2. amps-preamps
  3. 1367852224

Advice for a two channel amp

I would like to upgrade my amp. The one I have now is a Marantz SR5400, it's a 6.1 channel setup and the only great thing about it is the built-in DAC, which renders pretty great sound. What's not changing is the speaker set - Bowers & Wilkins 602 S3 - love the sound of these speakers. I want to upgrade to a two-channel amp and add a turntable to my set up. So, in essence, I'll be playing music mostly from my iPad 2 or my iPhone when it's just for background noise. And when I really want to tune everything out and put on a great record, I'll use the turntable. The speakers are rated at 85W, so anything from 100/ch is good. So far, I've only found the Nad amps to be quite good in my price range, but they are rather dull-looking and the sound is not quite as natural as I'd like. I am a big fan of the mid-heavy, natural-sounding setups - not too crisp, not too muffled. I wouldn't use an equalizer, or anything, just want a simple setup - amp, speakers, turntable and probably Sonos. That's it for now. Any advice is greatly appreciated. I'm still a bit of a novice in this whole thing :)
vladsky
zd542
5,339 posts
 
What kind of preamp are you going to use?
bondmanp
1,804 posts
 
You refer to a budget without disclosing it. But, I would think the Odyssey Audio Khartago would meet your requirements.
mechans
3,048 posts
 
Are tube amps a possibility, can it be used?? If so you may want to look at Rogue or a new company, albeit Chinese, with fabulous looks and great reveiws, called Line Magnetic.
soix
9,420 posts
 
B&W speakers are frequently paired with Classe electronics, and they may give you the sonic characteristics you're looking for. McIntosh may also be a good option. For a turntable I'd look at something like a VPI Traveler with something like a Bellari phono preamp assuming you need one and maybe an Ortofon or Grado cartridge. As Zd542 mentioned above your preamplifier will be critical as well, and as Bondmanp mentioned a budget would be helpful in making recommendations here.

As for your DAC, it may sound fine now but once you upgrade your other stuff you'll probably want to upgrade that too (and cables/interconnects too -- it never ends). Given your tastes maybe a Metrum Octave or Wavelength Proton would be good choices. Best of luck.
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