The S-400 is not just any big tube amp, although it certainly wears that mantle with pride. It offers not just a degree of low-frequency definition, shape and mobility that escapes most tube amps, especially big ones, but couples it to a lively mid-range vitality that brings natural life and colour to the performance. Hooked up to the Minuets, I loved the S-400 for its characteristic stability, scale and presence, the planted authority and expansive soundstage it brought to large scale classical works, the way it kept everything under control while still allowing the music to breathe. Instrumental tonality was rich and varied without blooming or overflowing into the spaces between instruments. There was a settled confidence to the music that readily demonstrated just how comfortable the Clarisys speakers are with tubes.
The M1.1s brought their characteristic clarity, separation and neutrality to the picture, setting up a beautifully proportioned and dimensional soundstage but one that was more recessed than either of the tube amps presented, sitting well behind the plane of the speakers. As a result there was a trade off between the astonishing textural and spatial definition and the immediacy of the presentation, a more mid-hall rather than front-row sound. But with the M1.1s in bi-amp mode, the system gained an awesome ability to scale the heights of even the most towering dynamic demands. The DGG Original Source Kubelik/BPO, Dvorak – New World (2530 415) can stress any system, but the CH/Clarisys combination sailed through the musical climaxes, matching the intensity and level on demand, without the soundstage collapsing or the orchestra stepping (or tumbling) forwards. Taking things up another (perhaps the ultimate) notch, even the Steinberg/BSO Planets (486 4157) has to be played at ear-worrying levels before this system starts to exhibit signs of strain. The lesson here is simple: although the Minuets will be unfailingly musical and engaging, you can bend them to your specific musical needs through the choice and arrangement of matching amplification.
Interestingly, with any of the amps connected, I never felt the imperative to swap out to an alternative. In each case the system settled in to its own comfort zone, leaving me firmly in mine. Okay, so all three amps are great performers in their own right, but the Minuets enjoyed the happy knack of latching onto each amp’s strengths and working with them. I’m not saying that it doesn’t matter what amp you use – it most definitely does. But the Minuet will give you more of what makes that amp special to you than most other speakers irrespective of price. I never did get to play them with a quality integrated, but I suspect that it’s a combination that would really deliver. Fed from a quality front-end like the Wadax Studio Player, I’d love to hear what something like a couple of VTL’s IT-85s running vertically bi-amped could do with this speaker. Or even the S-200 fed from the Player’s variable output, if that’s the way your thinking leans…
