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My Long List of Amplifiers and My Personal Review of Each!

So I have been in a long journey looking to find the best amplifiers for my martin logan montis. As you know, the match between an amplifier and speakers has to be a good "marriage" and needs to be blend exquisitely. Right now, I think I might have found the best sounding amplifier for martin logan. I have gone through approximately 34-36 amplifiers in the past 12 months. Some of these are:

Bryston ST, SST, SST2 series
NAD M25
PARASOUND HALO
PARASOUND CLASSIC
KRELL TAS
KRELL KAV 500
KRELL CHORUS
ROTEL RMB 1095
CLASSE CT 5300
CLASSE CA 2200
CLASSE CA 5200
MCINTOSH MC 205
CARY AUDIO CINEMA 7
OUTLAW AUDIO 755
LEXICON RX7
PASS LABS XA 30.8
BUTLER AUDIO 5150
ATI SIGNATURE SERIES 6005

With all that said, the amplifiers I mentioned above are the ones that in my opinion are worth mentioning. To make a long story short, there is NO 5 CHANNEL POWER AMP that sounds as good as a 3ch and 2ch amplifier combination. i have done both experiments and the truth is that YOU DO lose details and more channel separation,etc when you select a 5 channel power amplifier of any manufacturer.
My recollection of what each amp sounded like is as follows:

ATI SIGNATURE SERIES 6005 (great power and amazing soundstage. Very low noise floor, BUT this amplifiers NEEDS TO BE cranked up in order to fully enjoy it. If you like listening at low volume levels or somewhat moderate, you are wasting your time here. This amp won’t sound any different than many other brands out there at this volume. The bass is great, good highs although they are a bit bright for my taste)

NAD M25 (very smooth, powerful, but somewhat thin sounding as far as bass goes)
Bryston sst2(detailed, good soundstage, good power, but can be a little forward with certain speakers which could make them ear fatiguing at loud volumes)

Krell (fast sounding, nice bass attack, nice highs, but some detail does get lost with certain speakers)

rotel (good amp for the money, but too bright in my opinion)

cary audio (good sound overall, very musical, but it didn’t have enough oomph)

parasound halo (good detail, great bass, but it still holds back some background detail that i can hear in others)

lexicon (very laid back and smooth. huge power, but if you like more detail or crisper highs, this amp will disappoint you)

McIntosh mc205 (probably the worst multichannel amp given its price point. it was too thin sounding, had detail but lacked bass.

butler audio (good amplifier. very warm and smooth sweet sounding. i think for the money, this is a better amp than the parasound a51)

pass labs (very VERY musical with excellent bass control. You can listen to this for hours and hours without getting ear fatigue. however, it DOES NOT do well in home theater applications if all you have is a 2 channel set up for movies. The midrange gets somewhat "muddy" or very weak sounding that you find yourself trying to turn it up.

classe audio (best amplifier for multi channel applications. i simply COULDNT FIND a better multi channel amplifier PERIOD. IT has amazing smoothness, amazing power and good bass control although i would say krell has much better bass control)

Update: The reviews above were done in January 2015. Below is my newest update as of October 2016:



PS AUDIO BHK 300 MONOBLOCKS: Amazing amps. Tons of detail and really amazing midrange. the bass is amazing too, but the one thing i will say is that those of you with speakers efficiency of 87db and below you will not have all the "loudness" that you may want from time to time. These amps go into protection mode when using a speaker such as the Salon, but only at very loud levels. Maybe 97db and above. If you don’t listen to extreme crazy levels, these amps will please you in every way.

Plinius Odeon 7 channel amp: This is THE BEST multichannel amp i have ever owned. Far , but FAR SUPERIOR to any other multichannel amp i have owned. In my opinion it destroyed all of the multichannel amps i mentioned above and below. The Odeon is an amp that is in a different tier group and it is in a league of its own. Amazing bass, treble and it made my center channel sound more articulate than ever before. The voices where never scrambled with the action scenes. It just separated everything very nicely.

Theta Dreadnaught D: Good detailed amp. Looks very elegant, has a pleasant sound, but i found it a tad too bright for my taste. I thought it was also somewhat "thin" sounding lacking body to the music. could be that it is because it is class d?

Krell Duo 300: Good amp. Nice and detailed with enough power to handle most speakers out there. I found that it does have a very nice "3d" sound through my electrostatics. Nothing to fault here on this amp.
Mark Levinson 532H: Great 2 channel amp. Lots of detail, amazing midrange which is what Mark Levinson is known for. It sounds very holographic and will please those of you looking for more detail and a better midrange. As far as bass, it is there, but it is not going to give you the slam of a pass labs 350.5 or JC1s for example. It is great for those that appreciate classical music, instrumental, etc, but not those of you who love tons of deep bass.

 It is articulate sounding too
Krell 7200: Plenty of detail and enough power for most people. i found that my rear speakers contained more information after installed this amp. One thing that i hated is that you must use xlr cables with this amp or else you lose most of its sound performance when using RCA’s.

Krell 402e: Great amp. Very powerful and will handle any speaker you wish. Power is incredible and with great detail. That said, i didn’t get all the bass that most reviewers mentioned. I thought it was "ok" in regards to bass. It was there, but it didn’t slam me to my listening chair.

Bryston 4B3: Good amp with a complete sound. I think this amp is more laid back than the SST2 version. I think those of you who found the SST2 version of this amp a little too forward with your speakers will definitely benefit from this amp’s warmth. Bryston has gone towards the "warm" side in my opinion with their new SST3 series. As always, they are built like tanks. I wouldn’t call this amp tube-like, but rather closer to what the classe audio delta 2 series sound like which is on the warm side of things.

Parasound JC1s: Good powerful amps. Amazing low end punch (far superior bass than the 402e). This amp is the amp that i consider complete from top to bottom in regards to sound. Nothing is lacking other than perhaps a nicer chassis. Parasound needs to rework their external appearance when they introduce new amps. This amp would sell much more if it had a revised external appearance because the sound is a great bang for the money. It made my 800 Nautilus scream and slam. Again, amazing low end punch.

Simaudio W7: Good detailed amp. This amp reminds me a lot of the Mark Levinson 532h. Great detail and very articulate. I think this amp will go well with bookshelves that are ported in order to compensate for what it lacks when it comes to the bass. That doesn’t mean it has no bass, but when it is no Parasound JC1 either.
Pass labs 350.5: Wow, where do i begin? maybe my first time around with the xa30.8 wasn’t as special as it was with this monster 350.5. It is just SPECTACULAR sounding with my electrostatics. The bass was THE BEST BASS i have ever heard from ANY amp period. The only amp that comes close would be the jC1s. It made me check my settings to make sure the bass was not boosted and kept making my jaw drop each time i heard it. It totally destroyed the krell 402e in every regard. The krell sounded too "flat" when compared to this amp. This amp had amazing mirange with great detail up top. In my opinion, this amp is the best bang for the money. i loved this amp so much that i ended up buying the amp that follows below.

Pass labs 250.8: What can i say here. This is THE BEST STEREO AMP i have ever heard. This amp destroys all the amps i have listed above today to include the pass labs 350.5. It is a refined 350.5 amp. It has more 3d sound which is something the 350.5 lacked. It has a level of detail that i really have never experienced before and the bass was amazing as well. I really thought it was the most complete power amplifier i have ever heard HANDS DOWN. To me, this is a benchmark of an amplifier. This is the amp that others should be judged by. NOTHING is lacking and right now it is the #1 amplifier that i have ever owned.

My current amps are Mcintosh MC601s: i decided to give these 601s a try and they don’t disappoint. They have great detail, HUGE soundstage, MASSIVE power and great midrange/highs. The bass is great, but it is no pass labs 250.8 or 350.5. As far as looks, these are the best looking amps i have ever owned. No contest there. i gotta be honest with you all, i never bought mcintosh monos before because i wasn’t really "wowed" by the mc452, but it could have been also because at that time i was using a processor as a preamp which i no longer do. Today, i own the Mcintosh C1100 2 chassis tube preamp which sounds unbelievable. All the amps i just described above have been amps that i auditioned with the C1100 as a preamp. The MC601s sound great without a doubt, but i will say that if you are looking for THE BEST sound for the money, these would not be it. However, Mcintosh remains UNMATCHED when it comes to looks and also resale value. Every other amp above depreciates much faster than Mcintosh.

That said, my future purchase (when i can find a steal of a deal) will be the Pass labs 350.8. I am tempted to make a preliminary statement which is that i feel this amp could be THE BEST stereo amp under 30k dollars. Again, i will be able to say more and confirm once i own it. I hope this update can help you all in your buying decisions!


128x128jays_audio_lab
klh007
621 posts
 
WCSS, I know you love the Ref 10, and it might have some advantages over an all D'Agostino solution, but without the ability to boost the highs you may like the all Dag system more. The SA103/Ref 10 audition will give you some feedback on how much the Ref 10 adds to a Tube/SS combo. Looking forward to today's listening results.
jays_audio_lab's avatar
jays_audio_lab OP
5,381 posts
 
@denon1 yes I’m thinking of selling it so I can explore other sources. No other reason why other than I have to sell it in order to move up the ladder. 
Right now I have ideas but I have to be methodical. The Neoliths swallowed a lot of the budget which leaves me less cash to buy multiple amps at once. 
atownkeep
19 posts
 
WCSS, give me about 2 weeks and you can come to Texas and hear my Neolith, Luxman Combo with some great BBQ, Shiner Bock and Tito's Vodka. It will be the best $300 for a plane ticket you will spend. 
mrdecibel
3,062 posts
 
Viber, I will tell you the amp I am using in a moment ( although I have not been shy about in on other threads ). I gave up on tubes a long time ago, which was a shame, because with horns, there seems to be a " magic ". Factors such as mushy bass ( ill defined and slow ), microphonics, constant biasing, tube rolling ( getting and matching good quality tubes ), noise, long warm up times, and reliability issues were a big play in my decision. Keep in mind ( as this was pointed out to me by Roger Modjeski on his fabulous thread here RamTubes, asking an engineer questions ), I likely did not have the correct amps. From the very beginning, I jumped on board with solid state. Mcintosh, Ampzilla, Son and Grandson, Marantz 15, Citation 16 ( the A version, and even the little model 12 ), Dyna 416, Robertson, Bedini, PL, SAE, Sumo, and not to mention the Japanese units. Yamaha, Luxman, Kenwood LO7s, need I continue. I was a junkie, for sure. Being in the business, I was able to get my hands on absolutely anything. And I did.  My Threshold Stasis 2, was at the time, a revelation, as was my Krell KSA 50 ( my favorite ).....It was not until I got my Krell KSA 50, that I believed SS was the real deal. Moving along to today, most of that equipment is gone, as I no longer was in the " collection " business. March of ’17 ( I am retired in Fl. at this point ), I decided, for  giggles, to purchase the Nuforce STA 200, being sold for the price of $499., with free shipping, and a 30 day return. Amp was not satisfactory with my preamp collection ( again many, a few in the 5-6 K range ).Too much gain. Hum, hiss, and very little attenuation control on the volume. But, it sounded AWESOME. This amp, through my current pr. of Lascalas ( I have been through a number of pair), had attributes, positive mind you, of every other amplifier I have ever owned, and not a single negative, except for the too much gain issue. Early this year I tried passive, and have found my Nirvana, with the Luminous. There are many amp manufacturers whose products have been through my doors not mentioned here, because honestly, it no longer matters. Speakers, do not get me started. I had them all ( while always a pair of Lascala ). You did ask what amp I am using, right ? WC is on a larger " budget " scale than my own, but in my industry, I have heard much near what he is buying. To me, no biggie. There is only so much info on a recording. My weakness in likely my Dac ( heavily modified Adcom GDA 700 ), but, really does the job for me. Gave up my Lps and tt set up recently in ’15 as it was a pita for me to get a record to spin. I was anal with the cleaning, clamping, all else....My vinyl sounded superior to me than digital, but I adjusted. Enough for now. I am thinking of writing a book on my vast audio experiences, and believe me, there have been many. I have known many big and influential people in the industry, many have passed, some still around, and, other than better parts, not too excited about some of the new stuff. I apologize to you WC, as I did not mean to use your thread for my read. Your mission is still quite enjoyable to me, but as I’ve said, I have found a sound that suits me, my music, and my listening habits. Enjoy ! MrD.
bigddesign3
237 posts
 
Here is my take on what could work very well with the Neolith speaker......

You have an integrated with no preamp output that has tone controls. So eventually, if you want to explore the additional power from some monoblocks, you could sell the AR Reference 10, and get a D'ag preamplifier. This would give you the tone controls that are making for some subtle adjustments that make the system sound better. I think the D'ag preamp will blow away any other preamp with tone controls, and probably blow away just about any preamp out there. So it would make a hell of a lot of sense to get a D'ag preamp.

The D'ag Progression monoblocks are more powerful than the Momemtums. Progression has a 3,000 VA Transformer, 48 output transistors, and 400,000 power supply storage capacitance. This is the real amp design that Dan's Krell division stood strong as having all the available current to get any speaker load to shine. These Progression Monoblocks are going to fill the instruments with a more realistic representation than any other amplifier design out there. Being stable down to just about any Ohm, and having a power station like of reserve power will bring home the best sound possible. Are they worth it to buy them new? I think so. I'm sure the resale value will be at the top of the "for sale' chain. But the fact that Dan has so much time with designing these behemoth amplifiers, I feel that they would be such an asset to the Neoliths. My Krell KSA-200S that I'm using right now has a 2,800 VA Transformer. When I stepped up from my smaller Krell KST-100 to the Krell KSA-200S, I was floored as to how the instruments would fill themselves in. The music wasn't just louder, the realism of everything fill up like blowing up a baloon. Mind blowing improvement.

This is what type of amps you need to get 'er done. Peroid. And the Momemtum Preamp could be the gateway to getting the sound just right. $34k for the Momentum preamp, and 38k for the Progression Monoblocks. For the money, I think you would be hard pressed to find a better combination. And you can also test all the amplifiers you want after buying the D'ag preamp. You could recoup some money by selling the D'ag integrated and the AR Reference 10. Summing up........ you would be making a major step for not too much money. Wew!! That was a lot. But this is what this guy thinks.
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