@McCarthy. Well said.
For classical music lovers best amp for large orchestral forces?
I recently upgraded my pre to an arc ref 6se. Currently using pas xa25. It's a very good amp but I'm noticing a fair amount of compression when playing large symphonic works. My speakers are Dalis and they are excellent as is the arc.
For smaller forces, chamber, piano and voices the system works beautifully. But if I'm looking for more transparency and a deeper sound stage for symphonies I find sometimes a boxy cramped sound. Looking to spend around 8k or less either tube or solid state. There have been discussions about the xa25 and what's better but they fill up immediately with tangents of philosophical and technical discussions of how one hears. I'm looking for as many possibilities of actual units that I can read about and possibly hear.
Thanks for your ideas.
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Hi @roxy1927 - a lot of good suggestions here and I’m not sure the amp is the source of compression, but the obvious upgrade is a bigger Pass amp. Even the smallest of the XA line, the XA30.8, should provide more headroom but if you favor realistic levels you may want to try the Class AB X line which is not quite as sweet but has more headroom. Bryston 4B3 is another good choice with tons of power but it won’t be as detailed and sweet as your Pass. re: Benchmark I haven’t heard it but have a fellow violinist friend who swears by his. I have another left field suggestion: a Class D amp like the Legacy iV2. It might not click for you or your system - many really don’t take to Class D and I suspect it’s because of specific system interaction - but I found it to be even more transparent than a Pass XA30.5 and Bryston 4B3 as well as another Class A amp, way more powerful and fatigue-free than anything else and shockingly competitive with my Reference Gryphon amplification. In your price range and with your desire for more dynamics, it’s my strongest recommendation. Cheers, TAWW |
- 67 posts total