Need pre-amp help for Kappa 9 & Adcom GFA-555mkii

Bemopti123, you had the wrong Carver Amps. The bridged as monos Mt 4.0 amps don't like loads below 8 ohms, which is why they didn't sound good for you. The Silver 9t is head and shoulders above the Mt 4.0. The Silver 9t monoblocs bring my Kappas under tight control with no brightness.

I forgot to mention that I biamped the Kappa 9's using four Carver Silver 9t monoblocs. One pair of them did fine, but two pair of them made them sing. I tried vertical biamping them with a pair of Sunfire Signature amps, and they just didn't have the muscle that the four monoblocs provided. The Sunfires were good, but the Carver Monoblocs were markedly better. The Sunfires just didn't hve the slam on the bottom like the Carver's did. I still own the Sunfire Amps to power my Infinity Rennaisance 90's, they do an excellent job there. I hear that Sunfire does a modification on the Sunfire Signature for owners of low impedance, amp killing Apogee speakers for about three or four hundred bucks.

I am taking delivery next week on a pair of Pass Labs X-600 monoblocs to see how they fare with the Kappas.

Damn, that sounds like an overkill, 4 mono Silver 9Ts to control the Kappa 9s. But, I guess if that is what it truly takes, it must sound freaking incredible with those 4 12" woofer hitting you in the chest.

I have a question for you, Mitch, how do the speaker components hold through time and use? Did you have them since the late 1980s or bought them used later? Did the surrounds or any components go bad? I have mines boxed, parked in my mother's garage since the early 1990s and I wonder whether surrounds or what not go bad, even without use.

The Pass Monos will most likely sound amazing...but I wonder whether they will surpass the Silvers.

Yes, I knew that I had the wrong Carver amps, the 4.0s...because they DID indeed overrate their power specs...it was a cheap amp after all, about $799 each, new, but the Silvers, they were different amplifiers all on their own...I cannot remember how much they went for in the late 1980s.

Most Carver corp amps were rubbish in my point of view, except with their reference models. Their advertisement, through seemed very credible. Another amp that makes me think will do a good job running these beasts might be some Sim Audio amplifiers, like the W-5 or W-10 monos. Once again, costly designs.

I own four pair of Kappa 9's. Two pair each of the honey oak and black ash. I'm only using one pair right now.

I bought each pair used, I started with my first pair about 5 years ago and bought my latest pair last summer. The foam woofer surrounds will rot. I have replaced four woofers. You can still buy the woofers brand new from Infinity for about $170 each, or you can have the foam surrounds replaced for around $75 each. All of the other speaker components have been durable enough to not need replacing so far. I'm willing to bet your surrounds have dry-rotted for sure by now.

The two pair of 9t monoblocs are not overkill at all, the Kappas need it. I hear the Silver 9t's sold for about $2500-$3000 a pair. 500 wpc @ 8 ohms and 900 wpc @ 4 ohms. Now they can be had used from $1200-$1500 per pair.

Thanks for the answers Mitch. The price of a pair of Kappa 9s in used condition, is ridiculously affordable, for the type of sound one gets. Have you done other sort of upgrades to the speakers you have? I do remember people talking about rewiring and getting sturdier stands for them.

Do you have dedicated lines for your equipment?

Have you tried to drive them with other branded amplifications, besides the Silver9s? I have heard from people that Aragons were fine with them, but then, they might have never heard Kappas driven to their limits.

With 4 pairs, you really seem to like these speakers, which other commercial designs did the Kappas surpass?

Bemopti123, the Kappas are my only foray into the high end speaker arena. I have never owned any other type of high end speaker. I started out with a pair of Kappa 7.1, then 8.1 then the Kappa 9. I heard a pair of small Maggies at a friends house and wow, they were fantastic! They had their strengths, and one day I might buy a pair of the big Maggies for a change of pace, not necessarily because I believe they are better...just different.

I bought four pairs of them because I was able to get them at a really good price, and I'm afraid of not being able to replace the tweeters and midrange domes if something should ever happen. Four pairs will insure me of plenty of spare parts.

Carver and Sunfire amps are all that I've ever owned and driven the Kappas with. The leap to the Pass monoblocs is a huge step for me. I considered the Krell 750 monoblocs, but at about $15k a pair used, it was beyond my budget. I tried driving them with a Carver TFM 45 amp which was rated at 350 wpc @ 8 ohms....the speakers could barely whisper. I bought an 2nd TFM 45 and bridged them for monos, it sounded even worse...the 4 ohm load made the amps beg for mercy.

The Kappa 9 are great for home theater also...you don't need a subwoofer with them.

I spoke to a speaker repair guy here in LA, and asked him if he could rewire them for me with better wire...he said the wire that Infinity used was good enough and that I probably wouldn't get much if any audibly difference..so I decided against it.

I am going to make a pair of custom stands for one of my black pairs. One of the stands arrived damaged from shipping. This summer, I'm going to design a pair of stands out of marble or granite and maybe make the footprint a little bigger. I have a couple of ideas for a design.

I do not have dedicated lines. But, with the addition of the Pass amps, it is now a serious consideration. I have a friend who's an electrician that would do it for me at a very good price.

I have just moved back to a new space where my listening room will be 22 ft by 70 ft with a 20 ft ceiling. It is a loft that used to be an old Pabst Beer Brewery. I plan to use the Carver monoblocs to power my home theater. I will have a pair of Kappa 9's in the front and rear. I will use a Kappa 7.1 as my center channel. I have lived in this space before and one pair of Kappas easily fill the entire space with sound.

With a space as big as mine, it is obvious that I need big speakers. For the money, nothing else comes close. To buy today's quality big speakers to equal or surpass their performance is waaay beyond my budget. Besides, they are beautiful looking speakers to boot!

With a space as large as mine, I'd love to try a pair of the Infinity 4 chassis designs like the Betas, or the IRS-V.

I'm just moving in, I'll post my new setup when I get settled and I'll notify you.

....later, mitch