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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
kren0006
1,859 posts
 
I’m with psnyder - the exercise was fun for what it was but it was a landslide win according to WC which was more evident than on YT so let’s move back to the big boy stuff.

Tekton had it’s 15 minutes.
Viber’s amp had it’s 15 minutes.

Now back to regular programming.  There are dozens of other YT channels that review that lower level of gear, no disrespect as Viber's amp put up a good showing.
logydoghan
57 posts
 
Great video and explanation by Jay. Rouge sounds powerful at first but doesn't have the finesse of the class A. The gap is not small. Maybe not 50 times big. Still big.

ricevs, instead of criticizing the flaws of this shoot out or saying this is silly (how dare you calling out Dire Strait's private investigation a "3 minutes silly song" :). Please send your own modded gear to Jay like viber6 did. I respect viber6 a lot for what he has done for this community. Not just saying "Oh I got a better sound than yours". 

Class D is making progress, so is class A. Gryphon has kept making class A sound better and better. Again if that class D really sounds great like the best class A does, it will charge the same amount of money as that class A. I would do that for sure. Or I will sell it to Bose and enjoy my financial freedom for my life.
ricevs
1,543 posts
 
What I do is give people options for living. The stock Rouge amp is not a good option for living. Simple as that. If you want to find out what class D can do then you need to explore. A stock Rouge amp is just the tip of the Iceberg. Not serious. It does not matter who has better sound.....it matters that it is better (if that is what you want).

Class D should never cost what class A does.  You only need a couple of transistors and practically no heatsinks to do 200 Watts.  The size and cost of parts will always be less.  Yes, you could still do massive linear power supplies....but still the amp will be half the size and weight.

If you make generalizations about class D based on this A/B you are seriously going down the blind man tunnel. Explore.....be adventurous....see the world......it is beautiful.....it is NOT ONE WAY......it is every way. Open your heart....open you mind.....find your authentic self and express it.
cascadesphil
232 posts
 
Ric - I'm probably about 3 hours North of Jay.  He just went through a lot of work so we'll give him the next few days off for good behavior:)  I've already communicated via PMs to members about the modded IcePower vs. non-modded (and the fact that the EVS1200 pics on your website are the pictures of my actual amp - http://tweakaudio.com/EVS-2/EVS_1200_amplifier.html).  In fact, I was busy most of yesterday and probably about 4:15PM, give or take, I put my Mivera unmodded Icepower on US Audio Mart (and even noted in the ad your mods can take it to another level) and after less than one hour I had an inquiry and after a few emails back and forth (while I was out to dinner) I sold it by the time I got home from dinner (I shipped it off today).

While, I just voted I one of the videos (just didn't get the time - was busy taking pics and listing the couple of items for sale and other stuff), I was able to tell which of the amps was the Class D Rouge having lived with the Mivera first and then your modded dual mono in the main system I and communicated that to another member (before Jay revealed which amp was which) asking questions (about the modded vs. unmodded IcePower as well as Jay's demo).  I guess I had an unfair advantage.

In anticipation of eventually getting a Voyager (wasn't expecting it this soon - right now UPS is saying Wednesday - it oriignally said Tuesday but there was some type of delay at 3AM today), I re-did my office system about a month and a half ago and moved out the NuPrime IDA-8 and Selah Audio SA-2 speakers (too big for the desktop) and listened to Jay's demos on my Vanatoo Transparent One Encores (https://vanatoo.com/shop/speakers/transparent-one-encore/).  The office speakers (which also have a built in DAC) probably are not even fully broken in yet and they sound really good and the desk doesn't look like a crazy audiophile lives there.  I really like where I moved the Selah Audio speakers (I moved out my Ohm Microwalsh Talls from that system and I'm now using them as front Atmos channels in my UHD system).  I just got a repair ticket for my IDA-8 (has a minor display issue where some of the LEDs can't be read that well) and when I get that fixed it will be listed and likely time to move the EVS1200 in there and get a preamp DAC (I need one analog input for my Oppo 103D connected to a modded Carver C-9 Sonic Hologram Generator for fun).

So as far as any shootouts that Jay wants to do, that is up to Jay.  I hope everyone appreciates the work that he put into this (I do).  My friend is coming over later to watch a movie (I have an integrated AV system) and I want him to hear Jay's last demo just for kicks.  We usually just listen to music (and assuming the Voyager works out and I'll end up swapping cables for HT vs. music, I'll probably move the Class D Audio mini GaN amp I'm using for HT in the main system upstairs as I'd love to hear it on my GR Research N3s).  I did forward my friend the thread link but I doubt he looked at everything.  Assuming my Voyager amp gets here Wednesday and my friend comes over as usual on Thursday, it is my intent (since my system is a pain to hook and unhook things) to pick about 10 or so songs of different genres (including the last couple Jay used - I have some written down I'll let my friend have input too) and play the EVS 1200 first and then unhook everything and put the Voyager in (after it warms up a short while) and then play the same songs on it.  I intend to start a new thread about the comparison.

And Ric the good news is I didn't confuse you with the other Rick Schultz:)
kren0006
1,859 posts
 
"If you want to find out what class D can do then you need to explore."

And I suggest you do that on the dozens of threads devoted to that - not here. 15 minutes over.

We gotta hear about the secret monos and preamp and VAC stuff for crying out loud, and music server. Not $2k class D amps.  WC you've had these monos for 2-3 months already - we need to know what they are.

ricevs, Know when to let it go. Viber stuck his neck out and sent in his amp and I give him a lot of credit for it. Nobody could have seriously expected it to compete with what Jay has, and it didn’t, but it didn’t embarrass itself either. You got what you asked for, a shot, and WC gave it a fair shot and a lot of his time. But enough. Just my opinion. If there is a clamoring I guess that’s different but so far everyone saying back to the good stuff
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