Fourier Panthare opinions

I worked for Fourier right before they closed and really loved the sound of the Panthere amps. We showed them with our speakers at CES in 97 with great success. I would go back to our display after everone else had gone to bed and listen into the wee hours. They are great with Sound Labs and were really designed to work with a high impedence load like they have. I would like to have a pair but I also like the Krell 700c I own. They can be noisy if you get some with bad transformers and I would make sure before buying that they are quiet.

I owned a pair as well and they are outstanding amps. They are a perfect mate with Electrostatics which I used them with for a short time.

I eventually sold them due to the commitment to keep them running properly. there were versions which had room for improvement such as soft start capabilities, and other things to put less stress on the tubes.

I spent one evening trying to locate a bad tube which was a 6 hour event which was the final straw. You must let the amp cool down and the volages to exit each time you power up and down.

I had a pair a few years back and the sonics were superb. I still have yet to hear the type of huge soundstage these amps threw, along with great bass and superb detail driving my Wilson Sophia speakers. I also used a pair of Zero autoformers to raise the impedance of the speakers, something you should strongly consider, especially if your speakers are a difficult load (i.e. low impedance, impedance dips, reactive load, etc.). The main drawbacks are their ability to double as a space heater--each monoblock draws 5 amps at idle, so you may want to consider a separate AC circuit for each. I also had problems with mine from time to time where one channel or other would get weak and fuzzy. I seemed to remedy this by cleaning each tube socket and re-tensioning the tube pin socket springs, which was a relatively easy but time-consuming job. If you are not into having to do what might turn out to be some maintenance on them, you may not want to go this route. If it were my choice I would stick to a current model like the Atma-Spheres, which have a reputation for far greater reliability. I also know a few other Panthere users who you might speak with, so if you e-mail me I will give you their e-mail addresses.

wow, are you looking at that pair for sale here? I have not seen a hit count as high before, 1 day 2500 views. FWIW, when I sold mine about 5 years ago, I had trouble finding a buyer and eventually only got $2500 for my pair.