New amp to drive Sonus Faber Olympica III - Hegel? Coda? Mark Levinson?

My fault. Below 50 kgs. Anyway I looking for SS amp. This McIntosh is hybrid, isn’t it? But looks great!
 
W9TR said:
Many satisfied Sonus Faber / McIntosh users. Including me. :)
Suprised the MA 12000 hasn’t shown up in this thread as yet.
Might be a great match.
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I had the McIntosh C2300 and MC600 mono amplifiers powering my Elipsa SE’s. My PrimaLuna integrated sounded better. Then went for the separates, and quite happy.
 
Boris99 said:
My fault. Below 50 kgs. Anyway I looking for SS amp. This McIntosh is hybrid, isn’t it? But looks great!
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If looking for solid state, I can’t recommend the Boulder 866 integrated strongly enough. Wonderful amp.
 
Maybe Mike can chime in he carries both 590 & WW. I've had some WW in my system that friends hav brought over, I feel the character would fit your speakers but I hesitate to recommend which one to use.

Boris99 said:
Which models of WW are good enough for Sonus/Hegel level? From Equinox and up?
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Mike said:
The dual mono design of the 590 puts it on another level compared to its siblings. Congrats! Hopefully Roon cert for it will be right around the corner. The irony is that the Hegel rep is also the Roon rep. [emoji848]


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Hi Mike! WW Equinox 8 or AZen Hologram or A+ 9 or Tellurium Q Black/Silver or… something in this price range? Sonus/Hegel sounds pretty neutral; perhaps there is not enough warmth in the middle, as I’m used to. Also afraid of losing highs
 
Boris99 said:
Hi Mike! WW Equinox 8 or AZen Hologram or A+ 9 or Tellurium Q Black/Silver or… something in this price range? Sonus/Hegel sounds pretty neutral; perhaps there is not enough warmth in the middle, as I’m used to. Also afraid of losing highs
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Shunyata.


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Boris - Of those 3 amps I'm only familiar with the ML 5805. This was amongst a dozen amps I bought or borrowed to replace tube amps I'd previously been using. It was quite good but not the best of the dozen.

Someone mentioned GamuT - I had the D200 Mk III for a year or so. Personally I preferred the GamuT over the ML and would have kept it if it wasn't for my high sensitivity speakers that objected to Gamut's lack of soft start and stop circuit.

You could look outside the box and consider a Purifi-based Class D amp. After testing the dozen amps, I chose the relatively cheap NAD M33. 200 / 380 watts 8/4 ogms, so plenty of power. You COULD better this, but it'll cost a great deal more than the amps on your list, I believe.
 
I have digital combo already - Lyngdorf TDAI-1120 There is perfect baby with room correction. But anyway I think such modern devices sound synthetic. Now comparing Hegel 590 and Luxman 590. Both are in my room connecting to SF Olympica 3
 
that should be interesting, which do you like better?

Boris99 said:
I have digital combo already - Lyngdorf TDAI-1120 There is perfect baby with room correction. But anyway I think such modern devices sound synthetic. Now comparing Hegel 590 and Luxman 590. Both are in my room connecting to SF Olympica 3
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Lyngdorf TDAI-1120 is very functional nice hi-fi. It has room correction which make them very useful. There is real advantage over other similar devices.
Luxman L-590AxII - wool and silk :-) warm, wide and rich sound. Very well done. Real good old Japan quality. Very good companion for my Harbeths. But not enough powerful for my Sonus Oly 3.
Hegel H590 hmmm...... powerful, good sound. It would be interesting to make comparison A/B test with Gryphon 300. I didn't compared DAC but believe to many reviewers that it is fine. However quality is disappointment.
Cheap frame made of... sure not like tin but.... Noisy transformer. I even found microphone effect whet put it on floor near speaker.
But Hegel can drive my Sonus which I like. Cheap frame - yes but light weight... Gryphon 300 is well done and gorgeous but more expensive and heavy.
So, I will keep Hegel for Sonus. Lyngdorf for Harbeths in my study room. So sad but good-bye Luxman

Thank you for advices everybody
 
Boris, sounds like you made some excellent choices. Happy listening!
 
If they are available to you look at Herbie's Audio for some isolation feet, they are very reasonably priced and work. Probably need Tender Foot and maybe one of the items to place on top, forgot the name.
 
Have the CODA CSiB driving B&W 804 D3s, came to this thread after the fact you went with the 590 to power your SFs, seems like a good match 👍 for those speakers

I have Transparent speaker cables, you might add them to your list to audition.
 
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