I had the s@me concern as you, and I recommend a look at the Odyssey power amps. I replaced a 100 wpc tube amp with two mono Odyssey Stratos Extremes with several upgrades, almost making them equivalent to Kismet amps. 200 wpc, and the improvement was marked driving my Fyne Audio F-702s.
What Power Amplifier Should I Buy?
I am looking to increase my system power. I currently am using a Bryston 2.5B cubed, which is specified at 135 Watts/CH. I am using Revel f208 speakers crossed over at 120 Hz to a 15" HSU sub. The f208 speakers have 88.5 dB sensitivity (Amir measured 88-89dB SPL at 1W into 8 ohms). I sit about 7.5 feet away from the speakers and listen up to 92 dB SPL, but mostly stay between 80-90 dB SPL at my listenin g location.
I have not had power issues. I've never seen a clipping light. I just want more oomph. I've never had a power amp with more power than the 2.5B cubed.
My budget is about $5K. I have been looking at some used 4b cubed amps.
My preamp is a vintage ML No. 38s. Digital from Bryston BDP-3/BDA-3 combo. Analog using Koetsu RS and Shelter 901 cartridges into an SUT (20x) followed by a very vintage Paragon System E used as a phono preamp (I have fully repaired this preamp, particularly the power supply).
I like the sound of the 2.5B cubed. I had a Cary 120 tube amp for some time, but grew tired of the heat and the continuous maintenance, including the insane prices for tubes. I did not experince that great "tube sound" that others rave about. I sold the Cary and went back to the 2.5B cubed.
Will the 4B cubed disappoint?
What other amps should I consifder, new or used?
Thanks for your help!
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Perhaps a pair of Bryston 7B SST monoblocs? If you like the Bryston sound (I do too) you can get a set of 7B SST (Super Steve Tanner) used with years of warranty left for 4-5K. I drive my woofers with these and the upgrade in sound quality and oomph was stunning. (Formerly I drove my 6 way towers with an Audio Research VT130 which is now the mid/tweeter amp.I find tubes to have flabby bass at loud levels) |
@hk_fan ... thinking same thing! |
It sounds like you don't use much more than 3-5 watts per channel now. Why would an amplifier much more powerful than the 135 watt per channel amp improve on the matter? It seems like the only metric people care about is power, so more must be better. It simply is not the case. There is much more to achieving good sound than can be measured, whether that measurement is power, harmonic distortion, intermodulation distortion, slewing induced distortion, signal to noise ratio, damping factor, etc. If if were the case that we can determine quality by any set of measurements, there wouldn't be such a vast array of market choices, alternative designs and fundamentally different approaches to design; things would be narrowed to the objective "best" at each price level. You should make an effort to hear for yourself an array of amplifiers. You should not dismiss any type of amplifier based on limited experience with one particular amp; that would be like dismissing all American-made cars based on your experience with a Pinto. I don't subscribe to the "tube sound" or "tube magic" idea because there is a VAST difference among tube amps (more variability than there is among good solid state amps) and there are many that, to me, anyway, sound more brittle, harsh, and unpleasant than most solid state amps (I particularly don't like most high-powered tube amps employing tubes like the KT88).
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- 75 posts total