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Looking for a solid state power amp with excellent dimension and soundstaging.
Preferably a minimum of 100 wpc.
Price is an object but I'd like to hear from all camps.
Follow Ups:
Q
IMO, the Symfonia Opus 10 is the one solid-state amplifier that is truly devoid of the ills of solid-state. Too bad the Australian company is no-longer around. And there are not a lot of these amps out there. (I'd recommend finding a guy who is expert at servicing vintage electronics, just to keep the unit running. Even though it may otherwise seem indestructible.)But if you ever get a chance to hear one, you'll sense the wood and plaster of a great hall. And almost sense the booze on a singer's breath.... The human element of the music is preserved, which is the one thing most solid state is unable to achieve.
To give you an idea, my other amps are SET..... Even the Pass stuff has left me cold.....
VERY musical amps. X150.5 or X250.5 if you can afford it.
It’s all about synergy…You could have the best amp in the world, with a limiting preamp. You could have the best amp/preamp in the world with limiting speakers, and so on. That being said I’m digging my McIntosh MC402 and playing the Opus 3 Test CD #4 (a great sounding recording of jazz and classical music with notes on what to listen for...) proves out the results.
VPI Aries --\
Wadia 830 (GNSC)-> Audible Illusions m3a -> McIntosh MC402-> Dynaudio Special 25’s
McIntosh MR77 --/
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I remembered when the shop first switched it on, the showroom lights flickered and mind you this is one of the best treated showroom, acoustically and electrically.
The world champion in these respects is probably ASR Emitter, but they cost a bundle, esp. in the U.S. where they are outrageously expensive. Though proportionally speaking no more outrageous that what you pay for the Krell logo in Europe.
plenty used for sale in europe, even with shipping not a bad deal...but you can still do better in all-around sound than the Emitter IMO.
I would reccomend CJ
I have the MF2250 (125W) and have the carachteristics you looking for.
In my system is matched with the PV14L preamp (tube) and the sound is wonderfull
I have one that I was using with a Premier 17LS (version 1), and it is a truly wonderful amp. Increadibly neutral and smooth, yet at the same time detailed and dynamic. I just bought the CJ CA200 control amp (traded in the 17LS), so the MF2250 will now serve to drive the L and R front speakers in my multichannel system (with the Rotel 5 ch amp driving the C and the L and R surrounds only) with a Rotel pre/processor. I've done that before and the results were also excellent, so it's a very flexible amp. I was offered a pretty good trade in price for the MF2250 along with the 17LS, but elected to keep the MF2250.I think it's discontinued, though, but I'm sure there are still some out there either at dealers or the used market.
I will put in a second vote for Plinius, and if you really want to accentuate its holistic qualities try some tubes in your sources, although I prefer to stick with they're " whole front end as a system" amps, preamps.Really nice performance in class A/B that will speak to you and show you its qualities, but takes off to another level in Pure Class A, and with my Mirage OM6 speakers producing a dimensional sound field already, it really gets spooky at times, even in 2-channel not to mention multichannel!
Strongly recommended, excellent ancillaries are a requirement for best results, very revealing equipment.
if you want to drive some difficult loads. They both sound very good on Soundlabs, not as nice as the Atmasphere MA1 but you asked for SS.
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Believe what your ears say - not hearsay.
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If you want to go used and relatively cheap, try a Bedini amplifier.
When an audiophile friend of mine passed away a few years ago his family gave me the model 150/150 Mk.II. It sat on my bedroom floor for two years because I figured it could in no way compare to my $3000 tube amp. Well, after dropping $200 into it for new power transistors, power switch, and a re-biasing this amplifier floored me with its deep and wide soundstaging abilities. It in no way sounds like a tube unit but it images like a true champ. I believe this is Bedini's least expensive and non-Class A unit, so I can only imagine what their other amps sound like. I may soon send it to Bedini for new input boards. Hail Bedini!
I have read so much about Bedini amps long time ago in The Audio Critic.Glowing praise and recommendation.Bedini doesnt seem to get the exposure it deserves.
Whenever I read my collection of pre Fourier TAC,I am amazed by the models highly rcommended at that time.They are still most desired by audiophiles.PA was ahead of his time.
I had a 25/25. It was clearly one of the best amp's I have owned. It was smooth and sweet yet highly precise. It had full, well defined bass that belied its power-rating.Another favorite amp I had at the time was a Krell KSA-50. This one was a bit more nuetral and a fair bit more precise in all but its bass.
These were my favorite SS amps until (you guys are going to love this) I heard an Accuphase P-300 that I had in for repair. It completely creams the other 2 across the board!
It is so much more accurate, linear, transparent and true-to-life it is not even funny. When Accuphase set out to design this amp, they intended it to be the very best in existance at the time. They succeeded! It is still one of the very best available today.
Sure, the Bedini is sweeter sounding and the Krell has bigger bass. but neither one of them is anywhere as near as balanced or realistic.
The guy who it belonged to was looking to sell both it and a C-200. Needless to say, I immediately bought them.
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You have not provided any details of:a) Room dimensions, orientation, floor-covering, furnishings, etc
b) Rest of envisaged system - source(s), pre-amp, speakers
c) Musical tastes/preferences/etcSo any power amplifier recommendation is likely to be a "shot in the dark"....
While you have identified two desired characteristics ("excellent dimension and soundstaging") and one parameter ("minimum of 100 wpc"), there are a number of other factors that really need to be clarified. These include:
- Level of "warmth" required (for system matching)
- Current delivery ability (based on speaker load & preferred listening levels)
- Input options (quantity; single-ended and/or balanced; etc.)
- Input impedance (to optimise pre-amp interface)With the power amp effectively "sitting in the middle", care needs to be taken in selecting a power amp that will match well (ie: synergise) with your existing pre-amp and existing speakers.
Having said all of the above, may I suggest that you audition a pair of Jeff Rowland Model 201 monoblocks.
These ICEpower-based amps are compact (a pair will take up the same shelf real-estate as most power amps); they deliver 250/500 wpc into 8/4 ohms; their current delivery capability is more than adequate for most loads; and their high damping factor provides a level of bass-control that really delivers. In addition, being monoblocks, their channel separation is excellent. (See link below for more info).
I've had a pair for > 2 years now and have them sandwiched between a Classe' CP-500 pre-amp and a pair of 12 year-old Tannoy D700's and they deliver a very well-structured soundstage (in terms of lateral & vertical placement with depth also well-portrayed) and their imaging is well-defined and stable. They do, however, have a slight tendency to emphasise the lower frequencies and I've had to fit the foam port plugs to the D700's to limit the level of LF energy generated in what is not a particularly large room.
One aspect I really enjoy is the lack of any real switch-on/warm-up delay - they come on song immediately - being switching amps and very efficient (> 80%), their operating temperature is not much above room termperature. Living in an area where violent electrical storms are a daily occurrence, I have to un-plug the system daily for 3-4 months of the year.
Anyway, that's my personal bias sneaking into the process, so ignore it and post a follow-up with the additional info requested and then - maybe - it will be possible to be a bit more definitive...
DevillEars
Second sunseeker's suggestion of Odyssey. Do not have one yet, but most accounts indicate this as a strength, at least if it's on the recording. Another that is reportedly good at the soundstage thing is the McCormack DNA-225. I have heard this only in shops (it was good). I assume the DNA-125 and 500 share the same family trait.
Belles amps
Might look at Odysse
I'm sure someone can chime in with more *exotic* brands.
An Accuphase component accurately reproduces the signal and/or event passing thru it. Hardly what he is looking for!
He never implied he was looking for a component which creates a fake soundstage, so why this kind of answer?
Unless you mean Accuphase is not very good at recreating the original soundstage of a recording, in which case I understand why you don't recommend it.
JB
nt.
rw
Wow, that's quite an indictment! It merely reproduces the signal passing through it. What you want is "emotion" no doubt!
*An Accuphase component accurately reproduces the signal and/or event passing thru it. *
But that's all the hi-end manufactures seem to claim. LOL!
(^o^)7
nt.
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