Amp recommendations: Wanted, Bass and Dynamics


I have a Music Hall CD Player running through a Channel Island passive preamp and ultimately out my Spendor FL9's.
Audioquest Diamondback ic's, Wireworld and MIT speaker wire.

Very musical, with extremely natural soundstage, but I'm lacking the dynamics, bass, and bit of articulation I've grown accustomed to in my previous system.

What used amp upto $1500 do you recommend to keep the musicality, but add a lot of punch, bass presence and articulation? Leaning toward a lot of power.

Marsh 400s
Musical Fidelity A3CR
Bel Canto EVO 200.2
PS Audio HCA-2
Krell KSA 150
Monarchy se100 monos
Rega exons

Others??? There are so many options, but I have a limited selection to audition. This is where your opinion comes in. All ideas welcomed.
hmbrewd

Showing 1 response by tok20000

The reason you are lacking dynamics and punch is probably your preamplifiers fault. Passive preamps (especially ones that are not state-of-the-art) many times limit dynamics and resolution and bass and trebble response (one can also run into impedance matching issues with passive). I have owned many passives, and I strongly feel that in most instances, passive preamps are not the way to go.

What amp do you have now?

I would consider upgrading your preamp before your amp (unless you have already sold your amp....).

The amps you list above run the gamut of what amps sound like. If you are looking for punch, I do not think the Monarchy amps fit the bill. I have had them. I like them a lot. But lower end control is not one of their strong suits. I have never had the Marsh, MF A3CR, or Rega. But of those I would look at the Musical Fidelity amp. MF makes very good reasonably priced gear.

Either Bel Canto, PS Audio, or Krell will probably get you more punch than the amps above. I am not sure how the old Krell amp would hold up to the much newer Bel Canto and PS Audio amps. One thing about the Bel Canto is that it is POWERFUL especially when used as a monoblock. The PS Audio has gotten a lot of good press, but I have not heard it. Although the PS Audio and Bel Canto are both switched amps (Class T digital amps), I have heard that they sound remarkably different. You might want to read the Stereophile review of the PS Audio amp to get some idea of how it sounds.

One comment about Krell.... That KSA 150 amps gets really hot. I think one could use it for a grill with the right setup. Remember that heat really determines the life of an amp (or just about anything to one degree or another). The hotter an amp gets, the less lifespan it has. The 150 was new about 10+ years ago if I remember correctly. Getting an amp like this that runs really hot that is 10 years old, you may have problems with it in the near future. The Bel Canto and the PS Audio HCA amp (I am pretty sure) in contrast run cold.

KF