Calling Aerial 20T owners

The CAT amps do not run hot and you would not necessarily have to change interconnects - Neutrix makes very good XLR to RCA convertors that are only about $15/pair if you're smart enough to buy them from an electronics supply store (as opposed to some audiophile outfit that rebrands them and charges 10x more). I use them with a 25 ft. balanced IC when I run my VAC amp. The problem with the CAT amps is output tubes that blow. When one goes, it takes out a resistor, which must be soldered out and a new one soldered in. If each monoblock did not weigh 192 lbs., this would perhaps not be such a big deal, but they are large and weigh a ton, so if you can't solder, you have to schlep them to a repair tech. My friend who had JL-1's recently wrote "In the end, I think those amps are suitable only for someone who has ... skill with a soldering iron and does not mind undertaking a resistor soldering exercise at least once or twice a year. You need that AND the patience/wallet to finance a new set of 16 output tubes about every nine months or so."

I agree that the Parasounds would be the easier move and they are very, very good, but the CAT, especially the balls-out JL-1 Limited Edition, is an amazing amp if you have some patience.

The Rowland 300 series Class D amps, especially the original version with the straight analog power supply, are okay, but the performance of the 201/501 series Class D amps depends largely upon the quality of your home A/C power supply (and thus could sound lousy, especially on a speaker with a ribbon tweeter). The Rowland Model 6 monoblocks, especially if offered with the battery power supplies, are excellent amps (not to mention fully differential balanced).

Congrats with some wonderful speakers! I have lived with my 20Ts now in two years and absolutely love them. They definately deserve great gear and some powerful amps!

I have tried (and lived with) the following amps on mye 20Ts in this order:
* Jeff Rowland 501 monos (4 x for biamping) - much power, but too dry sounding, not musical enough for my taste.
* Theta Citadel - incredible amps, very musical, warm sounding, but not the latest word in resolution and dynamics. Still a very good match with the 20Ts. I would pick these over any tube amp for the 20Ts I think.
* Jeff Rowland 301 monos - the amps I have now and by far the best. More neutral and transparent than the Citadels, faster, even better dynamics and bass control and much more resolved. Delivers a huge and seductive sound on my 20Ts.

For fun I have also tried the Cary V12 monos(100watt) on my 20Ts, but that was awful. Too little power! My advice is to stay away from tubes on these speakers unless you go for some megawatt tube amps like the big VTLs or similar.

I have recently stepped up to Burmester reference front end gear (I have the latest 069 cd and 077 pre) and I find that the 20Ts are up to the task. I am amazed! Definately some speakers you can grow with.

I also have a room at size 14 x 18 and have Daad and Auralex acoustic treatments. I have bass set to "0" position and also have a pair of SW12 subs. I use the speaker level input on the SW12s (which is way better than the line level inputs for music). The bass I have is very tight, deep and firm. A guy who works with acoustic treatments visited my and said he was chocked. He had never heard so good sound anywhere in a private home before ...:)

In my experience it is almost always best to toe-in speakers, so also with 20Ts. In this way you also get less side wall issues. I have tried some different angles, but have ended up with toe-in so much that the speakers point directly to a point about 1/2 feet behind my ears.

So now two current 20t owners have mentioned Rowland amps as being the best sound we've found so far on the 20t's. Between Cappuccino and myself we've tried no less than 8 different high end SS amps.

some update about the sound after some tuning.

I plugged up the bass module ports, move the speakers closer to the back wall by 6" or so, still slight toe-in. both top and bottom dials are set at "0", I have a pretty coherent sound now. image and focus were both more dense and weightier, top end sounds smoother due to fuller upper mid, bass tightened up and free the slight smearing of lower mid. overall a very positive improvement. speakers are not tilted up any more, after changing to bi-wire I do not feel the need to tone down the top end.

will probably need another few weeks to play with positioning, they are on casters now and I am sure sound will change again once they go back on spikes. but I now have much more faith in the 150SE + 20T combo, I thought one of them will have to go during the first week.

next step is to mod my BAT to further improve bass response. but as of now the bass is tuneful and abundant.

I think maybe it's your amp. Speakers such as the 20T should sound great without a lot fuss IMO.