Amps that sound great with Avantgarde speakers ?

the professor said:
Thats cool Mike.

I can't wait for the First Watt SIT-3 to start shipping tho. I have a feeling its going to be a big winner for AG's
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Me too. I ordered 5 of them. 4 have already sold. I talked to Desmond last week and he said they will soon begin building them. I never thought Nelson would use up his stash of V-FET’s., but I’m glad he is!
 
First Watt F7 and SIT1, SIT2 and SIT3, Valvet E2se, Luxman 590 AXII and MQ300 are all outstanding, as well as the PCF 25 (F7 clone with better parts).
 
The LTA ZOTL10 sounds excellent over Uno Fino XDs and will stay. Ive tried the Valvet, First Watt F7, KR Audio VT20, Allnic 300B int. and ARC V35. I'm in no hurry to try more amps.
 
Thomas Mayer 45 drives 45 is outstanding on Duo Mezzo XD’s. It is on another planet compared to all others I have tried and I long for nothing. That last part is revealing for me as a lifelong audiophile.
 

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Thomas makes beautiful gear. I’m sure you are in heaven with that setup.
 
joeinid said:
Thomas makes beautiful gear. I’m sure you are in heaven with that setup.
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Yes, he does...they exude quality in every way. The noise level on the Duo Mezzos with linestage gain near 90% is completely absent with ear to the drivers. This is more quiet than any combination of low sensitivity, fully balanced systems I've had in the past. They are a straight wire to the brain for emotional communication.
 
joeinid said:
First Watt F7 and SIT1, SIT2 and SIT3, Valvet E2se, Luxman 590 AXII and MQ300 are all outstanding, as well as the PCF 25 (F7 clone with better parts).
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Hi Joe, I am assuming the Luxman mq300 model is SET, while 590 is push pull. How different do push pull amps sound from SET? Or is one better than the other on all fronts?
 
Germanboxers said:
Thomas Mayer 45 drives 45 is outstanding on Duo Mezzo XD’s. It is on another planet compared to all others I have tried and I long for nothing. That last part is revealing for me as a lifelong audiophile.
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Hi Germanboxers?
Which other amps have you tried, if you don't mind sharing?

Enjoy for many years in great health!
 
puroagave said:
with AGs, 80 WPC is overkill power-wise. you only need 3-4 WPC.
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Yeah those are a bit over the top. So many 300B in one monoblock!

Well, I did enjoy a Shindo Cortese immensely with a few pairs of Tannoy including the Canterbury SE's. Has anyone tried Shindo or is 8-10w also an overkill?
 
Boogieman said:
Hi Joe, I am assuming the Luxman mq300 model is SET, while 590 is push pull. How different do push pull amps sound from SET? Or is one better than the other on all fronts?
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SET is sweeter, more open, three dimensional, a little slower and more liquid. The 590 is probably better for classical music or when you want tighter bass and a little more taughtness overall. Both are great in different ways and really depends on the music that you love.
 
Boogieman said:
Hi Germanboxers?
Which other amps have you tried, if you don't mind sharing?

Enjoy for many years in great health!
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When I received the Duo Mezzo’s, I had the ARC Ref75SE. Not a great combination, so I tried my Valvet A4 mono’s and preferred them considerably. On my prior Zu Definitions Mk 4’s, the ARC was easily the better. Tried my friends Atma-Sphere MA-1’s (originally mine). It was excellent, but they need the Hexfried diode upgrade and lower gain version to be livable with the AG’s, just too noisy. I then traded my ARC for my brother’s Audion Black Shadow 845 SET (mine originally). Definitely the right direction.

I had been following Thomas’ blog for some time and thought this was the time to take the plunge. In discussions with Thomas it became clear that the best sound quality path was the lowest power for my budget...started narrowing in on the 45 amp driven by either the 10Y or the 45, but couldn’t get over the idea of 2w/ch being sufficient, despite having used 300B’s with the 101db Zu’s to good effect, mathematically equivalent to 2w on 107db. I decided to purchase an Oliver Sayes 45 Korneff clone before deciding. When I first put it in the system I liked it better than all the others and I still had all of them, save the ARC in house. Ran it through its courses and when it transfixed me on Tool’s latest album, I realized 2w/ch would be just fine so pulled the trigger with Thomas.

While waiting for my amps and linestage, I purchased another 45 clone, this time a Yamamoto clone, again made by Oliver Sayes. And then picked up another Oliver Sayes built amp, a 46 based amp. For some music the 46 based amp was outstanding, but overall, 1w/ch just wasn’t enough for times i wanted to “jam”.

Received the Thomas Mayer gear and sold my entire inventory except the Valvets and the Audion Black Shadows. The Valvets I’ll eventually sell and my friend really wants to buy the Black Shadows when he has the money so I’ll hold them until he can afford to buy them.

I think that about covers it. I have zero interest in anything else...I’ve found my end.

You can see some of the amps in this pic.

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You can see the Oliver Sayes Yamamoto 45 clone and the 46 amp in the upper left of this pic.
 

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Beautiful layout. Thomas’ gear is not cheap but I’m sure absolutely awesome.

Germanboxers said:
When I received the Duo Mezzo’s, I had the ARC Ref75SE. Not a great combination, so I tried my Valvet A4 mono’s and preferred them considerably. On my prior Zu Definitions Mk 4’s, the ARC was easily the better. Tried my friends Atma-Sphere MA-1’s (originally mine). It was excellent, but they need the Hexfried diode upgrade and lower gain version to be livable with the AG’s, just too noisy. I then traded my ARC for my brother’s Audion Black Shadow 845 SET (mine originally). Definitely the right direction.

I had been following Thomas’ blog for some time and thought this was the time to take the plunge. In discussions with Thomas it became clear that the best sound quality path was the lowest power for my budget...started narrowing in on the 45 amp driven by either the 10Y or the 45, but couldn’t get over the idea of 2w/ch being sufficient, despite having used 300B’s with the 101db Zu’s to good effect, mathematically equivalent to 2w on 107db. I decided to purchase an Oliver Sayes 45 Korneff clone before deciding. When I first put it in the system I liked it better than all the others and I still had all of them, save the ARC in house. Ran it through its courses and when it transfixed me on Tool’s latest album, I realized 2w/ch would be just fine so pulled the trigger with Thomas.

While waiting for my amps and linestage, I purchased another 45 clone, this time a Yamamoto clone, again made by Oliver Sayes. And then picked up another Oliver Sayes built amp, a 46 based amp. For some music the 46 based amp was outstanding, but overall, 1w/ch just wasn’t enough for times i wanted to “jam”.

Received the Thomas Mayer gear and sold my entire inventory except the Valvets and the Audion Black Shadows. The Valvets I’ll eventually sell and my friend really wants to buy the Black Shadows when he has the money so I’ll hold them until he can afford to buy them.

I think that about covers it. I have zero interest in anything else...I’ve found my end.

You can see some of the amps in this pic.

View attachment 29009
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Great to hear about your experience, Jordan. The Thomas Mayer stuff would probably be first in line if i splurge on Duo XDs some day. Viva Solista a close second.

One other amp I'd love to hear on AGs is the new 47 Labs amp. Minimal parts, circuit path.
 
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