McIntosh and B&W is known to be best match especially if you're willing to stretch at least $4k extra after you sell your Emotiva.
For theater, I value Sunfire TGA as the best performance per dollar spent.
Need Amp Advice
It would be worth your while to look at these babies: Blue Circle AG-8000 monoblocks $5,998 * Four separate chassis: 2 monaural amplifiers, each with its own separate external power supply. * 150 watts into 8 ohms * True balanced topology * Tube input stage (two 6922's), Blue Circle's new solid state output stage * Two pairs of binding posts for shot-gun bi-wiring * Custom Blue Circle Polypropylene cap bypass in both B+ and low voltage power supply * Over 300,000uF power supply * 2500 watt power supply transformer * DC power connection rated up to 34 amps * HexFred(tm) Ultra Fast Soft recovery diode in B+ and low voltage power supply |
We've got a number of customers that use the B&W 802s with our M-60s, so apparently its a rather tube-friendly speaker. Rather than going the brute force powerhouse approach, you might consider going the finesse route instead- it sounds like that's what you want from your original post. Tubes could do that for you as they tend to be smoother and more detailed than solid state (IMO/IME) generally speaking. |
Hi all, Thank you *so* much for your responses, gives me different directions to consider. A few things: 1. I have never owned a tube amplifier before. The way I understand tubes (I am quite ignorant on the subject, just by reading) is that they tend to run super hot, slow, require maintenance and probably not a good fit for home theater, which is what I use my system most for. 2. When I listen to music I never use my sub. I am delighted by the bass the 802's produce. 3. the Emotivas are definitely a different league, maybe can be tagged as "entry level" amps which are affordable. I think that was was said here is true: they do sound slightly too bright and "harsh". I sometimes feel like I wish I could "open up" that sound a bit more, even in movies, if it makes sense. 4. The Blue Circle AG-8000 look like a super-complex setup, something that is probably an overkill for me. Do they run very hot? Will they pair nicely with the Marantz? (I would hate to replace it, paid 4K for it quite recently). Does it make sense to use such gear for movies? 5. My budget is limited, I can spend up to 8K, given that I will be selling my 2 Emotivas to offset the price a little. Again, thank you all very much, your insights are very helpful. I want to make a purchase that will last a few years, so want to make the right decision. |
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