Amp recommendations


Hi all,

I'm fairly new to the hi fi world in general. I was recently drawn to the sound of a display Martin Logan Montis at a Bestbuy store even though I was there for something else. I never knew speakers could sound that good. I have since been doing lots of reading, on this site and elsewhere, and this week purchased a pair of the Expression 13A.

So far this is the only gear I have; just figured  I should start with the speakers. I just have no idea what amp to buy. Much less speaker cables/streaming gear etc. I think every time I heard Martin logan speakers demoed (I've visited several stores) they were hooked up to Mcintosh tube amps. I visited a local high end AV store yesterday and he was pushing real hard for me to get the Mac..particularly the MA7900. They're quite expensive though, are they worth the price premium over other brands? I'd really like to get an Integrated amp because I don't want a lot of gear and it seems like it would keep the over all price down some. I'd like to get something that would sound great for ~$5k give or take, new or used. I don't mind paying a bit more, however, provided the additional money makes a real difference in sound quality.

I must admit I'm not well versed on all the audiophile jargon and have no idea what ohms, impedance, crossover etc mean so it's a bit hard for me to even know what will power my speakers. I don't know if getting a tube or SS amp is better for my speakers. I just want an amp that's low maintenance and sounds great for a reasonable price.

I'd appreciate some recommendations from you guys so at least I know where to start looking. Please let me know if you need any additional info.

Thanks!
Chuck.
devlep

Showing 3 responses by gdnrbob

ML's are nice speakers. You are going through the proper route, in my opinion. Thankfully, BestBuys didn't sell you anything else.
McIntosh is also wonderful, but pricey. You can do just as well with more moderately priced equipment. Being a Vandersteen man, I am not the best source of information regarding powering Martin Logan's.
Your speakers are rated 20-500wpc-quite a range. I would opt for something in the 150-250 wpc range.
You could easily find a used McCormack amp and preamp, like the DNA-1/RLD-1 preamp. SMc Audio still upgrades their older models-I'm getting my DNA-1's converted to monoblocks, as we speak.
Perhaps an Ayre AX-5 integrated- though only 125 wpc.
I post these as food for thought. Other will be posting soon, and hopefully have more direct experience with your speakers.
Bob
Perhaps a pair of Zero Auotoformers would help tame the low impedance difficulties? Then you could use just about any amp, maybe even the Mac integrated- though I would call them up and confirm.
B
+1 atmasphere.
Do you think the Zero's would allow him to use the integrated Mac's (that sounds a bit racist, doesn't it?).
B