Which Monoblocks To Get?

[vassp]

7 minutes ago, furtherpale said:

IME, Dali speakers require quality power (high current)... everything I tried that I liked also happened to be the ‘power doubling’ (current power amp is 100x2 @ 8ohm/200x2 @ 4ohm).

 

Ideally you want to try it at home before purchasing.

 

MF amps have the grunt too (I just don’t care for them).

 

If you want bass slam with a tube sound, Electrocompaniet is the go.

Yes, trying to get a home demo when the amps come in.  Electrocompaniet amps look pricey, trying to spend sane money on amps....is that possible with my speakers rotfl? 

[Ittaku]

9 minutes ago, vassp1503562426 said:

Hope so, but these helicon speakers need juice, and I’m not even a high volume user, l just play at mid volume but l want to enjoy my amp at low to med levels, which at the moment my system only gets going when l crank it. Which is not what I’m after. 

Well if they're thirsty for current as others here have said, then perhaps the Primaluna isn't the best match. While they do sound lovely, they're not renowned for providing oodles of current. Valve amps that provide a lot of current tend to be the higher power ones, and that comes at great cost... Hybrid might be a solution, or valve pre/SS power.

[vassp]

2 minutes ago, Ittaku said:

Well if they're thirsty for current as others here have said, then perhaps the Primaluna isn't the best match. While they do sound lovely, they're not renowned for providing oodles of current. Valve amps that provide a lot of current tend to be the higher power ones, and that comes at great cost... Hybrid might be a solution, or valve pre/SS power.

The 40w Prima would be underpowered for sure . The 70 w hp or evo might be different story. Only a demo will know for sure. I don’t want to go SS, going valves this time. Even thinking of valve CD player too. 

Edited September 4, 2019 by vassp1503562426

[H.E. Pennypacker]

25 minutes ago, vassp1503562426 said:

Yes, trying to get a home demo when the amps come in.  Electrocompaniet amps look pricey, trying to spend sane money on amps....is that possible with my speakers rotfl? 

Not really!

 

This is exactly my set up (The seller is actually another member of the forum @rockeater ).

 

https://rover.ebay.com/rover/0/0/0?mpre=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.ebay.com.au%2Fulk%2Fitm%2F333202983290

 

Edited September 4, 2019 by furtherpale

[Ittaku]

3 minutes ago, vassp1503562426 said:

The 40w Prima would be underpowered for sure . The 70 w hp of evo might be different story. I don’t want to go SS, going valves this time. Even thinking of valve CD player too. 

Okay, the best value quite powerful valves I can think of right now are probably these: https://www.osbornloudspeakers.com.au/cyber-800-ii

[vassp]

12 minutes ago, Ittaku said:

Okay, the best value quite powerful valves I can think of right now are probably these: https://www.osbornloudspeakers.com.au/cyber-800-ii

Thanks for the link, They look pretty good, going to do some investigations on these. How did you come accross these?

Edited September 4, 2019 by vassp1503562426

[Steever]

Shameless plug;

 

[Guest deanB]

8 minutes ago, vassp1503562426 said:

Thanks for the link, They look pretty good, going to do some investigations on these. How did you come accross these?

PrimaLuna prices for the new Evo range would indicate that PL is seeking to reinvent itself as a premium brand (as opposed to good value for not too much). What's really changed from the Prologue/Dialogue stuff? Certainly not the rather staid looks.

Consonance has stuck to it's roots. Add together the weight of the two Cyber 800 mb- 50+kg, 100+wpc for well under $5k. You can throw in the Linear 1 preamp on top for about the same price as a 100w PL Evo amp.

As you do a bit of googling, check out the Euro prices for Consonance. 

I've got no affiliation to Osborn Loudspeakers but I've owned the original Cyber 800 and they were excellent (driving Usher DM2).

 

[Ittaku]

26 minutes ago, vassp1503562426 said:

Thanks for the link, They look pretty good, going to do some investigations on these. How did you come accross these?

A friend is really passionate about the affordable Chinese valve amps which are always great value if you can steer clear of the dodgy ones. I listen to his stuff when he gets them  The cybers are definitely worth every cent and these monoblocks sound great. The stereo integrated is also good, but the KT150s in these take them into another league. Osborn tries to sell the integrated with KT150s optionally but I wouldn't do that as it's really not designed to run them and I'd anticipate failures.

[vassp]

6 minutes ago, deanB said:

PrimaLuna prices for the new Evo range would indicate that PL is seeking to reinvent itself as a premium brand (as opposed to good value for not too much). What's really changed from the Prologue/Dialogue stuff? Certainly not the rather staid looks.

Consonance has stuck to it's roots. Add together the weight of the two Cyber 800 mb- 50+kg, 100+wpc for well under $5k. You can throw in the Linear 1 preamp on top for about the same price as a 100w PL Evo amp.

As you do a bit of googling, check out the Euro prices for Consonance. 

I've got no affiliation to Osborn Loudspeakers but I've owned the original Cyber 800 and they were excellent (driving Usher DM2).

 

Completely agree about the new evo line going premium.  Starting to get ahead of them selves possibly? 

[Ittaku]

Just now, vassp1503562426 said:

Completely agree about the new evo line going premium.  Starting to get ahead of them selves possibly? 

Not an uncommon strategy. Once you get a reputation, you can provide an upgrade path to more expensive stuff for your existing customers, and spend a lot more on marketing to sell increasingly expensive equipment at more mark-up. I was just commenting on the makers of "anticables" which are meant to be the affordable no nonsense cable maker now selling speaker cables at $2k USD...

[Guest deanB]

9 minutes ago, vassp1503562426 said:

Completely agree about the new evo line going premium.  Starting to get ahead of them selves possibly? 

Possibly, time will tell. PL have been a popular brand that have made valve amp ownership easy and interactive (adaptive bias). Dealer discounts down the track if they've overreached?

Cayin, Consonance, Line Magnetic can all supply 100w amps for less.

[vassp]

It’s a buyers market, with cash to splash there would be some good deals to be had. 

[vassp]

Thanks for the input guys, I’m glad l came back and started posting again, your support is super helpful and much appreciated.

[Synodontis]

Hi @vassp1503562426

 

Not the Cyber 800 II as recommend above but I have these Cyber 800 blocks sitting here not doing much. Since your in Melbourne & hopefully not to far, your welcome to borrow them for a week or so to play with. Just send me a message if your interested. 

 

[vassp]

1 hour ago, Synodontis said:

Hi @vassp1503562426

 

Not the Cyber 800 II as recommend above but I have these Cyber 800 blocks sitting here not doing much. Since your in Melbourne & hopefully not to far, your welcome to borrow them for a week or so to play with. Just send me a message if your interested. 

 

Great offer and l would love to try, curious to see how my speakers would go with these, these would answer a lot of questions that’s for sure. What amps are you running atm? Are you running separates? Not sure if l should get a pre and then buy the power amps? A lot up in the air atm.

[Ittaku]

1 hour ago, Synodontis said:

Hi @vassp1503562426

 

Not the Cyber 800 II as recommend above but I have these Cyber 800 blocks sitting here not doing much. Since your in Melbourne & hopefully not to far, your welcome to borrow them for a week or so to play with. Just send me a message if your interested. 

 

 

That's a very generous offer! Very nice of you. @vassp1503562426 these will probably give you a similar tonal quality but lack the authority and control the latest ones will so if you like these, you'll love the II.

[vassp]

15 minutes ago, Ittaku said:

That's a very generous offer! Very nice of you. @vassp1503562426 these will probably give you a similar tonal quality but lack the authority and control the latest ones will so if you like these, you'll love the II.

Yes, this is the kind of help that, well, can’t put words to. 

[Synodontis]

10 hours ago, vassp1503562426 said:

Great offer and l would love to try, curious to see how my speakers would go with these, these would answer a lot of questions that’s for sure. What amps are you running atm? Are you running separates? Not sure if l should get a pre and then buy the power amps? A lot up in the air atm.

I don't have a dedicated 2ch setup, more HT & daily driver in the lounge. They came from the classifieds here around Nov last year & I've only put about 40hrs on them.  They are hooked up to a Yamaha CX-A5100 which runs everything then into a small pair of Osborne F4 / Interlude's. (I don't know which they are lol.)

The guy's here have a lot more experience with amps / speakers then I ever will. Just thought you might like to borrow them for a bit. I only brought them because I wanted to hear this "valve" sound so many are fond of. Personally I think pre is the way to go, opens up so many more options in the future to try different things without having to change much. Much easier to change out amps then an integrated.

 

What part of Melb are you in? 

[realysm42]

I agree about amperage delivery; watts only tell part of the story IME.

 

I’ve moved ‘down’ from 500wpc, to 200, but the current delivery on my new amps is 100 amp (instantaneous) and they sound much more in control and authorative.

[vassp]

9 hours ago, Synodontis said:

I don't have a dedicated 2ch setup, more HT & daily driver in the lounge. They came from the classifieds here around Nov last year & I've only put about 40hrs on them.  They are hooked up to a Yamaha CX-A5100 which runs everything then into a small pair of Osborne F4 / Interlude's. (I don't know which they are lol.)

The guy's here have a lot more experience with amps / speakers then I ever will. Just thought you might like to borrow them for a bit. I only brought them because I wanted to hear this "valve" sound so many are fond of. Personally I think pre is the way to go, opens up so many more options in the future to try different things without having to change much. Much easier to change out amps then an integrated.

 

What part of Melb are you in? 

I live way on the other side, I’m in Frankston. But if l do get a pre then l may take you up on the offer, all depends on what l do. 

[Darren69]

58 minutes ago, vassp1503562426 said:

I live way on the other side, I’m in Frankston. But if l do get a pre then l may take you up on the offer, all depends on what l do. 

Shame you aren’t closer mate, I have JBL 4367 driven beautifully by Parasound JC1s. Ayon Stratos tube front end. To die for

[vassp]

2 hours ago, Darren69 said:

Shame you aren’t closer mate, I have JBL 4367 driven beautifully by Parasound JC1s. Ayon Stratos tube front end. To die for

Why do you have to get me drooling like a hooch?

[Paul R]

Do also consider the Elektra Reference HD. 300w into 8 ohms and 600w into 4 ohms. Valve like SS amp, you may be surprised.

[vassp]

39 minutes ago, Paul R said:

Do also consider the Elektra Reference HD. 300w into 8 ohms and 600w into 4 ohms. Valve like SS amp, you may be surprised.

Thanks Paul, definitely checking more amps out. Next two weeks going to be interesting. Big question is do l go valve pre and ss amp/s or all valve.