Aries Cerat with Wilson Audio

[skinnyfla]

Hi,
I`ve been thinking about upgrading the electronics and Aries Cerat is on my list (also Ypsilon and Audio Research). What are your thoughts, would Aries Cerat be able to drive Wilson speakers (in my specific case the Sasha DAW) and if so, which model would it take? Anyone have any experience on the match?

Best,

Chris

 

[Zappadaddy]

Good question. I am running full AC system with Ianus Essentia with Clarisis, and it is great match as well. AC has amazing musical sound, I would do anything to get AC home even if I would have to get other speakeres.

 

[skinnyfla]

... I got a reply from Aries Cerat and they say that the Ianus Series should have no problems with Wilson speakers at all and are much more dynamic than their watt spec indicate... very interesting...

 

[Synaxis]

... I got a reply from Aries Cerat and they say that the Ianus Series should have no problems with Wilson speakers at all and are much more dynamic than their watt spec indicate... very interesting...

I've heard several lines and systems of AC. I wholeheartedly agree they will have no problem driving those speakers and they are much more powerful than the specs would suggest. I'm currently running them with Tobian's but have had at least a dozen different speakers in here that they have powered.

 

[skinnyfla]

I've heard several lines and systems of AC. I wholeheartedly agree they will have no problem driving those speakers and they are much more powerful than the specs would suggest. I'm currently running them with Tobian's but have had at least a dozen different speakers in here that they have powered.

… think the integrated would do the job or will it need separates?

 

[Synaxis]

… think the integrated would do the job or will it need separates?

I have not tried Wilson's so I would defer to Aries Cerat when asking them about pairing to that specific speaker. Wilsons are not typically my kind of sound. My understanding is Wilson's have a reputation being demanding speakers to drive.

Having said that I've had AC integrated and now mono blocks and they are supremely capable pieces of soul-stirring gear.

 

[skinnyfla]

... I asked Aries Cerat - see what they suggest... I originally had the Concero 65 with the Imprea II Ref. in mind...

 

[morricab]

... I asked Aries Cerat - see what they suggest... I originally had the Concero 65 with the Imprea II Ref. in mind...

Concero 65s are beasts! We had a Diana Forte, which is a 60 watt stereo amp using same tube complement as Conceros and it drove Thiel CS3.7s effortlessly. In fact, the Diana Integrated at “only” 25 watts also drove those Thiels no problem. So, Conceros or Essentias should both work fine. For an integrated, I would ask Stavros what he thinks about Aperio…my Protos is possibly a bit under powered…or maybe not!

 

[Argonaut]

... I asked Aries Cerat - see what they suggest... I originally had the Concero 65 with the Imprea II Ref. in mind...

Stavros will be unveiling a new amplifier at Munich that might be of interest should you be attending this year ?

“ Official "teaser" for our new Odysseas amplifiers. This is what happens when you mix two of our proudest technologies,the TriodeFet and the NOIES (Pondera) tech. Official launch at next HES ,Munich “

 

[skinnyfla]

Stavros will be unveiling a new amplifier at Munich that might be of interest should you be attending this year ?

“ Official "teaser" for our new Odysseas amplifiers. This is what happens when you mix two of our proudest technologies,the TriodeFet and the NOIES (Pondera) tech. Official launch at next HES ,Munich “

View attachment 149137

… sounds& looks great - but also looks like they‘ll be out of my price range though

 

[Argonaut]

… sounds& looks great - but also looks like they‘ll be out of my price range though

Unknown as yet …

 

[Audio Addict]

… sounds& looks great - but also looks like they‘ll be out of my price range though

In the US they will retail for over $100K.

$550 per watt per channel is what I understand. I assume this is before any of the new tariffs the current Administration may add.

 

[Zappadaddy]

last month, the video is showing sound of Ianus Essentia with Clarisys, th esystem ended up as a second best in category "The best presentation"

 

[orfeo_monteverdi]

For an integrated, I would ask Stavros what he thinks about Aperio…my Protos is possibly a bit under powered…or maybe not!

+1

[please forgive my poor English]

I think Aries Cerat's TriodeFet technology should be able to drive the (demanding) Wilson Sasha DAW effortlessly. (I attentively listened to the DAW three times, in various venues and systems, mainly D'Agostino, which made them play a little too warm, "wet" and colored to my taste - I attend many live un-amplified concerts, mainly classical; AC should be tried with the DAW, definitely).

I spoke with AC's French importer recently; he was stunned by the TriodeFet Aperio. He described it as "super-transparent" (only one stage!), with body, timbres and flow.
Both TriodeFet integrated (20W Protos and 35W Aperio) embed the famous TriodeFet.
One difference in the volume control between Protos and Apreio: 20W Protos uses relay-latched volume control. Aperio uses the TVC (transformer volume control, the best system). That said, my Incito preamplifier (with embedded power supply) uses the former volume control (relays), and, surprisingly, I found it even more transparent than my YBA 1 (which has a separate PS).

The power you will need also depends on the distance you sit from your speakers, and the average sound pressure level (SPL) you listen at, and the kind of music you listen to (no dynamics on highly compressed pop music vs much more dynamics on classical).

Finally,
AC single-ended preamplifer + fully balanced power amplifier = bad idea (that you seem not to have ;-)
It is wise that you are considering replacing your whole amplification set (Mc Intosh C52 preamp & Mc 452 power amplifier), as your power amplifier is fully balanced, and AC preamplifiers are single-ended. Sure, all AC preamps have a true-balanced XLR output. But the single ended topology of AC preamps would make a poor match / not the best match with a fully balanced power amplifier topology. No such attempt turned out to be convincing, it seems; they even lead to horribly wrong conclusions, btw unfairly unfavorable to AC. It seems that, regarding AC - which manufactures gear of genuinely outstanding value for the money -, such mix-and-match should by avoided in any case.
(Good matches with AC preamplifiers, high or low gain, can then be achieved with single-ended power amplifiers, both tubes or SS, such as: Jadis, Pass Labs (single-ended medium gain), Valvet (single-ended medium gain), YBA Signature (single-ended, high-gain), etc - but with a TriodeFET technology inside an AC integrated amplifier, I think you have the solution: AC says that their TriodeFET technology is able to drive pretty much anything down to 2 Ohms)


Good luck!
Keep us posted.