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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
 
I did give Steve the green light to post the video of his system playing the same music i recorded recently so that perhaps a comparison can be drawn.
That said, the issue isn’t that, but rather the constant "ranchera" that viber plays here in regards to the GT AUDIO speakers which he now claims don’t do something that his vintage speakers do and which is sufficient enough for him to not buy the GT Audio speakers.
I don’t believe there has ever been a single person here who has promoted a product so intensely (as viber has done) but yet they don’t own it ( while having the means to do so).
Even tekton owners (greyhound) who actually owns a tekton speaker doesn’t come here praising it. He likes the speakers and most IMPORTANTLY owns them which speaks volumes about his beliefs.

Another example is Kren who I don’t believe owns a wilson speaker but he likes it a lot yet you don’t see him pushing wilson. I’m sure if he could buy his dream wilson , he probably would have it right now ( if he doesn’t already).

My point is if someone loves a product for x and y reason, they WOULD OWN IT if money isn't a problem. 


faxer's avatar
faxer
165 posts
 
I appreciate Jay’s input.
However, we are losing sight of a bigger more important issue that most dealers won’t take the time to accommodate the concerns and requests of their customers.
Even if that means allowing a customer to listen to a pair of speakers with their own gear.
We have even allowed this to happen in our store with customers bringing in gear to hear on inexpensive bookshelf speakers.
I know Jay plans a specific video addressing the numerous problems that audiophiles face with respect to dealers.
I look forward to that video.
jays_audio_lab's avatar
jays_audio_lab OP
5,381 posts
 
Stay tuned for that video. I'll lay it all out when it comes to dealers and buyers. Here's a quick example:
What does a dealer need to do to earn your business:

1. Ask you questions about your current set up and not focus solely on the component you're calling about 

Then I'll turn the tables and call out the bs that buyers do:
1. Calling every dealer and then leveraging dealers against each other which later leads to dealers getting scolded by manufacturers for discounting or shipping across their territories 
2. Using the stupid ass " let me talk to the wife" excuse which is the oldest trick in the book. Dealers have heard all the excuses and this one is one of the top excuses. 

Trust me I'll call out dealer bs and buyer bs. This is something that I have never seen done on social media but i am here to call it like it is. 
mr_gray
61 posts
 
great comparison video.  very enjoyable and as you say Jay quite unique.  well done and thankyou.

Merry Christmas one and all

p.s. Gryphon for mine :-)
closenplay
54 posts
 
Jay, why are you creating/encouraging an episode of Jerry Springer to breakout here? You don't like it when others have attacked you, and yet you go full out assault mode. What gives?
        Myself and others have taken the time and effort to give you feedback about the latest video and you don't discuss those topics here. Agon is for exchanges of thoughts/ideas/perceptions of all things audio in general and a thread in particular of the OP. Comments on Youtube are just that, comments with no expectation of a dialogue (generally). 
   I found it odd that you asked a few posts back why no one mentioned cables. This was a comparison of Boulder vs. Gryphon, not a cable comparo. If you do a cable comparo we will evaluate that video. Strangely (to me), you phrase some of your questions as if a dealer might want to know the responses---like a consumer survey, if you will. And now you seem to don the cap of audio dealer/audio consumer ombudsman. Please share with us your desire to do this. That topic sounds like it should have a separate thread. 
      Also, some of the audio gear chest pumping in a few of the last number of pages is quite tedious.
       Jay, perhaps the allure of possibly having a huge impact on Youtube (which can as you know bring in 20 to 50 large/mo, according to those with hundreds of videos and tens of millions of views), as well as a particular perceived status as an Expert in a given area has you firmly in its grasp. It is impossible to serve two or more masters. 
     I rarely read the Agon forums a couple of years ago (but have been an audio enthusiast for twenty times as long). I stumbled upon your thread at that point, reading through ( 100 or 120 pages?) and enjoying most of the posters' experiences/knowledge/wisdom that they shared with you on your journey. I joined Agon to be able to post on your thread (onIy if I thought I had something worthwhile to share, hence my small number of posts). Unfortunately, it seems many of the wise and gifted (not all) don't post here anymore. Time/people move on, I guess. Perhaps it is because your raison detre (I own all my gear and I am not compromised in my opinions about gear from advertisers like magazine reviewers are compromised) may have changed. You are now in a similar predicament as the mag reviewers, your opinions/motives potentially compromised by the monetary aspects of your business model. I am only saying that the perception of potential compromise is now real. There is no potential for compromise if you have no potential monetary gain. Now, you could have more integrity than Mother Theresa, but there now exists the potential for bias (covert or overt) in your motives/opinions. 
     If you desire huge Youtube success, I encourage you 100 percent.(you seem to have passion and a fair sized ego(not a knock)-- both can help with success)....but let's talk nuts and bolts audio here on Agon with you sharing your views on what you hear in your room more often and less frat house arm-wrestling.
     While it seems like this wasn't a "Let's all sing Kumbaya! " post, I took the time and effort because the thread has value to me and I would like it to be all the best it can be.
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