Hoping for a recommendation for stereo amp around $1500 or less ($2k max)

After much reading and deliberation I ended up giving in to my curiosity about purify. I got the vtv eigentakt eval 1. Everything I read about it suggests it’s the full size speaker equivalent of my A90 which I like a lot with my phones. Audio science review showed it performing in a similar way as the A90, basically making everything else look silly for less money in the measurements. The only thing that came out ahead in the rankings was the benchmark amp(i forget the model#) with better distortion numbers but far less power for way more money.

If I don’t like it I can return it within 30 days so it seems like a good risk. I just got it hooked up for a test spin and it is indeed very clear and punchy. I still need to get my sub hooked up but what I’ve heard is promising. Also, it has a very quality feel to it which I’ve read wasn’t always the case with vtv in the beginning. It feels like a large boutique headphone amp, using the whole case as a thick heatsink. No extra holes in the bottom and looks good on my shelf with my other gear. Now for more music.

First impressions are very good. I was a bit worried until I realized I had to reverse the phase on my sub and then suddenly theeeere it is. It went from clear but hollowed out to clear and fleshed out and warm and delicious. I had to look up the specs on my speakers to realize they go down to 40hz and I was getting overlap in the low frequencies combined with being out of phase.

Now that it’s about 80-90% dialed in with the sub I’m extremely impressed. I feel like I got a hubble telescope for my ears that lets me hear the universe. I don’t notice any excessive high frequencies like I’ve seen mentioned in purifi threads here but then again this is the newer model with a different opamp. So far very happy but still learning.

Amps don’t have sub outs, or stuff like that,

 your looking for a receiver, or similar.

  No??

Someone on this thread asked previously what I thought of the $1500 D-Sonic M3a 800s. Well I tried it 3 ways now and have some observations.

1) As a headphone amp to my RAAL SR1a. I did not like it. This was with Gustard X26 Pro connected to the Benchmark HPA4 preamp.

2) As a 2 channel speaker amp to my Thiel CS3.7 with the Gustard X26 Pro as the preamp (digital volume). It was OK but a little harsh and lacked something. Some other issues with the Gustard as a preamp but that is not relevant.

3) I finally got the CODA 07x preamp to control this system and the Gustard is now just used as a DAC (not a DAC/preamp). The sound is great.

The amp is very fast and not bright nor harsh. I was going to buy the CODA #8 amp for this system but why rush into it now. I am going to try this out for at least a year. I cannot afford the CODA #8 today so luckily this D-Sonic is coming up a big winner now.

Another bonus is that this amp seem capable of operating on 2 Ohm region. I need to confirm this with D-Sonic but I can tell this is the case buy how well the Thiel's sound, more bass and power compared to my Benchmark AHB2 amps on the Thiel's. The $3K AHB2 are preferred over the D-Sonic but not on the Thiel CS3.7, which is a tough speaker to drive.

@brandini — congrats on the new amp, and it’d be interesting to hear your thoughts after you have >100 hours on it. Also, at some point you should consider sending it to Ric At Electonic Visionary Systems for some cost-effective upgrades that could up the performance level even further.

@yyzsantabarbara — has the D-Sonic fully broken in?  What didn’t you like about it with the headphones? We’re you using the Coda in that setup too?  What would you consider the core strengths/weaknesses of the amp?  Thanks for the update — very interesting.