What now?

[mca]

It's been a busy couple of weeks for me. My Piega C8ltd's arrived and I also sold my three existing sets of speakers. Now it's time to find the ultimate amp and preamp combo to go with the Piegas.

At the top of my list is McIntosh gear, as others I have talked to say they mate up with the Piega's very well. I would be looking at the MC402 amp and C2200 pre combo.

Some other equipment I have been thinking about are:

Belles 350A amp and 21A pre.

Moscode 401HR amp and CIA PLC-1 passive pre.

Herron Audio M1 amps and VTSP-2 pre.

Any comments or suggestions?

[richidoo]

Congrats on the new speakers and selling your old ones so fast!

I heard the Moscode and Placette active passive at RMAF. One of my favorite rooms. Very clean pure sound, good synergy between them. Can't remember the speakers, maybe mentioned in the RMAF reviews somewhere. Nice guys all, I would trust them with my money. Home trial on both brands if they fit on your credit card...  

[Carlman]

Well, you know what I like... And I would've never ended up here had I not heard it in person first.

The c220 and 402 are not as good as the c2200 and 501 mono's I based my decision on.. but I simply could not afford the top o' the line.  Also, the nice thing about Mc is that when it IS time to move up, I'll get most of my money back in the resale.... even if that's 20 years from now. hahaha  As IF I could keep a system that long.  

However, I do feel 'finished' with the Mc/Piega combo.  I like Scot Nixon's non-oversampling USB DAC also.  I pretty much copied Hantra's system piece by piece over the past few years.  They still both sound very different from one another... but they do things that are very enjoyable.

This is a long way of saying it'll be hard to say what you will like in the end because only you know what will connect you to the music best.  The Piega's are a fairly neutral speaker and can sound harsh or sweet depending on what's in front of them.  They will provide a wide and deep soundstage and stunning imaging.... and show off everything upstream, from source to speaker cables.  The Piega's aren't lively or relaxed.  They just do their best with what they get.  I learned this over and over... basically... it's NOT the speakers.  

Anyway, they do like power, despite their reasonably efficient claim... The Mc's autoformers will work well with these speakers and give them a coherency that compliments their sound well.  If I didn't go with a Mc, I'd look for good tube amps... Not sure what would be a good suggestion in that price range.

I have either limited or no experience with the amps/preamps you're considering.  However, I can't see how the Belles would be a good match... from the little I know... just me.  I would wager that'd be a bit on the cold side if that's what you like but with good impact.  I like warm and sweet with detail and realism... sort of a tubey sound.  

Anyway, that's what I know.. bottom line is you'll need to hear some stuff in your room to make this decision.. and comparing amps is tough.

Oh, one last note.. the C220 needs 2 things... new tubes or cryo'd existing tubes... and you must isolate the transformer.  (fairly easy to do both)  Then it's about as good as the 2200...

-C

[miklorsmith]

You have an Odyssey Stratos that puts out a lot of powee and is probably on the clean side.  I think you should do some listening with that for a while to get a handle on how the speaker/room voicing balances.  Choosing the amp/pre should be based on what direction you want the system to go.  Without a proper baseline, you'd be shooting in the dark.

The Odyssey will also give you a handle on power, specifically whether you need more.  This will be important.  My feeling is getting your tube fix out of the preamp and/or hybrid amp makes sense.  The tube forest you'd need to properly drive those speaks would be ridiculous.

I'm finding the Lamm is plenty of tube in my system, even without the Yamamoto.

We have a Mac dealer in town (Magnolia), you should see if they'll let you demo the stuff

[bpape]

I'd agree completely.  Start with the Stratos.  It will show you what kind of bass capabilities you're going to have and also give you a good handle on the amount of power required.

'Voicing' the system to the mellower side with a tube preamp would also be my suggestion.  I know the combination of my Korato (with VH OIMP output caps and old RCA BlackPlates) coupled with the Mono Extreme SE's is a sweet combo that I'm just loving with my Dynaudios.  Never sounded so good top to bottom.

Bryan

[WEEZ]

I'd be curious to hear what they sound like with the 3205...prolly won't rock the room, but......

 

WEEZ

[mca]

I tried the Stratos with the Piegas last night. The additional power was a plus, but the amp is too unrefined in the top end. The treble sharpness stood out like a sore thumb and was only good for a short listening session before fatigue set in.

Over the weekend I plan to try bi-amping the speakers with the Stratos on bass and the Bella on the top end.

[opnly bafld]

I would like to hear the Herron pre and amps someday even though they are pretty much out of my price range.
I was talking to Marty of BFS a month or so ago about all things audio.
He mentioned Herron (as one of only a few brand names) and likes them a lot.
I have come to trust Marty's judgement on components I have not had the opportunity to hear myself, so I made a mental note to try and hear the Herron gear.
Has anybody here had any experience with Herron, any thoughts?

FWIW,
Lin

[bpape]

The Stratos (std) by itself is a bit tipped on the high end.  The Extreme is much smoother.  Coupled with a good tube pre, I find the highs to be just right - may not work with the Piega's though.  My main question would be did it do what you wanted on the bottom understanding that you're still trying to do the room setup thing.

Bryan

[miklorsmith]

I like the bi-amp idea a lot.  You may have all the tools right there without spending a dime.

[bobrex]

I use a Herron phono stage, it's a great unit.  Ever so slightly strong in the bass, not enough to be plummy, but enough to be noticed. Never had a problem with it, I'm just now getting ready to order new tubes after 6 years.

I've heard the older line stage (VTSP-1) and it's also a fantastic piece.  

Harry Pearson reviewed the new Herron pre a couple of months ago as part of a line stage survey.  It kind of flummoxed him.  He felt is was an extremely neutral and it took him a while to come to terms with it.

[opnly bafld]

I use a Herron phono stage, it's a great unit.  Ever so slightly strong in the bass, not enough to be plummy, but enough to be noticed. Never had a problem with it, I'm just now getting ready to order new tubes after 6 years.

I've heard the older line stage (VTSP-1) and it's also a fantastic piece.  

Harry Pearson reviewed the new Herron pre a couple of months ago as part of a line stage survey.  It kind of flummoxed him.  He felt is was an extremely neutral and it took him a while to come to terms with it.

Thanks

Lin

[lonewolfny42]

So Mike....how goes it with the Piega C8's ? Thanks....

[mca]

The Piega/Mac system is starting to sound very good. Carl mentioned that the Mac amp takes a couple of months to break-in and so I have been letting it play almost non-stop since I bought it. There is still a bit of brightness/sharpness/tenseness to the notes, but it is getting better. I do see why the Piega's like the Mac amp, as they can soak up a lot of power.

I still have a terrible bass problem in my room. Measurements show my bass is as follows:

-6db at 31hz
-13db at 40hz
-8db at 50hz

I have tried lots of different placements with my bass traps, and the above numbers are the best I have been able to achieve.

I think as soon as I get the bass figured out,  (still looking into ASC tube traps) things will be sounding very good  

[lonewolfny42]

Thanks Mike....good luck getting it all together....