need amplification help for sonus faber amati


Hallo everybody,

I was lucky to get a pair of SF Amati speakers.listening to them with a McIntosh mc402 and a preamp McIntosh c2200 does not satisfy me. I feel that the Amatis are just perfect for my ears but I need to amplify them better. I would like to find an amplifier and Preamp combination that makes them disapear completely. also I need a second hand combination under 10k € for money reason.
What is out there, a little bit older but still reliable (tube or solid state) that you would recommand to have a big soundstage, lots of details and enough power.
Thank you for your help,
greatings from Paris
Daniel

I also have two understanding questions:
1- the power rating seems so different between solid state and tube amps. why do I need less watts in tube amps for the same result?
2- what is more responsable for a wide soundstage: the amp or the preamp?
dacapobone
Thank you Douglas,
I do not listen to music on a super loud level, but I do aprechead recordings with little compretion, true double or tripple pianissimos and real fortissimos (for example Mahlers 10th symph. Rattle / Berlin phil., great recording quality!!!). I will try to listen to the Pathos when I get a chance.

The person who is proposing me to by his ARC VT200 will propably have the possibility to bring them, so I can try them in situation saturday. If the result is convincing I will buy those. I can always look for better later.
Of cause I will spend all evening Friday to improve the placement of the speakers.

This does not mean I am not interested anymore in this forum! There are still some unanswered questions:
1.What I read is that they are indeed a very good choise for the Amatis, but in a big room I would need the VK-150SEs. Is this true? Are the VK-75SE to small to have real orchestral fortissimos at some points? Is there anyone in France reading this that can propose a listening with the BATs and any bigger speaker?
2.Does everybody agree with Gregm "The CJ 12s should outperform the AR200". This would be nice since they are cheaper.
3.I also never realy had a chance to listen to a good Acuphase or VAC. Can somebody discribe them a little? Somebody has a precise model in mind?

This is the first time I put a question on this Forum and I aprecheate very much the quality and diversity of the answers. Thank you all very much so far already.
Dacapobone, you won't go wrong with any of the brands you list. Enjoy the hunt for the amp! :)
Doug, is right on with his comments on the monoblocking of the Pathos integrated. THey do a qreat job with my Sonus Faber speakers and don't even have any problem in a very, very large room 15 wide by 30 long. I bought the monoblocks after reading his review on dagogo and he was absolutely right. Two of them do a great job! rudge
I am driving my SF Guarneri with a pair of Gryphon pre/power combo with great success, and integrated from Gryphon could also serve you well.