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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
jays_audio_lab's avatar
jays_audio_lab OP
5,381 posts
 
So when i started this thread 4 years ago and began to give my impressions on the NAD M25 power amp, i had no clue i would end up going on a Gryphon Mephisto let alone a pair of $140k Focal Stella Evo speakers.
There is an element of truth to the fact that this is an amplifier thread, but could you imagine if i had to create a separate thread for each speaker, each cable, each dac that i reviewed? how could i maintain 3,4,5,6,etc separate threads? i simply could not do it.

Anyhow, i have been getting a tremendous amounts of emails and comments from people who want me to play their songs through my speakers to which i have no problem doing, but you all gotta keep in mind that Youtube has copyrights in place so i can not play ANY SONG i want.
If you want to know if one the songs you want me to play is allowed by youtube, all you need to do is search for the song on youtube and see if there is ANYONE playing this song through their system somewhere. That is a good indication that i probably can play it too. I think Fleetwood Mac is not allowed because i have tried to play it and it keeps getting declined and it is the same story with the Eagles "Hotel California".
I might "take requests" (i feel like a DJ) and do about 10 songs for bout 2 min each for a total of 20 min.
If there is anyone interested, let me know, but please do your homework first to be sure your song is allowed by youtube.
viber6
2,444 posts
 
speedbump6,
Good, so how do the Tekton Ulf's compare to your Wilson?

All,
I mentioned Tekton again because of Jay's statement about the benefits of Be tweeters in the Focal Stella.  The patented tweeter array of Tektons also lets the Be tweeter driver cover much of the midrange, down to 270 Hz.  I don't know why Focal hasn't used Be for their midrange drivers.  Often a company has established relationships with suppliers, and it is natural to want to fully develop the non-Be driver.  But why has the modestly priced Paradigm Persona line developed Be midrange drivers, which are also used down to about 50 Hz in their cheapest model B for $7K?

Remember that the speaker is the most critical component.  Since Jay has found much greater resolution in the Stella vs Alexia 2, I won't be surprised if he finds greater resolution using the Parasound JC1+ with the Stella, compared to Mephisto with the Alexia 2.
kren0006
1,859 posts
 
Agree with zprr on Tekton. Doesn’t really belong in this thread UNLESS WC gets them. He is well aware but has bypassed so far because they don’t meet his quality standards, or for whatever reason - doesn’t really matter. Bottom line, he could easily get them if he thought they were worthy but he has not. Deal with it.

I like that the thread is not strictly amps, and the discussion of preamps and speakers and cables is all good, but it’s much better to keep it to things that WC has had.

There are plenty of other threads on A’gon for the Tekton folks, and those of us interested in the stuff WC has can conveniently ignore all of them.

The minute WC changes course and brings in a Tekton, I’ll happily stand corrected.

Note I’m not saying never appropriate to suggest or briefly discuss other options, but the Tektons now encroaching into GTA territory for non-relevant-to-WC-journey stuff that really doesn’t belong in THIS thread. Suggesting once is cool. Going on for pages just pollutes the thread.
carey1110's avatar
Ag insider logo xs@2x
carey1110
566 posts
 
Hard to say what belongs here and what doesn’t. Threads have a tendency to take on a life of their own and evolve in many different directions. You’ll never change that. Topics will vary according to everyone’s input. Just the way it is. You ride the wave you like, when it’s over you just paddle back out and wait for the next one you like. Pretty simple.🏄🏻‍♂️
jays_audio_lab's avatar
jays_audio_lab OP
5,381 posts
 
I am a believer that there is stuff out there that really performs above its price point. I can not confirm or deny if Tekton or GT Audio are at the level of a Stella Evo because i have never heard them here in my room - where it matters to me.

I am sure i will continue to try more speakers in the future, but i want you all to understand that the logistics when it comes to speakers are tough and it requires man power plus the space to store all those crates.
i would love to try different speakers every month, but that is unfortunately not possible. Speakers - in my humble opinion - are the hardest thing to sell once you are done with them. Granted, if you have the newest Wilson, Magico, etc it won’t be too hard to sell in the beginning, but after a few years you won’t be able to sell them for what you want, but rather for what the market brings.
I would LOVE to have a Magico M3, Focal Stella Evo, Wilson Alexx in here all at once, but i do not have the space and i cant store those huge crates in here.

In closing, i am NOT OPPOSED to bringing Tekton speakers and do not be surprised if i somehow end up with a pair in here, but PLEASE keep in mind that i will be as objective as possible with them. I do not want to hurt anybody’s feelings (specially Tekton owners) if i find the speakers less than what they are praised to be.
I have also kept in touch with Steve from GT Audio and i expressed my sentiments to him about comparing his speakers against whichever speaker i have here:
I need to hear them HERE, with my electronics, in my room, and in an environment that i am familiar with. Until that takes place, we can not speculate that their speakers are superior to any speaker regardless of price. The only thing you all need to know is that whichever speaker i bring here (Tekton, GT audio, etc) is sure to be used with top electronics and cables. There will not be any excuses as to why they did or did not perform.
I truly believe that the only thing i need to do with speakers here is perhaps have a different set of speaker cables, xlrs, powercords and nothing else. Gryphon Mephisto & Pandora as well as Boulder 2110 and DCS Rossini w/clock have the front end covered. I do not believe i need to worry about my preamplification, source or amplification at all.
I also feel like if you are a relatively small speaker manufacturer, WHY wouldn’t you want your speakers to be in the same room as the Focal Stella Evos and Gryphon Mephisto? What a better chance for marketing for your product than to hear it with this quality of electronics? Granted, most Tekton buyers would not be the demographic for a Mephisto (i get it), but think about how awesome it would be to hear what a Tekton is capable of with a machine like the Mephisto? i have been vocal about this behind the scenes with some manufacturers FYI.
I have YET TO HEAR a Gryphon amplifier sound bad with ANY SPEAKER.
If i am trying to penetrate a certain market with a new car brand and Toyota has allowed me display my product in one of their dealerships, WHY wouldn’t i jump at the opportunity if i know my product is good? yes, i know i am not Toyota, but you get my point.
i am waiting for GT Audio or Tekton to put a pair of their speakers at my door for me to evaluate for at least one month. Yes, it costs them money to ship to me and to ship them back, but isn't that the cost of embarking on a business venture?  
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