One for David at FrankHarveyHifi : Amp for Spendor SA1

[plastic penguin]

igglebert:I'm curious and would like to draw on your experiences with kit if I may. This is a bit subjective, but what amp(s) have you used with the Spendor SA1 that you think does them justice? I know you could easily say a £5k amp but at what point do you think you go from driving them well to driving them to a point that they "do their thing"? Cheers!

Well, well. Do we sniff a possible upgrade? I'm not sure when the Spendors start "doing their thing" but sounded mightily impressive with Leema Pulse and Roksan Caspian. I did hear them briefly when I gatecrashed a high street store - they were connected to a Naim XS integrated.

 

[Anonymous]

FrankHarveyHiFi:
Sorry iggle, I haven't stopped today! I'm really aiming for tomorrow though.....

No problem David. Whenever(if ever) you get some down time in the shop.

 

[Anonymous]

plastic penguin:
igglebert:I'm curious and would like to draw on your experiences with kit if I may. This is a bit subjective, but what amp(s) have you used with the Spendor SA1 that you think does them justice? I know you could easily say a £5k amp but at what point do you think you go from driving them well to driving them to a point that they "do their thing"? Cheers!

Well, well. Do we sniff a possible upgrade? I'm not sure when the Spendors start "doing their thing" but sounded mightily impressive with Leema Pulse and Roksan Caspian. I did hear them briefly when I gatecrashed a high street store - they were connected to a Naim XS integrated.

I would certainly like to upgrade next year, Q2. I don't know whether to pursue the monobloc option of what I have or go for something else. The former will cost me something like £500 and I'll have an amp system capable of 40amp peaks with a nice, smooth sound. I need to hear what others amps can offer to decide, so it'll have to wait until I have some readies for toys. It's tempting to hunt down a used ATC amp but we'll see.

 

[plastic penguin]

Fair play, iggle. This is the perfect situation to audition nearer the time. The nature of monoblocs and integrateds will produce such different results that no matter what David or anyone else says, hearing them for yourself is a must. You know that anyway!

 

[Anonymous]

AL13N:FrankHarveyHifi - Can't wait for the reviews. Especially the high powered amps driving the little SA1s.

igglebert - How are you finding the SA1s + stands without a sub?

I'm considering the SA1s (along with Harbeth P3ESR and ATC SCM11) for use in a nearfield setup (1.5m triangle in 3x3m room). I was initially considering Head-Fi but even with high end open-backed designs missed the 'presence' of speakers. And listening, especially at higher volumes, over a long period could become tiring.

I'll be auditioning all three, along with the EB Acoustics EB2 using their 30-day home trial, but was just wondering what your thoughts are so far.
I think for that size of listening space the SA1s will be great. What amp do you plan to use? As David has said, something with some welly is probably ideal although they don't present a difficult current load.

I find them very smooth and good at doing all types of music. With my Quad they probably have a bit less bite than some amps but it does everything nicely. Pop and rock is still good but I can understand why some might prefer something less smooth. Since adding the new stands things have got a little warmer which is partly why I'd like to get some more current into them. It's fair enough that a speaker of this level deserves a but more amp I guess.

I'd love to hear how you get on with your auditioning. I clicked instantly with the SA1s but many don't seem to. They're a smooth operator but also pretty flat in response so you'll be able to get the sound you like with careful amp and source configuration. I'd love to try them with an ATC or even Gamut amp!

 

[AL13N]

Thanks for the reply igglebert. Smooth sounds promising.

As for amp, I'm currently saving for the Quad 99 CDP-2 and Quad 909 combo. It's a shame they don't make the 909 Mono anymore as I would have loved to hear those.

It'll probably take another six months for the electronics, so I'm looking for speakers to replace the old Mission 700S. Once I have the cash I'll be ordering the EB2s, then arranging an audition to coincide with their delivery. Based on the experiences of EB1 buyers on the forum, that may be a bit tricky!
I'll make sure to post my thoughts and decision.

In the meantime it's just a matter of waiting. The Pure Evoke-1XT Marshall Edition keeping me company.

 

[Frank Harvey]

If you're looking towards a Quad combo, I'd choose some speakers that go well with the Quad. I'm not saying the EB's won't suit, but you really need to try them together. The amp and speaker combination can make or break a system.

 

[AL13N]

Thanks David.

I plan to audition the Spendor SA1, Harbeth P3ESR and ATC SCM11, throwing in the EB2s as a wild card using their 30-day home trial.

Any more recommendations?

 

[Frank Harvey]

For Quad? One of the worst matches we've found has been the Quad and the ATC. The SCM11's and SCM19's aren't too bad but the 40's are extremely hard to get the best from, and best matched with their own amplification. The ProAc Response D1's and PMC TB2i's spring to mind....

 

[AL13N]

Thanks again.

I'm definitely not looking at the SCM40s as I'm interested in standmounts. Those PMCs look very interesting though - the list grows bigger!

I was actually thinking of adding PMC to the list, albeit the PMC DB1S-AII directly hooked up to the variable output of the Quad 99 CDP-2. Think I'll audition both.

 

[Anonymous]

Hi igglebert, don,t know if it,s a £4000 atc amp you are interested in, but if so then why don,t you try and audition a sugden masterclass, honestly i think you might just fall in love there and then, the sugden amps open up a whole new world, even if it is out of your price category, give it a listen and if it does it for you then it might give you that little push to save up for one, i,ve always been a great believer in saving for what you want rather than buying the next best thing that you can afford.

 

[Anonymous]

I don't have that budget, not even close. I wouldn't spend that on an amp anyway! I would like to try the Sugden amps but I'll see next year. Sounds exacty my cup of tea, clarity and texture over PRaT. Thanks for the recomm. Plus the Masterclass is way too big!!!

 

[Anonymous]

igglebert:I don't have that budget, not even close. I wouldn't spend that on an amp anyway! I would like to try the Sugden amps but I'll see next year. Sounds exacty my cup of tea, clarity and texture over PRaT. Thanks for the recomm. Plus the Masterclass is way too big!!! If they are too big then try and get a Bijou Musicmaster amp, only 16 watts but 16 watts of class a sugar.

 

[Bodfish]

AL13N:Thanks David.

I plan to audition the Spendor SA1, Harbeth P3ESR and ATC SCM11, throwing in the EB2s as a wild card using their 30-day home trial.

Any more recommendations?

Not exactly, but a big thumbs up for the P3ESRs

 

[Frank Harvey]

Well I managed to plug in my favourite system (Bryston of course

) and warm it up a little, and popped on the SA1's for a listen to a few tracks. I wondered which amplifier to come down to after the BP26/4Bsst2/BCD1 combo, so settled on the ATC SIA2-150, which wasn't fully warm when I tried it out, but I can't predict when I can get a listen to them!

I decided to try my regular CD's out as they're the ones I know best, and know what to expect from them. One of my usual tests is Red Hot Chili Pepper's Blood Sugar Sex Magic, which is a very raw, lean sounding CD, bordering on the bright/harsh in many places. I expected this to sound awful, as I'm not too keen on speakers with such small bass drivers! To my surprise, they handled the album extremely well, especially the big test track, Give It Away, as on many systems it has no bass at all, and it's just so busy it tends to get a bit muddled. Because of how lean the track is, this tends to accentuate the midband and higher frequencies, and on some systems much of the track just sounds harsh and unlistenable. The combination of the Bryston and SA1's broke the track down and gave you all the layers, regardless of how busy things got. Some of the guitar work was a little ear piercing, but that's just as much a quality of the track than it is the preciseness of the system itself. Even with the lack of bass in the track, you could clearly hear every single note Flea was playing. I was a little disappointed with the amount of bass slam as I'm used to a lot more - but bear in mind I'm used to this system with KEF's 205/2 Reference speakers!

Changing to the ATC, something just wasnt quite right. It did a sterling job and wasn't letting itself down, but it didn't quite match up to the Bryston pre/power, but then again, you wouldn't expect it to! Given it's price point, which is about a third of the Bryston, it drove the SA1's perfectly. Using the SA1's, based on what I've heard so far, you'd have a hard job justifying anything over the SIA2-150. But I suppose we would expect that....

Now I need to come down a little more - maybe a Nait XS.....although I would like a little more time with the combo to try other music out.

 

[Anonymous]

Thanks David. I was hoping the ATC amp would work well, and in comparison to a far more expensive amp it's done well by the sounds of things. I'd be interested in your thoughts for other lower amps, especially if they do/don't actually get to the heart of the music. Thanks for the feedback.

 

[Frank Harvey]

I just wish I'd had a bit more time - I'd have liked to have tried more styles of music out, and tried the ones I did for longer. Hopefully I'll be able to get a little more listening in on Monday.

Judging by what I heard today, and what I've heard on the Bryston system previously, it seems twice the price of the speaker for an amp is a rough guide to a limit....(lots of variables though before anyone pounces!)