I would go with the Pass, as the
Olympica III in the power region is around 2ohms at 100hz, a tube amp would be a gamble.
https://ibb.co/hoYNyF
Cheers George
https://ibb.co/hoYNyF
Cheers George
Best Tube Amp For Sonus Faber? Or Pass XA-100.5? $6-7,500 Budget, Purchasing Used.
I would go with the Pass, as the
Olympica III in the power region is around 2ohms at 100hz, a tube amp would be a gamble. https://ibb.co/hoYNyF Cheers George |
Nightfall, I've recently heard a system that had Olympica 2's paired with a pass xp-10 preamp and the xa100.5 mono's, I know you have the 3's but this was a very nice combo. Plenty of pwr with a very nice engaging midrange and too end with excellent control and no bloat whatsoever on the bottom end. The owner is a friend in our local audio club and he was a longtime tube guy for many years and he is totally satisfied with the sound,other than upgrading to the 3's someday. The Olympica's are not a easy load for a Amp I personally would stay away from tubes,just my opinion. The pass gear would be easier to sale just in case you needed to sale it,just a thought. Kenny. |
I tend to agree with George, I'm not sure that a tube amp would work well with the
Sonus Faber Olympica III's, they are not an easy load. Any VAC amp that can put out 100 wpc and use KT-150 tubes though MAY be able to do it. I was actually using a VAC 160iSE integrated amp before the XA-100.5 mono-blocks, and my speakers have similar specs (90 dB, 5 ohm versus your 90 dB, 4 ohm). Switching to the XA-100.5 amps, the sound-stage opened up immensely. Not really surprising going from a tube stereo amp to SS mono-block amps. Mating the Pass amps with an ARC Ref 5 preamp, the resolution of the highs and lows also became more extended and defined. The only place I would give the edge to the VAC was in the midrange. Though the Pass are quite warm and musical, the VAC had that touch of *magic* in the midrange, that fuzz on the peach quality, that only a tube amp can do. The XA-100.5's do get quite warm after a couple of hours, but I wouldn't say they turned the listening room into a sauna. They aren't close to the hottest amp I've ever owned (BAT VK-75SE). However, they are quite a bit warmer than the Jeff Rowland Model 6 mono's. Another amp to consider, since you want tubes, but don't really have tube friendly speakers, is an Aesthetix Atlas. A hybrid amp with 400 wpc into your 4 ohm load, but with a pair of 6SN7 tubes in the driver stage. Just a thought. |
Thanks very much for all the input, guys. Like jmcgrogan2, George and kdude66 , I am more and more of the thinking that a solid state amp is probably the way to go with these speakers. I've just been a tube guy for so long. However, great performance is great performance, no matter how one gets it. The 100.5's have been recommended previously by at least half a dozen audio people who I truly respect, including a couple major audio reviewers that I discussed it with at Axpona. Now the question is waiting for some to appear for sale. I have been on the waiting list at Reno HiFi quite a while for a pair of 100.5's. Lets hope that Mark is able to come through with some sooner than later. |