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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
viber6
2,442 posts
 

pokey77,

You said, "Mine is based on many many years of participating in this hobby, attending many shows, dealer visits, and of course, interacting with those in the hobby."

Nothing wrong with that, but it is telling that you didn't mention hearing live, unamplified music, and trying to correlate such listening with audio systems, which I have written about.  

Thus, your standard of reference is other audio equipment, not live unamplified music.  I am interested in high fidelity and accuracy; you are more interested in an audio system as an art form in itself.  This is why you interpret my assessment of Mikey's preferences as sharply critical and irrelevant, but they are factual observations of his preferences for euphonic sound, and it is also likely from his comments that he has little knowledge of classical music and live, unamplified sound, which is mainly how classical music is presented.  Nothing wrong with that, and If someone said I have little knowledge of rock/pop or amplified club sound, that would be factual, not critical of me.  Most rock/pop events use poor electronics and PA speakers, so rock/pop listeners rarely have experience with live, unamplified sound, and therefore are not much interested in high fidelity/accuracy.  The reality of very large audiences for rock/pop means that amps and PA speakers are used.   However, there are opportunities to hear jazz and pop in small venues where natural sound is presented.  Why don't you listen to the video I posted on the bottom of p 369 which mikem also thought had great sound?  You don't have to like the esoteric music presented, but a piano is a piano, regardless of what music is played.  See if you can hear what I and mikem are talking about, which is obvious after a few seconds.  This is also quickly apparent from that live natural 1976 audiophile classic reference, "Jazz at the Pawnshop"  that I and mikem discussed. Other great natural reference recordings are the Sheffield LP's of the jazz band of Harry James, the legendary trumpet player.  Harry was active in the 1940's, and it is interesting to hear him in excellent 1976 sound.  The stage was larger than in the Pawnshop recording, but the sound is also upfront, natural and unamplified.  I heard live, unamplified jazz at weddings, so I could appreciate these recordings with this live sound as a reference.

mikem
260 posts
 

Synergy for me, always starts with a scientific approach. Matching the various attributes of components so they match the connecting components on an electronic level. ie, You want to have proper impedance matching of amps and speakers, otherwise you are going to get different results at various frequencies, etc.. once you get the basic proper requirements down, then it becomes more subjective as to what one prefers taste-wise sonically. 
I have heard systems that sound “pleasing” and non fatiguing regardless of the type of music being played. The owner exclaimed total satisfaction and perfect synergy in his system. I silently disagreed, but understood his desire for smooth non fatiguing sound. That doesn’t mean his system lacks synergy, as it is delivering the sound he Prefers.  
i personally have done similar configurations when I was heavy into 50’s big band era. Those blaring horns and strings in some of those recordings would make your ears bleed, I had to reach for the volume when I knew some brass section was going to Fire up.. I had changed out my preamp for something “smoother” which equated to high freq roll off.  That smoothed sound was no longer life like as it affected all aspects of impact, speed and overall timing. Not good synergy but more of a bandaid approach. 

After some time living with this scenario, I realized the essence of the recording was being dulled down artificially and the music wasn’t satisfyingly exciting anymore. 
I have since changed/upgraded much of my system to be more revealing to what’s on the recording. The brittle sounding horns and strings are still brittle and bright sounding, but my ears don’t bleed anymore as I have better matching components creating a synergy that provides a more pleasing “compromise” of music to my ears. 
@viber6  I love hearing tape hiss on my digital recordings, such as jazz at the pawnshop. It shows the recording engineers didn’t muck with the signal too much and that I will get closer to what was originally recorded. I love playing live recordings that sound Live and sometimes harsh. It should be visceral and immediate to capture what real instruments actually sound like!  You have obviously heard enough live sessions to know what you are missing during playback..  I am usually disappointed when playing some classical pieces , knowing what they sound like Live in being there..  but I can get close enough to get lost in the music.. and I now appreciate those raspy horns and bright strings on some of those not so well recorded songs, knowing that most of the intended music is coming though unchanged…

Tough subject..  interesting conversations..

jimmy2615
418 posts
 

Jay said "neutrality...walks a thin line between enjoyment and disappointment."

Great quote!  I like the analogy of Disney world and synergy too -- out there, but I get it and it works.  Now that you are exploring the merits of neutral equipment it's a shame you never got to try the Benchmark LA4 and AHB2 monos.  If you ever have a whim to try something different for less than $10k it would be very interesting to hear your take on these electronics.  I had just picked up a set about the same time you threw down your challenge, otherwise I would have considered sending them to you.  By far the most neutral equipment I've ever heard, like good class D but with none of its drawbacks.  

jays_audio_lab's avatar
jays_audio_lab OP
5,381 posts
 

I’ve been told by people close to me that the benchmark stuff is good for the money but it’s not at the level of gear we typically have conversations about on this thread.

 

viber6
2,442 posts
 

Jay,

It is possible that people close to you have their inherent biases in favor of expensive equipment.  Truthfully, an expensive amp is more likely to be tops in sound than a cheap amp.  But as you always say, you don't know much until you've owned something and used it for a period of time.  I know you have the integrity not to take advantage of money back 30 day trials, but the worst that could happen is that you review the Benchmark stuff and say it is great for the money and is almost as good as Boulder or Mephisto monos..  More likely, you will find the Benchmarks to be tops for neutrality/clarity, and will wonder that if you wanted to save money for the Wilson XVX/Master Chronosonic, you could do very nicely driving those speakers with excellent Benchmarks.

When I tried the Benchmark AHB2, for the first month it was as good in neutrality and clarity as any amp I tried.  By the 2nd month at the end of my trial, the sound got a little warmer than my Bryston 2.5 B SST2 amp.  You actually might find its very slight warmth appealing to you.  This slight warmth is much less than from typical SS euphonic amps, and possibly the Boulder 2150 which you recently said is a little warmer than your new monos.  Even though you thought my Rouge amp had major shortcomings in HF, over 40% of your YT listeners preferred the Rouge and thought that your mystery amp was euphonic by comparison. I get the feeling from your hints that you new monos (Mephisto monos?) show that the mystery amp was euphonic by comparison to your new monos. 

So I challenge you to put the AHB2 in a dogfight with your new monos and do a blinded shootout.  You won't lose money, and your conscience will be preserved since even Benchmark would welcome the comparison to big buck amps.  They might even use your shootout video or verbal review in their promotions.  I did my 60 day trial of the AHB2 with Music Direct.

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