If you can really stretch your budget to $1600 (asking price), there's a Krell six channel amp for sale right now on Audiogon that should be really nice. It's also very configurable which is a major plus.
Picking an amplifier
I have the following speakers:
NHT 2.1 Front LR 200W @ 6ohms
NHT AC1 Center 150W @ 8 ohms
NHT SW2 Subwoofer 200W @ 8 ohms
The rear speakers are inconsequential (and boxed up) they might come out to play when I move to bigger digs.
I’ve been using NHTs 214s and 216s, (think lightbulbs) but the market is drying up. I remain unconvinced they are worth the shipping & costs to repair.
My (current) short list of replacement amps:
Outlaw Audio model 770 7 (7 channels)
Bryston 9B ST (5 channels) (2 years left on warranty)
Parasound 5125 (5 channels)
The budget is $1000, I have located sources for all three at or below $1000.
Any/all discussion of suitability, repair outlook, and peanut shells welcome. From a listening perspective, I've been fine with the NADs, but am priced out of the newer models. Nuts, I might even repair the NADs if I find the right person with the skills & tools.
NHT 2.1 Front LR 200W @ 6ohms
NHT AC1 Center 150W @ 8 ohms
NHT SW2 Subwoofer 200W @ 8 ohms
The rear speakers are inconsequential (and boxed up) they might come out to play when I move to bigger digs.
I’ve been using NHTs 214s and 216s, (think lightbulbs) but the market is drying up. I remain unconvinced they are worth the shipping & costs to repair.
My (current) short list of replacement amps:
Outlaw Audio model 770 7 (7 channels)
Bryston 9B ST (5 channels) (2 years left on warranty)
Parasound 5125 (5 channels)
The budget is $1000, I have located sources for all three at or below $1000.
Any/all discussion of suitability, repair outlook, and peanut shells welcome. From a listening perspective, I've been fine with the NADs, but am priced out of the newer models. Nuts, I might even repair the NADs if I find the right person with the skills & tools.
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- 101 posts total
auxinput: you mean this? Anthem AVM 50 Home Theater Preamplifier / Processor; I'm riding my Sony DSP-EP9ES till it dies. I see I left it out of my original post. |
@kalali - I couldn't find the Krell amp you're talking about. However, for $1600, you are probably looking at the older KAV stuff from the late 90's. This is the older D'Agostino stuff and was voiced warm. It also did not have the detail and attack that the 2002+ generation did. @shalmaneser - Can you tell us what your source equipment is? Preamp/processor, CD player? This may help us guide an amp. The Anthem is a very nice amp, but it is going to be very fast and high resolution. It would be well matched to a warmer preamp/processor, such as Marantz or NAD. You can't go wrong with the Parasound A23 amp, but it will be more forgiving if you have a fast/bright sounding preamp/processor. I would say there definitely is a difference between DVD and bluray. On DVD stuff, I can definitely hear the audio is grainy and dirty compared to bluray. However, your equipment may or may not have enough resolution to reveal this difference. |
- 101 posts total