I would love to own a pair of Vienna Acoustic Beethovens! If you can afford it, go with a quality amp like Pass Labs but don't skimp on the preamp. I was not impressed with the so called Stereophile "class A" rated Adcom GFP-750 compared to many other preamps. Yes, the design was licensed by Nelson Pass but even Nelson says the component selection was not of the highest quality in the Adcom to keep the cost down. I've owned and tested nearly a dozen preamps in the past couple years and although the GFP-750 was decent I don't see how Stereophile gave it a "class A" rating.... but I don't agree with Stereophile on many of their findings.
Amp opinions- ATI-B&K-Pass Labs
Im looking to purchase a two channel amp to mate with an ARCAM AVR100 receiver and Arcam DV88 player- loudspeakers are Vienna Acoustics Beethovens - Essentially I want to "open up" the Viennas as im not getting the quality desired with the the straight Arcam- My research so far has led me to- the B&K Ref 2220, the ATI 1502, and the PASS x150- obviously the PASS is quite a bit more $$ but Ive heard the speakers on the x250 and they are wonderful. My question is what am i giving up with the ATI and B&K? Any other amp suggestions are appreciated as well -