Rich; organic true balanced amp w good detail $6k

Hey Sutts, yeah, believe it or not when I tried Jmcgrogan I was prompted that the name was already taken.......makes me wonder if I signed up before I knew I did, or if there is another Jmcgrogan....perhaps and evil Jmcgrogan??? So I'm stuck with Jmcgrogan2....as in Jmcgrogan 2 channel. :)

Preamp is the aformentioned ARC Ref 3, speakers are Verity Auido Parsifal Encore circa 2004. Listening room is 24 X 14 X 9. Musical preference is jazz/blues/rock/folk/classical.
Main source is vinyl (Basis/ZYX/Walker), then digital (Marantz SA-11S1 w/ Ultimate mod from Underwood/pcX)

Cheers,
John

Bob_reynolds: Good Point about the output impedance of the Sonic Frontiers.. it might not match up with the Lamms as they are really sensitive. Typically less then 1volt to full volume

Belles amps are what you are looking for. His new monoblock amps are said to be his very best and sell for $6700 new for the pair.(Model --200) They are pretty small and run cool so they can be stacked on your rack.

They are said to sound better then the Reference line which in my experience proved to be some of the finest sounding amps I have heard.

Bill

The Belles M200 monos are getting lots of positive buzz. However, they are single ended only.

I mention it because the OP requested fully balanced as a prerequisite.

well guys- just got home from the gym, and listening to one of my fav's- Pharoah Sanders Quartet's (what a great tenor sax player) double-disc 'Crescent with Love' on my 2nd system (47 labs digital; recently acquired Air Tight ATC-2 preamp- talk about suave & velvety- time to pour a glass of California Cab and chill for a while...)

Tvad- yours is a system I would really like to hear- in fact, one other company my speaker designer said he respects is Silverline, and I understand Ralph at AS makes a great preamp. Perhaps the Belles is worth checking out- there is definitely a loyal legion of fans, however am not sure if they have a model that is fully balanced- will have to look into that. The fact that you replaced a set of Vac's better amps says something...

Cyto- thanks for the tips on the Sistrum 'tweaking'- I will check into that- up here in Canada we have good access to Maple :-) Hey- GREAT recommendation on the Lamms! In fact, a good friend of mine now has M1.1's to drive his newly acquired Verity Parsifal Encores. He has always had a Lamm L1 preamp, and to say he is loving the new setup/synergy would be an understatement! Re: VTL, it sounds like the 450 Sig's would be the way to go. I am only slightly hesitant due to re-tubing costs, as this system also doubles as a 2-ch HT setup for movies, etc., so it is on a LOT- if I go tubes, as long as they are run conservatively (as in my preamp), then that's ok I guess. Manley- have not heard them. Music Reference? That sounds interesting- have you heard them, and what did you feel was their best amp(s) sonically?

Bob_reynolds- I believe the output impedance to be 50 ohms for the unbalanced outputs, and 78 ohms for the balanced- would this affect anyone's recommendations?

John (will the 'real' JMcgrogan please stand up :-) another great system- that vinyl rig must sounds sweet, and I like that room size! Almost the perfect 1.6:1 length to width ratio (I think Cardas talked about that).

Grannyring- another Belles recommendation- wow- they seem to be the winner in my little poll tonight! I will try to check them out, but I have never come across them up here in Toronto.

Thanks again guys, and keep it comin'! Btw- while riding the bike at the gym, I was fascinated by the Democratic Presidential candidate debates. I am Canadian, but find this an interesting race- Hilary seemed pretty composed tonight, and answered questions in a multi-faceted way. Is it just me, or did Edwards seem to 'team up' a little w Obama...