Anyone every hear of Sumo pre and power amps?

[dpowell]

Came across someone selling Sumo Diana preamp and 2 Sumo Polaris power amps. Never heard of them before but says he paid a bundle for them a good long time ago.

Found this informational page:

http://www.davidsaudio.com/html/gas_sumo.html

Can probably pick up the combo of 2 X 120watt power amps and a pre for <$200

[Kenneth Swauger]

Absolutely, "Bongo" Jim was/is a very good designer with a sharp sense of humor. I think the "Ampzilla" power amp was in Stereophile's list of 100 most influential products. For $200.00 you should break like the wind! Providing everything works okay.

[George Grand]

Didn't he have something to do with GAS also?

[mhardy6647]

Exactly so, George. The very man; James Bongiorno. He cut his teeth with Hafler/Dynaco and was involved in the design of the Dynaco 400.
He is still active, last I knew (Ampzilla 2000), and still a man of a certain sartorial... elegance. Google him and see :-)

[George Grand]

and still a man of a certain sartorial... elegance. Google him and see :-)

Nah, I don't like touching other guys. You google him.

[george daniel]

I've got a Sumo Polaris,,class A/B IIRC--sweet sweet amp..mint condition,,palys very nice,and apparently well built.

[dpowell]

I just got home from picking up the stack of stuff. Here's what I ended up with for $150:

2 X Sumo Polaris III power amps. Each amp is 2 x 120wpc @ 8Ohms.
1 X Sumo Diana preamp with balanced external power supply (this is two separate 1U units)
1 X Parasound T/DQ-260II tuner

He also threw in a Klipsch KSP-C6 center channel because his TV wouldn't power it. Aesthetically it is a 3/10 but still useable somewhere for the price....

Going to get it all hooked up and take it for a spin.....of course after I check to make sure the amps are common ground.

[joeparaski]

Man you did real good...you stole that stuff at that price!! Congratulations.

Joe

[dpowell]

Finished testing everything. One channel is out on one of the power amps but everything else works great. I'm sure it'll be an easy fix. Seen that sort of issue before and it's probably a toasted cap. Still can't complain for the price.

I have these swapped into my modded 1C rig and they sound very good. Kids are asleep so I can't crank anything tonight. One thing for certain, as much as good gear makes good speakers sound better, I'm finding that the SDA 1C's have sounded good on all the gear they've been played with. Certainly a testament to the quality of SDAs.

What reviews I've found on the Polaris amps seem to indicate that these amps are stellar in the bass department. Now I'm toying with the idea of turning these into 350wpc monoblocks and doing a little project with the SRT subs......

[mhardy6647]

Nah, I don't like touching other guys. You google him.

ahem...

http://www.hometheaterhifi.com/volum...orno-photo.jpg


http://www.ampzilla2000.com/James_Bongiorno.html

[dpowell]

The Sumo amp sounds good but the Anthem Amp 1 blows the pants off of it in sheer force and soundstage. To give an idea, I get the same volume level out of the Anthem at 25% than I do with the Sumo at 75% volume.

I am enjoying the Sumo Diana SS Pre. Very detailed highs. The quality of knobs, etc is very good. Still thinking the amps would be good as monoblocks driving a subwoofer but they won't find a place in either rig doing stereo duty simply because they don't have the headroom of the Parasounds or Anthem.