Need an amp upgrade suggestion..... But not the usual upgrade request :-)


I am looking to upgrade my amp.  I want to avoid some of the back and forth so here are the details:

Room-14x16 some acoutsic treatment

Speakers B&W 705S2

Gustard R26 R2R DAC (Plenty of gain to drive w/out a pre amp) (No physical media)

2x REL T/5x subs

I like some volume as I am partially hearing deficient.  (just old)

I would prefer something mainstream and not some obscure brand wise. 

What say the pros?

Ah thought I forgot :-) Budget is $4K USD.

Thanks in advance!!

sholladay

You are going to get a lot of suggestions and opinions on what class, brand, etc. you should go with. You can buy these for as much as 30% off the retail price with a trade in. I have a pair of these in one of my audio rooms and would not even consider anything else under 7K over these. I own many amps.  Yes, they are that good! They offer 30 day no questions asked free trials and the best customer service I have experienced from any audio company in over 40 years.  They are voiced "beautifully and to perfection". M700 Amplifier – PS Audio

Start with the speakers. B&W are seldom referred to as,"musical" or "engaging".

If you want to only stream, then you could try something totally different and also sell the Gustard to raise some funds. I owned the Gustard X26 Pro and liked the DAC and know how Gustard DACs sound. The following "amp+dac" is $1300 and is pretty good in stock form. Now if you get it modded for $600 by Tweakaudio.com it becomes amazing, especially for the price.

The "totally different" comment is because this is a piece of audio gear that has a digital converter, and amp, and maybe a preamp section, but NO volume control. All it has is a SPDIF input. PeachTree sells a $600 streamer with volume control ability. If you use ROON then it would open of a lot of options to control this device. You eliminate a lot of wires with this unit (a huge sonic bonus).

I sold $15k worth of gear after I got it. Unfortunately, my current speakers need more current than what the GAN1 delivers so I use the GAN1 for my headphones. It is an incredible amp with my uber revealing phones.

My frame of reference for amps are the CODA #16, Benchmark AHB2, KRELL DUO 175XD, Parasound A21+, and many others I have owned. The modded GAN1 is one of the very best.

GaN 1 | Peachtree Audio

I have not watched this video yet. It is Mark Levinson’s (the man) new company. He is selling something that is just like the GAN1, with volume control (no remote last I checked).

Daniel Hertz AMBER HiFi Audio System Review. Outta this WORLD! | (stevehuffphoto.com)