King99
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Joined: Jan 27 2008 - 8:28pm
Good amp to drive Spendor S5E?
linden518
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Joined: Dec 12 2007 - 5:34am

Full & dynamic? Dude. If I were you, I'd go Primare among the amps you mention. I haven't heard Spendor speakers you mention, but the Primare would have no trouble with them. If you can find a used Plinius 8150 anywhere, jump on that, too, but they seem harder to come by than the more recent incarnations of Plinius integrateds...

jackfish
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Joined: Dec 19 2005 - 2:42pm

Musical Fidelity A5.5
Bel Canto S-300i
NAD M3
Shanling A-3000

brock_boogie
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The Naim Nait 5i is an amazing amp for the price and would be at the top of my list, followed closely by the Exposure 2010S integrated. The Creek Classic is pretty laid-back compared to the Naim & Exposure. You may want to audition a Creek Evolution integrated amp, though.

jackfish
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I must be missing something here. This person currently has a 120 wpc into 8 Ohms amplifier that is said to have a hard time driving 87dB/W/m loudspeakers. While all of the amplifiers suggested may be of somewhat better quality, I don't understand how amplifiers with less power are going to help better drive these loudspeakers. I understand as a generally accepted rule of thumb that one tube watt is equivalent to two or three solid state watts.

Current Amplifier
Cambridge Audio Azur 840A v2 - 120 wpc into 8 Ohms
Suggested Amplifiers
Naim Nait 5i - 50 wpc into 8 Ohms
Creek Classic 5350SE - 90 wpc into 8 Ohms
Primare I30 - 100 wpc into 8 Ohms
Prima Luna Prologue One - 35 wpc into 8 Ohms
Prima Luna Prologue Two - 40 wpc into 8 Ohms
Exposure 2010S - 75 wpc into 8 Ohms
The Exception
Plinius 8150 - 150 wpc into 8 Ohms

King99
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Joined: Jan 27 2008 - 8:28pm

Thanks guys. I've decided to go back to running an Exposure 2010S, which I had sold before acquiring the Spendors. The Cambridge has been a disappointment, both in direct comparison to the Exposure (which imo kicks it's butt in terms of rythm, dynamics and just plain old oomph), and in terms of its' inability to drive the Spendors - though this may not be so much an inability to drive them but simply a sonic signature from the combo that I do not like. That being said, I had to really crank the volume level on the Cambridge. I've since sold the Cambridge and while waiting for delivery of the Exposure plugged my 15 yr-old Denon receiver into the system. Surprisingly, this little 45W per channel had no problem bringing the Spendor's to life. The sound isn't nearly as detailed or refined as the Cambridge or the Exposure, but it was certainly more fun to listen to than the Cambridge. I'll let you know how the Exposure/Spendor combo works out - I expect very well.

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