Anyone hear the Caravelle speaker and not like it?

Pal, I'll answer your question of tubes or solid state having heard the Caravelles with my Krell and Scotts VAC, go with tubes...the musicality, inner detail and lushness is the best. I have to admit, I have never enjoyed my Krell more than with the Caravelles because of the sweetness in the tweeter, the voicing of the midrange and the big, 3D sound stage. I have owned Watt/Puppy 5.1's, B&W 801 Matrix III's and now the MAXX from Wilson and truly the musicality with the Caravelle was the best.

Thanks guys for the information. I have to look into an amp now because I sold my old amp and speakers. All I have is a CD player and preamp. I am asking about the amps because I want to give the speakers a fair chance. I was leaning toward tubes but have never owned any tube amps before. I have had tube preamps with SS amps and that worked well. I might try it the other way around this time. I am not at all familiar with tube amps, so I can use advise on some good amps. How are the less expensive VAC amps. The PHI series is a little out of my current price range. I am also looking at the Butler 2250 and Music Reference RM 9.

I'll chime in here. Pal, if you are looking at the RM9, you are a smart man. Blcube is using one with his Caravelles and you wouldn't believe how great it sounds. Great match. I have an RM9 as well with my Montanas and I love this amp. If you can find one, I'd say go for it.

Oz

Pal, which stands did you purchase for the Caravelles? I suppose (the most popular choice) you're getting the dedicated stands, but I'm waiting to find an audiophool who went for their Sistrum Mini Platform stands. Those are the ones on their website, that look like black dunce caps with audiopoints. Acutually I had my Revel M20s on those babies a long while before the Caravelles were even born. Didn't take long to sell my Revels once I heard the Caravelles. I get ooldles of great reaction (of course the sound too) to the visual of the speakers/stands. (the Sistrum component stands, as well) Really makes for quite an esoteric, lean and unique look.

Pal, most amplifiers, whether they are tube or transistor, will work fine with the Caravelles, as long as there is enough power for the 89db sensitivity of the Caravelles.

I'm sure that most audiophile amplifiers over 40 watts would do the job(at least as a "minumim"). We have been using our prototype Harmonic Precision HP-110 amplifiers on the show circuit, which are 100wpc solid state monoblocks.

Thus, I suspect that a very high quality 100wpc amplifier from other companies may be quite satisfactory in this application.

The impedance curve on the Caravelles is very flat(non reactive) and will be a very easy load on any amplifier at 7 ohms nominal, with very very little variation in impedance over the band. This characteristic would make them an excellent match with many tube amps, as well.

As any excellent speaker should do, the Caravelles will play what goes into them, from any amp you choose. Make your amp(and the rest of the signal chain) high-quality, and you'll receive the benefits of the speakers.

Speaking on a personal note here, as a Berning amp owner myself(Berning 45 SET-ZOTL), I'd love to hear what a Berning ZH-270 would sound like with the Caravelles. I'll bet that would be an unbelieveable combination.

Another possibility might be one of these new "ICE module" digital amps, or tri-path amps which are gaining alot of sonic acclaim these days. They can be affordable, too. There are alot of very good amps out there, and I don't mean to really single any out, but just mentioned some things that seem to be "all the buzz" right now. Just remember that the amp is a very important part of the signal chain, so pick a nice one. Your Caravelles deserve it.

Tom Lyons
Starsound Technologies