Amp for Sonus Faber Cremonas Auditor

[Furyous]

A little bit late to the party here. But a Cyrus 3? Come on...

These are real high end standmounts, and you want to put every penny of that £1k to work if you can. I owned a pair for three years. They're also very hard to drive - far more than the specs suggest, and I actually found them less amp friendly than some 85dB ATC SCM20SL. A Sugden A21a couldn't manage - and Cyrus 3 would really get very little out of them. I wouldn't recommend any valve amp at less than 50W into 4 ohms.

They best I got them singing was with a Krell KSA-80 Class A monster. Absolutely beautiful sound - unsurpassed in many senses for me. At £1k the only SS integrated I'd consider would be a Krell KAV-300iL. These integrateds are the natural partners and indeed these Speakers were designed (IIRC) on the end of the bigger Krell power amps.

 

[shrink]

im afraid i have to agree with tenson... he's not recommending a solo cyrus 3... but rather one with the addition of a PSX-R

ive owned this combination, and will shortly own it again, and through some excellent speakers, ive found the combination to be gutsy, smooth, musical and engaging.

The PSX-R is a must though, and i dont think anyone should genuinely use a cyrus 3 without one.

i will be using a 3 and PSX-R into a pair of focal 1007be's which im guessing are in a similar price bracket to the sonus fabers. I have no hesitation whatsoever in using a III/PSX-R with these speakers.

I do recall going from an audiolab 8000Q/4x8000M setup down to the original III and PSX i had, and i felt i lost nothing, what i gained was a sound i could listen to and enjoy.

Ive rarely found an amplifier i have enjoyed quite so much.

Thats my two penneth worth anyway

 

[Baudrillard]

I have to disagree, I think in a blind test you would be hard pressed to tell any difference at all between most of these amps you are all talking about.

Thats interesting, as I prefer the 3 to the 7. I thought the 7, and in fact all the Cyrus amps after the 3, give the illusion of greater detail simply by sounding thin.

.

 

[Tenson]

I realised that was a bit of a contradiction when I wrote it, but I did say hard pressed, not impossible.

I think amps do sound different, but with sensibly designed SS amps its mainly just a matter of frequency response adjustments. Some amps have a bit more bass or treble. Once that is taken out of consideration they will sound very, very similar. In the most case even frequency response is so close its not very noticeable, but in some it is.

Having said that, there is no need to spend a lot of money to get an amp with a sound that suits, and a hell of a lot really do sound very similar.

 

[Dynamic Turtle]

Consonance and Prima Luna make good EL34/KT88/6550 push-pull amps with 25+ watts of power that should do a very nice job with the SFs. The PureSound A30 is also very highly regarded and is £1100 new, IIRC.

DT

Lol, I've just read the Plush review of the Cremona Auditors and RG recommended the Prima Luna and Puresound amps as partners. What a coincidence!

DT

 

[Furyous]

Lol, I've just read the Plush review of the Cremona Auditors and RG recommended the Prima Luna and Puresound amps as partners. What a coincidence!

DT

Is the Auditor M? The new models are quite significantly easier to drive than the originals, and more suitable for lower powered SS amps and typical valve amps.

Focal 1007BE are also a substantially easier load than the original Auditors. To have any hope of getting the proper bass extension and weight out of the original Auditors, you really need at least 100W of SS power. Even a Naim NAP250 struggled a little with mine - especially compared to the Krell.

 

[Dynamic Turtle]

Is the Auditor M? The new models are quite significantly easier to drive than the originals, and more suitable for lower powered SS amps and typical valve amps.

Focal 1007BE are also a substantially easier load than the original Auditors. To have any hope of getting the proper bass extension and weight out of the original Auditors, you really need at least 100W of SS power. Even a Naim NAP250 struggled a little with mine - especially compared to the Krell.

YEs I think it was the Ms and I'm surprised the power requirement has changed so much. Thought it was more of a "low of physics" thang, than an issue with drivers/crossover etc. Standmounts always like a lot of juice! I used to own a pair of signums and they made mincemeat out of my 70wpc Pathos Classic MkII.

DT

 

[Furyous]

Yep, laws of phisics still apply.

But they use a new bass driver and don't go quite as low. So it's possible to make them an easier load...