<font color='#000000'>As I've posted, I've been looking for an amp to drive my new (to me) Thiel CS2.2 speakers. Though looking, my short list has become: Krell KAV 400xi, Musical Fidility 308, and the Arcam FMJ 32. However, an interesting possiblity has opened up.
I read a review of the Copland CSA29 hybrid amp. It uses tubes in the preamp, with a solid state power amp. The review, in the Feb Hi-Fi News (a British Publication) raved about it, and indicated that Copland did an unusually good job of maximizing the benefits of both, and minimizing the downsides. I've contacted the North American distributor, and the individual I emailed with indicated that it is high current, and in fact, he drives his electrostatics with one, so it would have no problem with the Thiels. The cost would be about the same as the above choices, which are all in the $2,500 range.
The only problem is that while I can listen to the others, this would be a bit of a pig in a poke, though, considering its reputation and the semi-exotic nature, I would assume that I could get most of my money back out of it should I really hate it.
Any comments?</font>
