Cheers, all. I'm not sure if this thread is still active but I'd appreciate some advice on an amp for the XT-1. My current amp is clearly underpowered. I would like to pick something up that can be used with some floor-standing speakers down the road. I'm considering used and new, probably ss. I've thought about a Bryston 4B and a Pass 250.8 (used). (I love the look of the smaller Pass amps but, as it's hard for me to audition amps, I don't want to underestimate the power needs of these small but hungry speakers.)
Any recommendations? I'd say my budget is under $7k but I'm okay with used.
Honestly, the Pass is not a good pairing with Raidho’s. I had seen that mentioned a few times but I was hell bent owning a pair of the legendary XA60.8’s. I scrimped, saved, traded until I was able to order new pair from Pass, took 3 months to build (covid). Sadly, It’s was not a good pairing. Some pieces sounded wonderful but others literally sounded slowed down, even slightly distorted. Yes, I throughly burned them in thinking they just needed time, sold them at around 500hrs.
In the space of a few years I’ve owned the X1, XT1 (twice) the D1.1, the TD1.2 and now the TD3.2’s. All of these wonderful speakers displayed the same basic needs, Raidho’s require quick paced amp with low distortion. I would recommend the Rogue Audio DragoN @4K. It’s a hybrid SS/tube amp, with loads of clean power and just a hint of tubey glow which bring out the best in Raidho ribbon. These speakers are also very sensitive to tube rolling, my favorite being the Telefunkens and I tried quite a few.
Another great complimentary amp was the Lumin AMP (seen 8k used). Slightly
more detail and really smooth after they blossom around 200hrs. I’ve also heard the Mola Mola amps are really exceptional with these Danes.
Some will note that these are both D class and poo-poo them out of hand. They don’t know what they are talking about with regards to Raidho’s. The way these new D class deliver their power simply make these speakers sing. Don’t just take my word for it, check out some of the Audio shows displaying Raidho speakers. The vast majority are using D class in the form of the Aavik U-300. I’ve been at this hobby for many decades and I’ve found a great rule of thumb is to Use what the speaker designer uses to display their product at its best.
In the end I ended up with an Aavik and all Ansuz cabling for my 3.2’s. I’m done.