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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
yyzsantabarbara
4,735 posts
 
Pretty hilarious that the LA4 is getting some notice on this thread now.  When I brought it up 2 or 3 years ago in a post here someone (I think a Canadian dude, like me) trashed my comment and said we are talking hi-end products on here not Benchmark level products. 

When I went searching for a preamp for my office system I heard a lot of gear including the incredible Luxman c900u preamp and others in the $20K level. I thought about what I really wanted a preamp to do. Then I narrowed it down to the Mola Mola Makua (near $20K with DAC) and the Benchmark HPA4/LA4. Given the price difference with the Makua and the almost perfect resale value of the HPA4 I bought the HPA4 first for under $2.8K new.

It has exceeded my expectations of what I wanted a preamp to do. That is do nothing to the sound other than providing inputs and volume. It is the finest preamp I have heard and will also be the center piece of the second system I will build in the living room. 

The HPA4/LA4 is for people that want to hear exactly what is in the source. NOT EVERYONE WANTS THAT. For me, I do, and every time I play something very familiar, for example, just now I played Van Halen I and Stevie Wonder Talking Book. I think wow, I never heard it this good before. I usually want to play it a second time.

Anyways, Benchmark has a 30 day free trial offer so if you are inclined you can see for yourself if I am full of it.
henrycai's avatar
henrycai
120 posts
 
This guy is unreal
viber6
2,444 posts
 
techno,
Take note of yyzsantabarbara's post above.  Audio pursuits should be about the sound or lack thereof, regardless of price.  Based on WC's comments in the latest video about the absolute neutrality and transparency of the Mephisto, and that it is his GOAT (greatest of all of them), it may very well be better for these qualities than the Benchmark AHB2 or my amps.  The issue is moot for you and me.  Just buy the Benchmark preamp and/or the amp, and you will have either the best electronics or second best right behind the Mephisto.  Then when you declare Benchmark to be the best ever in your listening, comparable to the experiences of yyz and me, you won't care to send it to WC.  You don't need to bother him to confirm what you know from your own listening. 

I respect WC's strongly held belief that a person doesn't know anything unless he buys something and lives with it for a while.  I modify that, because I have been able to make decisions with 30 or 60 day trials without losing any money, except for return shipping.  Before the days of online shopping, I used to do this over a weekend, picking up something when the store closed Sat afternoon, and returning it Mon AM.  If you decide to pursue detail and neutrality, Benchmark is the clear choice and one of few options for a reasonable amount of money.  But if you continue to go for euphonic things like Mac and Luxman, there are so many amps to listen to, and all you will be doing is trading 1 flavor of the month for another, an endless and unsatisfying pursuit at all price levels.  The Mephisto is one of the few gems at high prices, and the Benchmark is the same at low prices.  And the word, "benchmark" means reference standard.

Re-read and re-read yyz's 3rd and 4th paragraphs above, for the most important words of wisdom on this subject.
Post removed 
jays_audio_lab's avatar
jays_audio_lab OP
5,381 posts
 
@chayro
thank you for your observations above. You bring very interesting points which are reasonable. That said, did you see what i did? yes, i was BRUTALLY honest about the Mephisto knowing it can impact my future when it is time for me to sell it. Yet, i did not care and i was as real as i possibly could. I have been brutally bashed and criticized HERE for being X and Y when it comes to selling equipment, but i just demonstrated once again with that video that i DO NOT CARE to tell the truth even about my own gear.
So now that i have gotten that out of the way, I consider the Mephisto the G.O.A.T. from all the power amps i have owned. That said, you are buying a V12 engine with twin turbos so now what are you going to do? are you going to put it inside your Oldsmobile Cutlass and expect the stock transmission, tires and suspension to hold up? no right?
That is essentially what you have done by buying something like the Mephisto. I believe that i can still improve it (slowly) even though right now it is sounding incredible (as you heard on the first teaser video i did) so i have already found synergy. It was not hard to achieve it and it was just common sense: Buy the matching preamp and try their cables.

The truth is when you get to a certain point with this hobby, it is often times better to stick to matching amp/preamp FIRST. I will try more preamps with the Mephisto and other things to evaluate the performance of the component.
I go back to Nordost Odin 1: It is a tested and an excellent cable with a long track record for being one of the best cables out there, BUT the Mephisto brought a magnifying glass with it and it exposed the strength and weaknesses of the Odin 1 cables (brightness being a weakness at times). It is no surprise that Nordost Odin cables can be bright especially when not configured correctly and with the right supporting cast. However, the resolution is insane as well as the clarity so people who own Nordost can validate when i am saying here. Yes it gives you beautiful clarity, liquidity, speed, resolution, BUT nobody will lie to you and tell you it does not get bright (unless of course you listen at low volumes then it is hard to make something sound bright).
I actually had someone PM ME asking me what i thought of Audioquest Dragon because he was getting "bite" from his Nordost set up.
Anyhow, the point i am trying to make is that with the Mephisto these things are more "enhanced" and under the microscope to the point that they are unbearable. It is by no means the Mephisto’s fault because all it is doing is giving you "hearing aids" so you can pick up everything in more of an accentuated fashion.
The best attribute of this amp is that it makes it EASY to tell you what happened to the sound when you add or remove something. i don’t need to spend weeks to figure out the difference between one cable or the other.
Stay tuned for Teaser #2 today. You will get to hear more of it and the best part is that you WILL hear subpar performances sound subpar even though in some systems they might sound better which i can also achieve by bringing the constellations, the luxmans of the world back into the room, but i have already done that so i am not really exploring those options going forward.
Once again, thank you for your observations above.

Jay
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