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Are there really a bad misfits in the hifijungle out there

I was sitting in a hifishop. Talking to different people, and we was discussing Sonus Faber IL Cremonese loudspeakers, and amps. 
But we could not find one amp that did not go well with this loudspeaker. And we  was talking about Pass Labs, Accuphase, McIntosh and Acoustic Research. But we was all agreed on one thing. There is no amp if it has enough power that cant be placed together with the Sonus Faber.
But we could not agree on what amp that was the best for the IL Cremonese. Me myself love the Pass, because i thing that it has the best open and rythmic sound of these 3 amps, But whayt about you good people. Is there really in the modern world of hifi, a really bad combination ?
128x128heidrun
douglas_schroeder
1,824 posts
 
One man's bad combination is another man's glory. I've given up trying to understand how some people justify what is plainly to me abysmal sound.  :) 
erik_squires
5,268 posts
 
Yep. Find a speaker that dips below 3 Ohms and suddenly they'll appear "discerning" of amplifiers. Same for ESL's. 

Don't get me wrong, there are a lot of very easy to drive speakers, thank goodness, which do not require 200 lb monoblocks to drive effortlessly, but the monsters do exist.

I have also personally found deliberately poor crossovers by Focal which deliberately choose to drop the impedance for just this reason. 
dlcockrum's avatar
dlcockrum
2,105 posts
 
So you consider Thiels and Apogees monsters, Erik? Feed them properly and behold the magic...

The impedance curves are designed not to be deliberately/unnecessarily difficult, but to deliver the sound character, and especially the bass response, that the designer intended. 

Dave
roberjerman
2,086 posts
 
Tube amps with output impedance of greater than 1 ohm are to be avoided! The June Stereopile has a review and test of the Rogers SE El34/KT88 integrated tube amp. Output impedance in the range of 6 to 8 ohms! Terrible! And distortion of 3% at 6 watts! $4K list price! If a SS amp measured so bad it wouldn't go into production! Such an amp will act as a tone control as it tracks the varying impedance of the typical speaker. The reviewer (HR) likes it!
roberjerman
2,086 posts
 
I own three SE tube amps: a 2A3, a 45 and a 6BG6. Of all my speakers only the Heresy's are a good match (99db sensitivity). My PP tube amps (ST70, Dyna MkIII, Heath W5, D75 ... ) are far more practical and useful with most of my speakers!
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