monitor 12 amp suggestion

garth35

Hey,
I am new to this forum but found it amazing to see soo many people with these vintage speakers. I bought some 12's in 1990 new. I think I paid around $1100 for them. I have run a few amps over the years and am now in need of another. Any suggestions for the 12's and does anyone suggest any updates I should make to these, the tweets are 2500's. I love these. I have almost bought new ones over the years but couldn't let these go.
garth

zingo

A lot of members run Carver equipment as it has a great power/price ratio. I'd use a pair of high power tube monoblocks, but that's just me.




PS. I do have a Carver and my Polks sound good on it.

jrgoswick

Anything that has a high current capability. If it'll run a 4 ohm load(and is rated to do so) you should be OK!

Off the top of my head though,
Adcom
Carver
Pass Labs
OLD Harmon Kardon(older Citation's)

Really it will come down to what you can afford.

Schurkey

I suggest an Aragon 2004 or 8002.

100/125 watts per channel; (double that at 4 ohms) suitable for low-impedance loads. More power is certainly available, the 4004 or 8008 would have double the power again--but you won't need it.

Inexpensive (for high-end equipment) on eBay or Audiogon.

http://reviews.ebay.com/Classic-Aragon-Amps-A-primer_W0QQugidZ10000000001149810?ssPageName=BUYGD:CATSEARCH:1

Acurus amps would also be a good choice.

Conradicles

At the end of the day, it all comes down to what you can afford and what your budget allows.
How much cash are you willing to drop?

Braddles

garth35 wrote: »

Hey,
I am new to this forum but found it amazing to see soo many people with these vintage speakers. I bought some 12's in 1990 new. I think I paid around $1100 for them. I have run a few amps over the years and am now in need of another. Any suggestions for the 12's and does anyone suggest any updates I should make to these, the tweets are 2500's. I love these. I have almost bought new ones over the years but couldn't let these go.
garth

Hey Garth,

I too have owned my 12's from new but on the other side of the world from you. I too have gone to sell them a number of times and pull out at the last moment. Have put them up against a couple of other speakers and they always come out on top.
Untill last year i've only driven them with the Luxman Int amp i bought them with. (70wpc)

Then last year i managed to get 3 new amps to test.

Rotel RB1080 - 200 wpc
Quad 909 - 140 wpc
Bel Canto S300iu - 150 wpc

To cut a long story short, after much testing i was going for the Quad but then was given a after market powercord to try and it brought the Bel Canto to the front.

It's a great little amp with plenty of grunt and really tightened up the bass on the 12's. With the USB port on the back i can plug in my laptop for hours of tunes for parties and it runs cool as.

What ever amp you are thinking of i would try and to take it home for a test first and see what it can do. All the amp i tested were new and any shop worth it's while should have no problem with you trying their products.

Have just ordered some RDO198-1 tweeters for the 12's and they should be here after easter so im looking forward to hearing the improvements they will bring.

Good luck and keep us posted with your progress.

Brad

jjwm27

i have a set of m12s, i just upgraded the xovers with sonicaps and mills resistors, also rdo 198 tweeters. BIG improvement. im using a carver TFM 35, it seems to be a perfect match. $124.19 for the caps and resistors.

thsmith

The RDo198s are a nice upgrade for M12s