best mach for SB venere 1.5


HI guys ,I really tried not to start new thread but couldn't find answers im looking.
let me start of by saying im new to audiophile systems ,im kinda trying to start in slow and live my childhood dreams. I recently bought SF venere after listening speakers that I always thought are interesting (dynaudio xeo 3,ML motion 15 and 20,B&W cm1 and pm 1,as well as cm 5 ,old 602 s3.i was planning to listen to dynaudio x12 and paradigm studio 20 but when i heard sf's i just fell in love.(its not strange after coming from old jbl venue 10 pushed by sony avr and my ochildhood system which was akai integrated amp and pioneer s310 speakers.)
now i need to get amplification that will be most suitable for them.budget is 2000$ it will be fed by my mac mini as all my cds and vinyl is in Europe and i have evryting on my hdds here in America.that been said i was looking in some integrated amps such as krell si300,elecrtocompanient pi2 ,hegel h 80,parasound combo p5 and a21.integrated dac was my preference bcs i cant afford stand alone if i by something on the top of my budget but im open to anything.music i listen to goes from classical to dead metal but most of my time i listen to harder stuff.listenig room is my living room not to big maybe 20m3 but really broken up in shape with carpet all around. Also if u can put some words on cables on the budget i would appreciate it a loooot.newbie
subcrime
speakers came they are currently been worked in with my sony avr and even with that they are sounding woow. still looking for amplification i read a lot these past month all around the web a lot of ppl were suggesting audio research but it seams out of my budget even for second hand ,i would really appreciate if some one can point me in right direction ,few thoughts here and there will help a lot .thank u
"now i need to get amplification that will be most suitable for them"

It would be helpful to know what aspects of sound reproduction are most important to you as "suitable" means very different things to different people. But, without that info, I would think it would be hard to go wrong with something like the Hegel H80 as it's a good all-rounder and has the onboard DAC you're looking for. There's also a nice H70 for sale here now for $900 that would probably get you close for less than half the price and leaves room in your budget for decent cables/interconnects. I found the Acoustic Zen Silver Reference II interconnects (Silver Ref I would work too, that is if you even need interconnects) and Satori cables (you'd need to buy both used, which is the way to go anyway) to be a nice match with the Venere 2.5s. They let the detail of the tweeter come through without being at all harsh and fully communicated very real and palpable mids the speakers are capable of. I'll have to defer to others on USB cable recommendations. There are undoubtedly other (and maybe cheaper) cables that would work well too, but just wanted to throw out one recommendation from experience. You could try some cables from direct sellers (Grover Huffman, Morrow, etc.) who usually have generous trial periods and return policies so you can try at home, and they offer good value. Hope this helps and best of luck.
THks for ur answer soix,it did help,i have been looking in hegel and its one of my choices (h-80) along with krill s300i, electrocompanient pi2 ,musical fidelity m5 .what is most important to me ?uff I'm new in this so it was a huge step up from what i had bfr to venere 1.5,i like to feel as closes to artist as its possible ,so i guess I'm looking that "live"feeling ,wide sound stage and details .i listen to all sorts of music and most of it is melodic /piano and metal at the same time,so u have mix of dynamics,fast bass lines on one and details and piano /vocal parts on the other hand.i hope this will help
I have not heard the Venere, so am just suggesting some good integrateds that you might not have considered, mostly at $2K or under. I have quite a bit of experience with SF, but not with the Venere line, unfortunately. At 85dB and 6 ohm they may be a little hard to drive. Stereophile actually measured them at 82 dB, I believe.

Plinius 8200 MkII is very good, but also hard to find. Has a great following.

NAD C390DD is an all digital offering, scaled down from there more expensive M2. The M3 is also available used in your range, not DD.

I have always liked Naim, so the 5i or XS might be a option.

Absolute Sound used a Hegel H300 in its review. You should check out out the review if you have not already. You probably have if you are considering the H80.

I have a Pathos Classic One driving old SF Concerto and it is lovely rich sound. The tube front end is very nice if you like that richness. If you like real detail, a hybrid may not be the way to go.

Peachtree Nova 125 is also a hybrid integrated but adds a usb DAC. I have never heard one, but many people like Peachtree. Again, it is a hybrid so you get some of the tube sound.

Ayre typically matches well to SF. However, their AX-7e integrated can be hard to find used. But I bet it would be a nice combination.

Of course, Wyred 4 Sound is suppose to be the giant killer these days. You might want to look at their integrateds.

The Yamaha S-2000 is another option, at the top of your price range new. It has gotten excellent reviews. Don't be put off by the Yamaha name. It is a fine integrated.

Some of these may be a bit of overkill for the 1.5s. Just thought I would throw out some options to consider. Probably adds more confusion that help, but these are what I would consider in your price range.

Good luck.

You might want to concider the Expsure 2010s2 integrated amp. It has gotten great reviews form professional and user reviews. I think it would be a perfect match for your speakers. I have not heard one myself but everyone that has seems to concur it is something special. $1695.00 and 75 watts a channel.
I would like to second the Exposure 2010s2. I preferred it over the Hegel 100 but they are two different types of sound. The 2010 s2 works well to get you jamming at low too moderate listening levels very quickly. The Hegel is a much more detailed and refined amp, but just lacks the PRAT of the exposure . I just purchased a Rogue Sphinx earlier today...If it falls between the 2010s2 and Hegel 100 I will have found my perfect amp.
djverne i would like to know more abt ur experience with all 3 as I'm gonna demo sphinx nxt week as well.i do like more details and air but i like the strong and tight bottom part as well
Listend to the rogue audio sphinx and Cronus and both surprise
Me but sphinx dnt have quite enough juice to push venere as much as I would like.
Cronus on the other hand was wow for
Me . I never herd tubes bfr and it was great experience . Now I have something to compare when I go try Hegel and krell . Please write if u had some experience with any of these products
I just wasn't impressed with the sphinx, nice big soundstage but lacking in refinement. Not that the 2010s2 is much more refined...but it us much more musical and dynamic. I would say go for the Hegel H80 or the Exposure 2010s2. I was talking to my girlfriend today about the different amps we have tried. I mentioned to her that I think had I kept my Fritz Carbon 7s and paired them with the Hegel 100 in a bigger room that would have been a real nice combo. Unfortunately when I had the Hegel it was just paired with my Focus 110's--this combo lacked a little mid bass. I think if your not looking to use a sub woofer the Hegel H 80 is a fantastic choice.
i got a good offer on all hegel's but i can't try them but i can return them ,I'm just concern how much power i really need to stay linear on low levels with my speakers and can hegel 80 or 100 do that job?
For low level listening I think your speakers would benefit greatly dynamics wise form the exposure 2010s2....it's all there. On the other hand as you turn the volume up the Hegel will get the most out of your speakers filling the room with sound. The Hegel really does take about 150 -200 hours before the bass kicks in. Once it does though it's as good as any class d amp I have tried. The Hegel H80 may actually be a better sounding amp because it has a really good dac built in, better than the H100, but has no pre outs for a sub. If you get it don't be surprised if the sound is very thin at first, it takes a while to break in. What are your music tastes by the way? I listen to a lot of electronic music and acoustic vocals. The Hegel is far more refined and fantastic for acoustic material, electronic landscape music, and is very 3d. The exposure just gives you more grunt and is faster, the lower end is not as defined as the Hegel but it's more there at lower levels. The Exposure is very forgiving of sub par material, the Hegel sounds more refined when giving any thing CD level and up. If you went the Exposure route the Shit Bitfrost is a perfect match.. got mine for $300.
Djverne makes some really good points that may ultimately drive your final decision. I think your findings with the Rogue amps was revealing in that the Cronus is a fuller sounding amp while the Sphinx is voiced a little leaner. The Veneres are not a terribly difficult load -- the manufacturer told me they did this on purpose as at their price level they expect many to drive them with midfi receivers -- so I think it is this voicing difference more than a lack of "power" per se that you were hearing. My guess is the Exposure and Hegel are voiced maybe a little closer to the Cronus, so your choice may come down to whether you prefer a more visceral/driving upfront experience (Exposure) or the relatively more detailed, open, 3D presentation of the Hegel. As you're relatively new to this hobby/affliction the dimensional/depth aspects are things you might not be attuned to as much until you hear it on very good systems that are well set up in a good room -- or maybe you'll wind up not caring about those things at all as lots of audiophiles don't. Think of it as the difference between sitting in the first few rows of a performance where everything is right in front of you and very present versus sitting further back where individual sounds aren't quite as prominent but you have a better perspective or view of the entire soundstage in the context of the recording venue. I would say that if you find the Hegel and Exposure to sound very similar then go with the Hegel as down the road you may end up appreciating its added dimensional capabilities, and of course it has the DAC too. But, strive to keep that memory of the sound of the Cronus in mind as you hear the others as a triangulation approach can be very helpful in more clearly identifying important differences and ultimately making the best decision. You certainly have three very fine options thus far to choose from. Again, best of luck.
thanks guys a lot of help .i listen everything but most of my time is in metal music,mostly gothic and doom,which has a lot of orchestrations and female vocals ,my favorite band has 18 permanent members 10 of them are classical instruments so that been said u can have and idea i like mix of classical and metal,and i also play piano so i do love to listen to classic.i must say after listening rouge i decided to update all my digital library that is here with me in usa,so i already started getting my fav in flac as i notice that match with any good amp venere will definitely show any imperfections in a source(in my case mac mini)difference was astonishing comparing 2 of my all time fav songs in flac and mp3 .
soix as u pointed out I'm fairly new to this pursuit of "sound of silence " ,if i can say like that, but I'm definitely more into details and depth ,i like to feel that I'm there while they were recording it .
someone also told me that ayre ax7e would be good match and one just popped up whit in my budget ?
again thanks for all the help
After months of searching testing i got a deal on h200 i couldn't pass after demoing it with speakers and i must say it works like charm ,it has so much bottom control and depth i couldn't believe it was my speakers i heard ,stage is wider then rogue for sure and just all in all more of everything .as my dealer said u gonna be broke but happy .now search for dac and cabling continues in this never ending quest
Congrats. Nice amp and great that you got to demo it. Always a good thing.
thanks soix,I'm happy i had the chance too,i was shooting for 100 but the difference was like 100$ so here we are.now looking for cabling.i just got micromega mydac to help me until i save some cash for a good dac.if u guys have some pointers abt the cabling I'm all ears thanks