what amp to use with Renaissance 15a

[ttocs]

From what I have found, stability is much more important than maximum power.

Abso-tootly!

 

[Robert D]

It's not easy but I can move the Boulder by myself in my room. Have done it multiple times already. Now lifting it and moving it from my old house to the new house; I hired movers for that. LOL

And trust me, I get it, I probably look like an idiot to everyone here for spending that kind of money on an amp. Hell I'm sure most of you think I'm just a ******* with money for doing so; but that's ok. If I hadn't heard the difference for myself and wasn't so impressed I wouldn't have sold my Jeep to pay for it. LOL But in the end it just out performed the other options that were there in the room so why settle? Trust me when I say it; I'd wished I never swapped it out during the demo and I had never heard the difference; but I did and now I'm here. LOL

I'll put it to you this way; Its like going to an amazing Steakhouse and paying $40+ dollars for a steak. Once you try it; its hard to get that out of your head when eating a steak you make for yourself at home. Yah its good but not as good. LOL And the time I got out of my Honda Accord and test drove an E Class; there was no going back. It was just better in every way. I'm not telling the creator of this thread to go out and buy a Boulder; but what I will say is Demo as many amps as you can afford with your speakers because you might not know what you are missing until its too late. Or don't and go with what you want. Either way as long as you are happy and happy throughout the process I'm happy for you.

Has anyone on here bought a used Bolder amp? Wondering how affordable those are. Probably hard to find. I looked up the stereo amp mentioned and the only price I saw was $65,000 new. A used one should be much lower. Something I could consider.

 

[ttocs]

And trust me, I get it, I probably look like an idiot to everyone here for spending that kind of money on an amp.

no no no no no no no no, noooooo, . . . not at all!
I refer anyone back to the old Bob Carver "Scissor Snip Test" to find out how much amp is needed to get dynamics enough to recreate the sound of scissors snipping. Bob and his buddy never found out. Even with all those amps, it wasn't enough.

So I say, it's all on the menu, just choose what you can and want.

The Boulder room at AXPONA this year was one of those rooms that showed off what they could do. I was already impressed by the company and what they strive to do, but that demo just solidified what I already thought.

Trust me when I say it; I'd wished I never swapped it out during the demo and I had never heard the difference; but I did and now I'm here. LOL

Hey, I attempted to "not" listen to the 13A when shopping for ML speakers just because I had it in my head that I didn't want to spend 50% more, and thought I'd be happy with the 11A. But my buddy said, "well, we're here now, why not take a listen?" after I had already completed the paperwork for the 11A. It took just a few seconds for me to realize what I had to do to be happy. So I told the sales associate to write up the 13A, and I've been happy ever since.

So I think you're happy to know the difference.

 

[ttocs]

Thinking on going the BAT-VK600 route....The cabling is Acoustic Zen double barrel shotgun and Absolute interconnects and Krakatoa power cables. Mytek Mahattan II dac/preamp/phono.

Jpr

You got my vote!

When was the end of production for these amps? I ask because refreshing would probably be expected for amps with some age on them.

The power supplies on these were reported as quite fantastic, especially when the optional even more robust PS was ordered.

 

[Russr]

I've heard a lot of amps on the 15A's and settled with Boulder 2160. I've owned and operated the 15A's with a McIntosh MC452, an Audio Research 160S, and now the Boulder 2160. Hands down the best Amplifier I've had on the 15A's is the 2160. I demoed the Boulder 1160 along with other brands such as Dan D'agostino and Pass Labs but really loved the Boulder 2160 in the end.

How do the Boulder 2160 and 1160 compare to the Boulder AE500's?

 

[Len44]

I've heard a lot of amps on the 15A's and settled with Boulder 2160. I've owned and operated the 15A's with a McIntosh MC452, an Audio Research 160S, and now the Boulder 2160. Hands down the best Amplifier I've had on the 15A's is the 2160. I demoed the Boulder 1160 along with other brands such as Dan D'agostino and Pass Labs but really loved the Boulder 2160 in the end.

Just curious, which Pass Labs amps did you audition?

 

[ttocs]

This is a keeper, so I'd put this on the recommended list for these speakers. I haven't even had a lot of time with it due to workload this week, which is still getting in my way today, but it's giving everything I could ask for in its price range.

Will need to test some speaker cable combos to tune. Its internals do get toasty, but the case is never hot, and the fans are super quiet so I've not heard them yet even though they are operating most of the time to keep the internal temp consistent.

 

[JLasher22443]

How do the Boulder 2160 and 1160 compare to the Boulder AE500's?

Sorry but I only compared the 2160 to the 1161 and I've never heard the the AE500's. The day I compared the Amps it was between McIntosh, Audio Research, DanD, and Boulder. I created a post somewhere on this forum about the Demo so I'll try and find it and post it here.

Edit: Here it is on Page 5.

https://www.martinloganowners.com/t...-question-on-this-site-read-this.12251/page-5

 

[JLasher22443]

Just curious, which Pass Labs amps did you audition?

They were the X600.8 Monoblocks.

 

[Brandon Hartwick]

This is a keeper, so I'd put this on the recommended list for these speakers. I haven't even had a lot of time with it due to workload this week, which is still getting in my way today, but it's giving everything I could ask for in its price range.
View attachment 23556

Will need to test some speaker cable combos to tune. Its internals do get toasty, but the case is never hot, and the fans are super quiet so I've not heard them yet even though they are operating most of the time to keep the internal temp consistent.

Krell makes awesome gear, I don't think you can ever really go wrong with that brand. Ever the old stuff is still selling for big money.

 

[ttocs]

Tomorrow will be one week with the Krell Duo 300 XD, and it's about as good as I could ever hope for! Simply incredible!

The combo of the Duo/13A is just so natural and easy sounding. I get the wall of sound that the tube amps have, but without the limitations on the frequency response, and so much more articulation than any amp I've tried with these speakers. The dynamics are great. There are times I kinda "jump" because it sounds like it's in the room. It sounds so good at pretty much any volume that I find myself listening at lower volume than before, but when using an SPL meter the peaks are actually louder than one would think based upon the overall volume level.

I gotta believe the 15A would sound even better!

 

[anil]

I spent most of my budget on a 15A set. Now I need to get an AMP. Leaning on a 2 channel. Curious on thoughts of the following (anything I am missing with a max budget of $7K)?

a. Parasound A 23+ $1.3K 240W at 4Ohm 0.03% THD
b. Marantz Model 30 $3K 200W at 4 ohm 0.005% THD
c. McIntosh MC152 $5K 150W at 4 ohm 0.005% THD

 

[msimanyi]

Tomorrow will be one week with the Krell Duo 300 XD, and it's about as good as I could ever hope for! Simply incredible!

The combo of the Duo/13A is just so natural and easy sounding. I get the wall of sound that the tube amps have, but without the limitations on the frequency response, and so much more articulation than any amp I've tried with these speakers. The dynamics are great. There are times I kinda "jump" because it sounds like it's in the room. It sounds so good at pretty much any volume that I find myself listening at lower volume than before, but when using an SPL meter the peaks are actually louder than one would think based upon the overall volume level.

I gotta believe the 15A would sound even better!

So, how is the scissors-snip sound???


Edited to add: congrats on the new update!

 

[Brandon Hartwick]

I spent most of my budget on a 15A set. Now I need to get an AMP. Leaning on a 2 channel. Curious on thoughts of the following (anything I am missing with a max budget of $7K)?

a. Parasound A 23+ $1.3K 240W at 4Ohm 0.03% THD
b. Marantz Model 30 $3K 200W at 4 ohm 0.005% THD
c. McIntosh MC152 $5K 150W at 4 ohm 0.005% THD

All those should work fine, the parasound is likely the most neutral sounding.

 

[Tmort]

Anthem 225 mk 2 is awesome, 400w at 4 ohms. Around $2,500.

 

[anil]

Anthem 225 mk 2 is awesome, 400w at 4 ohms. Around $2,500.

The specs look great on that and very affordable. Thank you.

 

[ttocs]

So, how is the scissors-snip sound???


Edited to add: congrats on the new update!

LOL
Haven't tried it, not enough amps. I think Bob and his buddy had over 20 amplifiers for that test, and still couldn't get full dynamics without distortion.

But, the sound is just so natural and inviting that hours and hours go by without notice.

 

[Robert D]

I spent most of my budget on a 15A set. Now I need to get an AMP. Leaning on a 2 channel. Curious on thoughts of the following (anything I am missing with a max budget of $7K)?

a. Parasound A 23+ $1.3K 240W at 4Ohm 0.03% THD
b. Marantz Model 30 $3K 200W at 4 ohm 0.005% THD
c. McIntosh MC152 $5K 150W at 4 ohm 0.005% THD

Either of the Sanders stereo amps would bring you in at or under your budget. We have members on here with these that speak very highly of them. They were made for electrostats and just about double output going from 8 ohm to 4 ohm. They are powerful too, so you'll have plenty of headroom. One is 500 watts, the other 400w at 8 Ohms. This is the stereo amp I'd buy now if I needed one.

http://sanderssoundsystems.com/price-list

 

[JonFo]

Either of the Sanders stereo amps would bring you in at or under your budget. We have members on here with these that speak very highly of them. They were made for electrostats and just about double output going from 8 ohm to 4 ohm. They are powerful too, so you'll have plenty of headroom. One is 500 watts, the other 400w at 8 Ohms. This is the stereo amp I'd buy now if I needed one.

Seconded.

I have the ESL amp, and it drives my Monolith panels directly (no passive crossover), so one of the most difficult loads around, and it hardly breaks a sweat. Never get beyond mildly warm.
I'll never replace it. Just will keep adding more of them for the rest of the speakers in my multichannel setup.

 

[Furbyland]

Anthem 225 mk 2 is awesome, 400w at 4 ohms. Around $2,500.

I have this on my 11's, and it has more than enough power to drive; handles the low impedance with ease. I cannot even push it that hard as I'm getting 80db SPL easily in my listening position and my ears don't need that or more. He might be looking at much higher priced amps, but this worked out well for me.