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Any advice? Parasound A21, Ayre V5xe, Benchmark AHB2, or Bryston 4B3?

Morning, I am thinking of upgrading my Musical Fidelity M1PWR Monos but would appreciate advice on which amp would fit my Harbeth 7 speakers best.This is a set up in my home office and I do not want an amp that runs hot. I have the opportunity to buy one of the following:Ayre V5xe ($2,500)
Parasound A21 ($1,500)
Benchmark AHB2 ($3,000)
Bryston 4B3 (~$3,800)Thanks.
zwango
Post removed 
gdnrbob
4,444 posts
 
+2 for Ayre.
B
chris_adair's avatar
chris_adair
2 posts
 
I tested out the Benchmark and was somewhat disappointed by the sound, the hype was so good. Indeed it may have good bass, but lacked a precision to resolve high frequency detail, imagery and delicate subtleties that give the sense of air and space, and most important the subtle artistic feelings.
Ayre and Bryston would be better. Though both need good airflow around them. 
Funnily enough I was using Harbeths in the amp test. The Benchmark sounded good in terms of amp / speaker pairing.
whipsaw
758 posts
 
Hegel (great value) and Gryphon (great – period!) both work superbly with Harbeth. 
sixsigmaguy
15 posts
 
I have a pair of Benchmark amps as mono blocks. They are Unbelievably Good. So much better than the PS Audio amp I upgraded from.
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