

figcon

Re: Synergistic amplifiers with Daedalus speakers
« Reply #12 on: 15 Oct 2009, 01:50 am »
Well, it seems pretty obvious that there are a lot of amps that work well with Lou's speakers from 300B amps to big SS amps. This is one of the big benefits of Daedalus speakers. Don't need a lot of power, but if you have it, they will welcome it.

With my Ulysses, I use a pair of Pass Labs XA100.5's with Dan Wrights LS36.5/PS36.5 and all Dynamic Design cables and the sound is probably the best I've ever heard. Definitely the best I've ever owned. I imagine that in a smaller room, even the Pass XA 30 watt per channel, Class A amp would sound wonderful with the DA-RMa's and they give you all the best of both ss and tubes. 

Good luck with the amp. I'm sure you will love the speakers.

david12

Re: Synergistic amplifiers with Daedalus speakers
« Reply #13 on: 17 Oct 2009, 08:44 am »
Thanks for all the excellent advice, the best being to wait till the speakers come, which of course, I am planning to do.

  David

mca

Re: Synergistic amplifiers with Daedalus speakers
« Reply #14 on: 26 Jan 2010, 07:09 pm »
David,

Just curious what you ended up with?

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Re: Synergistic amplifiers with Daedalus speakers
« Reply #15 on: 27 Jan 2010, 05:52 pm »
David,

Just curious what you ended up with?

Mike, you seem to be having great sound with your tube amps and the Ulysses, please tell us about the amps.
thanks, lou




Daedalus Audio

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Re: Synergistic amplifiers with Daedalus speakers
« Reply #16 on: 27 Jan 2010, 05:55 pm »
David is waiting for his speakers, we're doing something special and it's taking a bit longer than usual. Fortunately he is a true gentleman and very patient.  getting close though and I think he'll feel the wait was worthwhile.

95Dyna

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Re: Synergistic amplifiers with Daedalus speakers
« Reply #17 on: 27 Jan 2010, 07:36 pm »
I'm assuming that since Lou is a dealer for the Parasound Halo series that a high powered SS amps like the JC1 or Bryston's squared series 7B and 28B SST2's would be a possibility.  Any thoughts on this question would be appreciated since I bought a pair of 7B's recently and am looking at replacing my 20 year old Infinity 9 Kappas.  The Ulysses looks very appealing to me and the various reviews of the sound as well.

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Re: Synergistic amplifiers with Daedalus speakers
« Reply #18 on: 29 Jan 2010, 12:38 am »
the JC-1's have always been a fav. and I've had customers use the Bryston as well. all the current Daedalus models work well with just about any amplifier type.  SET, push pull, solid state, even some of the digital amps. the caveat is they make use of good high current amps, it's not so much that they need it but that they can really deliver what an amp with a solid power supply can offer.

mca

Re: Synergistic amplifiers with Daedalus speakers
« Reply #19 on: 29 Jan 2010, 01:28 am »
The Ayon Spirit II is an integrated amp that uses two KT88s per side and weighs in at a massive 85lbs. The transformers on this thing are huge and it has no problems driving the Ulysses speakers to higher levels than I care to listen.

For simplicity sake I prefer an integrated over separates and think this amp does a very nice job. I'm hoping to get my hands on a more powerful solid state integrated in the future to see how it does compared to tubes. Hey Dan, when will you be releasing a Modwright integrated?