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Cessaro Alpha's

KeithKeith
Hello Gary and everyone, I just wanted to say hello, I have a pair of Alpha's and they are superb, more like having a musical instrument in you room than a loudspeaker .
I am using a big solid state ASR amp at the moment, ( purchased for my previous speakers ) and I am thinking about amps at the moment , Thomas W likes the KR 1610 , I am as yet undecided , so I would be very interested to hear yout thoughts regarding amplfiers ( pre and power ).
Enjoy your new speakers, regards Keith.

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    KeithKeith
    Forgot to add a photograph!
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    UnknownUnknown
    Keith,

    Did you have the new feet for the Alpha One? I did not see there are any feet underneath yours. Because of so many changes in the system lately, I cannot tell what are the sonic benefits of adding the feet although it must be positive. I can see the placement of your speakers is leaned against the back wall completely. How much distance do you before between the speaker and the listening positioning.

    The Cessaro is easy to drive but it is so transparent that it will tell you what's wrong immediately if some components are not working properly or lacks the speed to deliver. The 16 inch bass requires power to control well. I heard a pair of Zanden 9600 using 845 tubes to drive the Alpha One. It is truly truly dynamic. I have good experience using Wavac EC300B to drive it as well. I only managed to listen this combo for a Sunday afternoon. The bass region is really expressive, fast, and carries weight at the same time. The delicacy and fine tonal color resolution are ok with the standard golden dragon 300B tubes. I will get a pair of WE300B to improve tonal resolution this week.

    In the picture, you can see Ralph was doing the feet installment which is a difficult job in my place.
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    UnknownUnknown
    Here he is.
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    KeithKeith
    Hi yes i have feet on my pair, I asked Ralph to design some ,because my house is old and the wooden floor is a little uneven, the speakers are quite near the rear wall, but they still sound fantastic, we initially tried them away from the wall, and there wasn't a huge difference . Yo are completely right about the transparency of the Alpha, it is an old cliche, but the Alpha is very revealing it will tell you exactly what is going on. The Alpha's are so alive so lifelike, I shan't be buying another pair of loudspeakers ,unless we move house and I have enough foom for the Beta's and Ralph's Gamma's sounded pretty good!!!! Regards Keith.
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    UnknownUnknown
    Kieth,

    I think you should look for transformer coupling design amplifier to drive the Cessaro. The 16 inch does require some more energy to move some air in the bass compartment. Mr.Zanden's 9600 monoblock has interstage transformer like the Wavac and it really rocks. The 9600 has almost 60watt in pure class A. It is really really really dynamic. Everything you heard after his Alpha One driven by the Zanden sounds compress. The Wavac EC300B only produces 10 watt of pure class A power. It is not as explosive as the 9600 at crescendo of orchestra. However, it has more transients power in the mid range (I am not talking about the loudest peak but transient powers at demand when, say Bryn Terfel really start using his lung). The bass is not timid at all but again not as explosive as the Zanden. The control of the overall atmosphere renders an overall feeling of grandeur. Ralph heard the Wavac 300B for 5 minutes with one channel and he immediately sensed much more attack in the bass, more power. In a small room, the Wavac EC300B is more than enough. But for a large listening area like Mr.Zanden, he needs much more power to fill energy in his home.

    With the Alpha One, you better have two pairs of amp to play around.
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