Amp opinions- ATI-B&K-Pass Labs


Im looking to purchase a two channel amp to mate with an ARCAM AVR100 receiver and Arcam DV88 player- loudspeakers are Vienna Acoustics Beethovens - Essentially I want to "open up" the Viennas as im not getting the quality desired with the the straight Arcam- My research so far has led me to- the B&K Ref 2220, the ATI 1502, and the PASS x150- obviously the PASS is quite a bit more $$ but Ive heard the speakers on the x250 and they are wonderful. My question is what am i giving up with the ATI and B&K? Any other amp suggestions are appreciated as well -
gelba4
Vienna Acoustic speakers are very transparent and sensitive to their source equipment. I would go for the higher end amps with them. If solid state is your bag, I would look at the Pass labs Aleph series as well. I like those better than the x series.
You might look at some rowland amps - like the concentra. Those tend to 'back off' a little and would be a nice match to tame the vienna acoustics a bit. Also, check out the Adcom 5802 and 750 preamp. The preamp is world class transparent, and the amp has a nice, forgiving nature. Nelson Pass did the base designs for both pieces.

Great speakers...
I was looking several years ago at the local high end stereo shop for something I was needing for my system and I heard a system that had the Wilson Watt speakers and a Levinson amp and several weeks later I heard the same system with the Pass amp and just had to say the Pass amp TOTALLY TRANSFORMED THAT SYSTEM INTO SOMETHING SO AWESOME I can not even in words describe how good it was ! So forget the rest PASS is the way to go ! JB
I would love to own a pair of Vienna Acoustic Beethovens! If you can afford it, go with a quality amp like Pass Labs but don't skimp on the preamp. I was not impressed with the so called Stereophile "class A" rated Adcom GFP-750 compared to many other preamps. Yes, the design was licensed by Nelson Pass but even Nelson says the component selection was not of the highest quality in the Adcom to keep the cost down. I've owned and tested nearly a dozen preamps in the past couple years and although the GFP-750 was decent I don't see how Stereophile gave it a "class A" rating.... but I don't agree with Stereophile on many of their findings.
Aleph will sound like a tube system without the tube hassle. Incredibly soaring sound qualities. Did I say WOW!

Downside of an Aleph, slower than some ss amps, not overly but apparent.

All in all ask yourself do I listen to music or a ss attack.