Looking for 200 watt Amp to drive Dynaudio Heritage speakers


Hi Everyone - 

BACKGROUND 


A few years ago, during Covid and after having worked for so many years without really treating myself to a sound system, I took the plunge and started purchasing audio equipment. Unfortunately, I was a terribly uninformed audio buyer and dove in with some purchases that were not terribly well considered. Oh well. 

So here we are today... I have a pair of Dynaudio Heritage Special speakers that I was considering selling.

The Dynaudio Heritage Special speakers require power to open up. Driven at 100 watts, they sound a little anemic and the treble dominates at lower levels. So they ended up in the closet for the last year with plans to sell them. In retrospect, the dealer I purchased them suggested a lower wattage amp than was advisable. 

For my primary system, I'm now running QLN Prestige Three speakers with a Conrad Johnson Classic 120 EL34 amp, LTA Microzotl preamp, Merason DAC1 and Innuos Zenith. The sound of this system is wonderful - ethereal, nuanced, great soundstage and imaging. Very relaxing combo. 

I'm thinking of cycling the Dynaudio into circulation for a few months a year to change things up. I'm looking for a 200 Watt Solid State Amp. But here's the thing, I'm getting older and lugging heavy things around - especially when stairs are part of the equation - is terribly unappealing. 50-55 pounds is pretty much my limit right now.  

I had some Pass Labs amps in for home demos and the thing was a back breaker. I think it was 80 pounds or so. My days of pseudo body building are over... so lugging that thing up and down stairs is something I NEVER want to do again. 

QUESTION FOR THE FORUM 

Can anyone suggest a reasonably priced solid state 200 watt SS amp - no more than 50-55 pounds - that I can use to enjoy these Dynaudio Heritage Speakers? Class AB or Class D, obviously. For weight considerations, I'm really open to a Class D amp, assuming it sounds good. 

Budget is $5K or under - new or used. 

In terms of what I'm looking for - and given my weight requirements - I'd say the primary thing I'm looking to avoid is overt brightness. Otherwise, I'm pretty open to what suggestions the forum might have. Thanks in advance! 
 

128x128bluethinker

If you can stretch your budget, these monoblocks may provide a nice sound quality at a very easy to carry weight.  They come with Pelican-type cases so they are easy and safe to transport.

For much less money at 250 wpc/8 ohms, look at these, also easy to carry.

Here is another well-regarded 250 wpc/8 ohm integrated amplifier with an onboard 24-bit/192-kHz DAC using Burr-Brown PCM1794 converters.  This one weighs 22 pounds.

Bryston 3B (200w) or 4B (400w) of what ever generation falls into your price bracket.  Probably a 4Bsst is all you will ever need for power and will last forever.  

@njkrebs ,

if I was to give up the awesome room correction of my Lyngdorf and go tubes I would likely buy an Octave. Heard them 2 different times and they were super good. Best of both worlds kinda like. Year or so ago I was knockin on that door. 

Paired with your LTA pre I would definitely go for SS amps a tiny bit on the warmish side (you can get these amps around $6K new, not too far outside your budget):

- CODA S5.5 

- AGD Tempo di GaN

- Jeff Rowland 535

All have the requisite drive and sonic profiles, but I'm not sure your pre has balanced outputs as all these amps are either XLR only or best when used with balanced I/O. Also not sure if the I/O impedances are all matched well so caveat emptor.