A Suitable Amp to Match Neat Petites / Gravitas?

[Seeker_UK]

Hi all, I'm afraid it's another gear question

In my current setup, I have an Audiolab 8000A (90s model) biwired to a Neat Petite / Gravitas setup. I have one output from the Audiolab driving the Gravitas es, a short length of cable connecting the terminals on the Gravitas(es) to the bass terminal on the Petites and the other pair of outputs from the 8000A driving the treble on the Petites.

Firstly, is this the best way to connect these, or should I run the Gravitas(es) from one speaker output with the other output running both drivers on the Petites.

Now the second question.

I'm thinking about moving over to valve amps as they might have sound closer to what I want (same detail but a tad smoother). Would a valve amp be beefy enough to drive the speakers I have or would I need a pre and 2x power to do the job?

Many thanks

Seeker

[karkus30]

Originally Posted by Seeker_UK

Hi all, I'm afraid it's another gear question

In my current setup, I have an Audiolab 8000A (90s model) biwired to a Neat Petite / Gravitas setup. I have one output from the Audiolab driving the Gravitas es, a short length of cable connecting the terminals on the Gravitas(es) to the bass terminal on the Petites and the other pair of outputs from the 8000A driving the treble on the Petites.

Firstly, is this the best way to connect these, or should I run the Gravitas(es) from one speaker output with the other output running both drivers on the Petites.

Now the second question.

I'm thinking about moving over to valve amps as they might have sound closer to what I want (same detail but a tad smoother). Would a valve amp be beefy enough to drive the speakers I have or would I need a pre and 2x power to do the job?

Many thanks

Seeker

Best thing to do is to ring Bob at Neat. The Petites and Gravitas have been run with a number of amplifiers, the older Petites were a bit of a difficult load for some amps and the 8000A would be numbered among them. In general the older petites ran best when driven with something like a Naim 250 and would respond equally well with one of the new models of LFD integrated amps as they pack some serious wallop.

Bob will advise you on the best way of setting up the Petite/Gravitas combo as he really is a serious enthusiast.

[nuttyboyz]

Also try a Exposure or Sonneteer Alabaster,sit back,enjoy.

[karkus30]

Originally Posted by nuttyboyz

Also try a Exposure or Sonneteer Alabaster,sit back,enjoy.

Good call........I keep meaning to demo the Soneteer range as I like what I have heard, really sweet powerful amp.

[nuttyboyz]

Yeah,give it a listen,Sonneteers go like strawberries and cream with Neat,neat new Momemtums are sublime too ,mini Ultimatums.

[Nobber22]

I've heard Petites sound lovely on the end of a Linn Klassic too - only 75W, but it was great. Then we added a LK85 power amp...........

[karkus30]

Originally Posted by nuttyboyz

Yeah,give it a listen,Sonneteers go like strawberries and cream with Neat,neat new Momemtums are sublime too ,mini Ultimatums.

I have the Ultimatum 7s...........

[karkus30]

Originally Posted by Nobber22

I've heard Petites sound lovely on the end of a Linn Klassic too - only 75W, but it was great. Then we added a LK85 power amp...........

This is something I have heard before, not to everybodys tastes but apparently gives the Petites a different sound from what was intended. I've never heard that combo.

[nuttyboyz]

Originally Posted by karkus30

I have the Ultimatum 7s...........

Good

[Seeker_UK]

Originally Posted by nuttyboyz

Also try a Exposure or Sonneteer Alabaster,sit back,enjoy.

Cheers.

I have an Exposure CD player and I was *very* impressed with it at the demo (obviously, 'cos I bought it!)