Best Match for Dynaudio Contour S3.4?

04-07-10: Fredorama
Tvad, if what you're saying is that the demand will be lower on resale, thus I will get a lower price or it will take longer to sell, then I agree with you 100%. But I am interested in getting a pleasing sonic result first and foremost; not in endlessly switching out my gear year after year.

Understood. Will you be able to audition this one-of-a-kind modded Plinius amp before you pay for it? If not, what if you buy it and it's not what you had hoped for?

No worries on the tone. I'm guilty as well.

Dpac - Haha I know what you mean! Time is never on our side... Thanks for the clarification on the speakers. I am using a Peachtree Nova as my preamp / DAC. And yes, have heard how hot that SA-102 gets. I don't live in Edmonton, eh? - and Philly summers are hot enough as it is. I have looked into the 100.2. Can't find anything bad about it. But still tempted by Klaus' slightly used supercharged Stratos Monos that he tells me are in the realm of Khartagos and Kismets.

I found a mint condition SA-102 in black that I can get shipped for $2400 from a dealer. Having my rservations about 1) the size (won't fit in my shelf space), 2) the heat in class A, and 3) your comments.

Would love to hear from anyone else who has paired the SA-102 with the Dyn 3.4 or 5.4. I agree they are similar, with the 5.4 being tougher to drive. This should mean that the 102 will sound better with my 3.4s than with your 5.4s.... but I dunno...tough one. I may just buy two or three amps so I can hear all of them and then sell the ones I don't like as much. But -- what a pain!! Trying to avoid that.

Tvad - RE: The Plinius modded amp, there was a modded P-8 that I think would have been perfect, but I was outbid at the last minute and lost out. P-8s are not easy to come by, let alone a P-8 that someone else already had paid to get modded by someone I know does a good job. So my idea was to buy an SA-100 for $1700 and pay $550 to have that modded by the same tech.

But the tech told me that the SA-102 had some features (primarily the beefier dual power supply, and the 25% increase in wpc) that would still outperform a fully modded SA-100 in terms of current and woofer control. So he recommended I try to find an SA-102 and use it for a while. Then, if I wanted some more performance out of it, I could send it to him. I thought this was a reputable and honest piece of advice, as there was no immediate business angle in it for him.

As I said in my prior post, I am very close to ordering the Odysseys AND the SA-102 and selling whichever I like least. Thanks again for your comments. This can be a frustrating process.

Odyssey amps come up used fairly regularly.

I owned a pair of Odyssey Extreme Monos with red boards.

Having spoken with Klaus on several occasions, I know that he can be very persuasive. I bought a used pair for slightly less than what he was proposing for a new pair. When I sold the Odyssey amps, I still lost a fair amount of money.

Just my experience.