Solid State amps known to sound good with Klipsch

[efzauner]

I am running a Serbourn Pre-1  with a Bryston 4B amp... KLF20s.. sound great to me! 

 

 

[cg11861]

would sumo andromeda  and a sae a 501a work with lascalas ?

 

[Schu]

On 8/25/2016 at 2:22 PM, Steve_S said:

Been looking at the Wyred 4 Sound New SX-1000R.... What do you think for 2 channel using RF7ii

The lower output 500's would be better for music/2-channel... the mAmps would probably be better.

On 8/25/2016 at 2:22 PM, Steve_S said:

[Muzzer]

On 8/20/2015 at 1:09 AM, YK Thom said:

In general Marantz seems to match well, both vintage and modern.

Upvote !

[MyOwn]

On 9/5/2016 at 8:07 PM, Schu said:

The lower output 500's would be better for music/2-channel... the mAmps would probably be better.

Schu, thank you..... I've been teetering for a while on moving to SS

The mAMP, I've had had my eye on for quite a while. I missed a sale they had a few months back...

[cincymat]

I have two Emotiva based systems. One is bare bones basic, Emotiva XDA2 Dac/Pre combined with a XPA 200 amp. The other has the DC 1 Dac, XSP 1 pre amp, and twin XPA 1L G2 monoblocks.  My La Scalas really sound better on the bare bones system. So much so that my wife wondered if I'd bought new equipment when I hooked it up to see how they would sound. Based on this I'd say the XPA 200 amp is the difference. 

 

Mark

[2Bmusic]

7 hours ago, cincymat said:

I have two Emotiva based systems. One is bare bones basic, Emotiva XDA2 Dac/Pre combined with a XPA 200 amp. The other has the DC 1 Dac, XSP 1 pre amp, and twin XPA 1L G2 monoblocks.  My La Scalas really sound better on the bare bones system. So much so that my wife wondered if I'd bought new equipment when I hooked it up to see how they would sound. Based on this I'd say the XPA 200 amp is the difference. 

 

Mark

That is interesting... could it be any of the interconnects , or cables from amps to speakers?

[cincymat]

5 minutes ago, 2Bmusic said:

That is interesting... could it be any of the interconnects , or cables from amps to speakers?

I will have to experiment and see if I can learn why these systems sound so different. The weird thing is the more sophistcated system sounds much worse than the straight forward system. I first noticed the difference when I demoed a set of VRD tube monoblocks. Only difference was the amp. The Emotiva sound was more dynamic.  Weird. 

 

Mark

[Schu]

Simpler is better... as a generalization. At least for my ears.

One of the only times were more is always better is when you are adding an amp... as in monoblock. Ive had struggles with integrated units... even if they were internally separates.

[2Bmusic]

17 hours ago, cincymat said:

I will have to experiment and see if I can learn why these systems sound so different. The weird thing is the more sophistcated system sounds much worse than the straight forward system. I first noticed the difference when I demoed a set of VRD tube monoblocks. Only difference was the amp. The Emotiva sound was more dynamic.  Weird. 

 

Mark

ARE YOU saying the emotiva sounded better than the VRD's?   ( better= more dynamic?) 

[garyrc]

As I probably said earlier, my Klipschorns, Belle, and Heresy IIs sound good with NAD power amps (c.272).  Even better with a discontinued Luxman, but who can afford their current offerings?

 

Khorns, Belle, La Scala and Klipsch Cinema speakers are so efficient that they reveal noise (after the volume control) that less efficient speakers would not.  I did have a NAD preamp-processor that had too much noise with Khorns.  The noise came from beyond the volume control (i.e., stayed there even when the volume control was all the way down).  There was no noise from the NAD separate power amps.  I changed to a Marantz pre/pro, and it is very quiet -- with all the other equipment exactly the same. 

[cincymat]

6 hours ago, 2Bmusic said:

ARE YOU saying the emotiva sounded better than the VRD's?   ( better= more dynamic?) 

That is exactly what I'm saying. 

 

Mark

[2Bmusic]

Mark I Agree 100 and 50 %.   Other than here, VRD's have no reputation.  I have owned the VRD's, and the Emotiva.  Sold the VRD's and returned the Emotiva. Vintage Sansui BA/ CA F1 stomps the VRD's and is a smidgen better than the emotiva.  This is of course into Khorns. I do not know the results into non horn loaded speakers.

[cincymat]

4 hours ago, 2Bmusic said:

Mark I Agree 100 and 50 %.   Other than here, VRD's have no reputation.  I have owned the VRD's, and the Emotiva.  Sold the VRD's and returned the Emotiva. Vintage Sansui BA/ CA F1 stomps the VRD's and is a smidgen better than the emotiva.  This is of course into Khorns. I do not know the results into non horn loaded speakers.

I can only compare the VRD and Emotiva amps through my La Scalas. Two different pairs. Just bought a used Peachtree Audio Decco65 on a whim for my garage LSI's. I'll post my impressions this weekend. 

 

Mark

[HDBRbuilder]

OK...I actually PREFER the low-wattage amplifier sections of the H/K "X"30 twin-powered receiver series...BUT since this is about solid state AMPLIFIERS...then, well...lets talk about POWER amps...

 

For Klipsch heritage series speakers...Do any of you remember these?  Dynaco Stereo 400 M/A with whisper fan option (M/A is the VU meters added option)...200 wpc...which you would NEVER really NEED for these speakers, but which provides extra OOMPF for complex musical passages at higher volumes.  One of my favorite solid state power amps of all time!

[DizRotus]

6 hours ago, HDBRbuilder said:

OK...I actually PREFER the low-wattage amplifier sections of the H/K "X"30 twin-powered receiver series...BUT since this is about solid state AMPLIFIERS...then, well...lets talk about POWER amps...

 

For Klipsch heritage series speakers...Do any of you remember these?  Dynaco Stereo 400 M/A with whisper fan option (M/A is the VU meters added option)...200 wpc...which you would NEVER really NEED for these speakers, but which provides extra OOMPF for complex musical passages at higher volumes.  One of my favorite solid state power amps of all time!

 

I used one of those Dynaco ST400 amps to power 4 Speakerlab SKhorns in a mobile DJ biz in the mid 70s.  With two 8 ohm SKs in parallel per channel the Dynaco put out 300 watts per channel (4 ohm load) I fried the occasional T-35 voicecoil, replacements were readily available from EV.

[HDBRbuilder]

18 hours ago, DizRotus said:

 

I used one of those Dynaco ST400 amps to power 4 Speakerlab SKhorns in a mobile DJ biz in the mid 70s.  With two 8 ohm SKs in parallel per channel the Dynaco put out 300 watts per channel (4 ohm load) I fried the occasional T-35 voicecoil, replacements were readily available from EV.

Dynaco Stereo 400 DOES have a power limiter switch, though...which can easily negate blowing K-77 diaphragms...but in a pro-use situation, it is understandable to use the full wattage setting, and there is tweeter protection in the crossovers of the KLIPSH K-horns which the Speakerlabs did NOT have, if I remember correctly.  What is your take on the quality of sound through those speakers using that Stereo 400?

[SWL]

In my experience, vintage early to mid-70's Marantz has always worked well for me with Klipsch. Warm, rich sound that since I've had all of mine restored I can add 'detailed and clean' to the description. For the last few months a Model 30 combined with a Model 3600 have been sounding great together.

Sent from my SM-G920R4 using Tapatalk

[DizRotus]

2 hours ago, HDBRbuilder said:

 What is your take on the quality of sound through those speakers using that Stereo 400?

 

It was excellent.  Not Khorn excellent, but excellent nonetheless.  The bass was so good that one repeat customer, when re-booking a gig asked if the quoted price included the drummer.  It was all I could do to convince her that there had never been a drummer.  I was ahead of the curve.  I used the plywood from the shipping crates to enclose the backs.  After a kid at a middle school dance stole one of the Atlas squawkers, I covered the backs and fronts of the tophats with hardware cloth (metal screen).  The school principal let it be known that there would be no more dances if the driver did not reappear.  It did and there were.  

 

They were, IMO, the best iteration of Speakerlab SKhorns.  They were factory-built from plywood with aluminum squawkers.  The crossovers were cheesey looking with L-pads rather than autoformers.  They never failed to impress visually or sonically.  The loud and clear high db levels of efficient horn-loaded speakers, did a number on my high frequency hearing.  I used the then ubiquitous large Sennheiser open-air headphones to cue up the next record,  Wearing them with no sound coming from them mitigated the noise level but not as well as brain crushers would have done.

 

 

[Speakerfritz]

dont know the exact model number....it was a pioneer 21 something or another.  it was an SS class A amp that put out 30 watts...you could fry eggs on the heat sinks....the amp looked like a tube amp and sounded like one.  4 caps the size of coke cans.   I have owned 3 of them in my lifetime and always regret I dont have one now.