Need Amp Advice


Hey guys,

New member here but music lover for many years.
I am looking to upgrade my amps to get better sound quality and really need some help. I watch movies and listen to music daily. I would say in general, 70/30 (movies 70). I run a 5.1 setup and plan on upgrading to 7.1.4 in the future, but happy with 5.1 at the moment.
When I listen to music I only use the 802's (no sub and no multichannel music).

Currently, my setup is:

Speakers
Main speakers: B&W 802D (first Diamond)
Center: B&W HTM2D
Surrounds: Klipsch
Sub: Klipsch

Pre-amp
Marantz AV8802A

Amps
Emotiva XPA-1 monoblock x2 for the main speakers 
Emotiva XPA-3 Gen 3 for the center and surrounds

The sounds is good, it's actually more than good but I want it to be even better. I have been looking at many used amps (can not afford new ones) and wanted to ask for your opinion on the following that I have considered. I have not heard any of them with my speakers.

1. Classe CM-A600 monoblocks 
2. McIntosh MC501 monoblocks
3. I even looked at the Devialet 200 which was recommended by someone I know
4. Krell?

Do those amps make sense? Am I looking at a noticeable improvement over the Emotivas? I would love to hear from people who know and heard those amps, especially driving 802's.
I am of course open to any other suggestions as well.

Thank you in advance!

killergurt

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.

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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