ARTsa & Avalon Time

Marcus

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Oct 5, 2012
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I'm thinking of purchasing ARTsa amp but I'm not convinced 140w/ch would be enough to drive my speakers (Avalon Time). Has anyone perhaps heard this combination? I know ART's 275W/ch would be enough to drive Time but $37k...
 
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LL21

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I'm thinking of purchasing ARTsa amp but I'm not convinced 140w/ch would be enough to drive my speakers (Avalon Time). Has anyone perhaps heard this combination? I know ART's 275W/ch would be enough to drive Time but $37k...

Hi Marcus,

First of all...i have NOT done this. What i can say is that there are a few displays i have read about with this combination which were well received...i wish i could find them in the blogs/posts, etc. I suppose it also depends on how hard you anticipate driving your Times and what kind of music you play. I suspect you already know that CJ and Avalon have a long-documented blend that many, many people love. Good luck and please post your findings if you try! I think you can change your ARTsa to monos in the future if you choose to buy the sa version...might be a good way to go, because at lower to medium levels and probably in a 10x15 room, i bet the sa alone sounds great.
 

flez007

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Aug 31, 2010
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I had a pair of Avalon Eclipses driven with a pair (also) of CJ Premier 8As, great combo.

Now..I am quite familiar with the Time, a friend down here drives them with TOTL MBL monoblocs, of course with no issues,. I drive my Ascents with an EAR 861 (35 clean class A watts per channel) and runs out of juice at some specific moments with also very specific material, 90% of the time I am more than happy.

Is your listening room a large one? What kind of music do you listen the most?
 

LL21

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I had a pair of Avalon Eclipses driven with a pair (also) of CJ Premier 8As, great combo.

Now..I am quite familiar with the Time, a friend down here drives them with TOTL MBL monoblocs, of course with no issues,. I drive my Ascents with an EAR 861 (35 clean class A watts per channel) and runs out of juice at some specific moments with also very specific material, 90% of the time I am more than happy.

Is your listening room a large one? What kind of music do you listen the most?

i thought i read somewhere that Time might be tougher to drive than Ascents? i might honestly have gotten that backwards...but in any event, i did NOT get the impression it was tremendously more difficult to drive. In which case i 35 watts class A from EAR will drive them...then CJ 140 Premier amplification should be quite a lot unless someone is trying to drive them in a super large room (25x30x15) or opening a nite club (or a movie theater)...
 

flez007

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That could be the case Lloyd, Ascents a ruler-flat at 6 ohms, that helps!
 

LL21

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That could be the case Lloyd, Ascents a ruler-flat at 6 ohms, that helps!

Almost like the X1/Grand Slamm...94.5db as well. dips to below 5ohms north of 10khz i believe from memory...
 

Marcus

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Thanks guys. I'm well aware of questions you raised (room dimensions, music, how loud...etc), I just wondered if someone has tried this specific combination. We can cover all important questions in theory but (I hope you agree) there is no substitute for real experiences.
 

Big Dog RJ

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Feb 2, 2012
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I've had many wonderful years of experience with c-j gear dating from the 70's to date. A top of the line 140w/ch from c-j will drive well enough to the point that musicality counts, if that is what you're after. Relaxing music for endless hours, and truly enjoying recorded music is what c-j stands for. If like someone mentioned above you want to start a night club or some aerobics classes with zumba music then 140w is not for you, nor are the Avalons.

On the other hand if you really want to be 110% sure about driving your Avalons, why not get the ART amp to your home for a demo. Ask your dealer, obviously if you're a valued customer they should be able to arrange this.

Many years ago I was driving my Edilon's with the premier 11A (at just 70w/ch it drove fine); perfect balance of timbre/tonality and beautiful depth of soundstage. A wonderful combination.
Cheers and all the best,
RJ
 

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