Amp suggestions to pair with eggleston


Hello everyone,

I am setting up my 5.2 multichannel system/HT. The speaks are four eggleston fontaine's, one andra center and two revel b15a subwoofers. I listen to music more often. And maybe I will upgrade the main speakers to andra II's in the future.

I prefer lexicon mc12b-v5eq as my preamp. But I am very confused with hifi preamp and power amp. Is tube amp more suitable for eggleston? And the seller recommended Edge, IcePower, Hypex.

If you can give me any comment or experience,I do apreciate it.

ps, I am an international user. The amp can work for 220v is required.

Best regards
David
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Thanks to you all.
Sorry for my delayed reply.
Now I prefer halcro ssp200 to lexicon mc12b v5eq.
Thus, I wonder if halcro mc50 or mc20+30 is more matchable for ssp200?
Is there any experience on halcro?
Another option is the new Bryston square series. I've heard very positive comments and they comes in different configurations. You can get mono for L and R and multi for the rest. A BIG plus is they sound great from cold and max performance only after an hour. This save $$ on electricity and not heating up the house in the summer sitting idled.

Currently I'm using a pair SF Power 3SE+ and the sound is excellent. For a tube amp, it has enough current to drive my Andra II to satisfactory levels without compression and control.

I was using a Krell FPB 600 and it was also a great match. Compare to the SF, it's the typical SS / tube + and -.
If you listen to music more often than you watch movies, perhaps you should buy a great pair of monoblock amps, and then a good three channel amp, (rather than a very good 5 channel amp). Six of one, half a dozen of the other!

There were a few three channel amps available here on Audiogon, and all but this one have been sold. (Apparently this is a fairly popular way to mix two channel with a 5.1 home theater system.)

>Krell KAV 3250 (250 wpc)
Here's a few 5 channel amps on Audiogon that might work well with your Eggleston's.

Pass Labs X5 $2400
Krell KAV-500 $1500
Cary Cinema 5 $1995
McCormack DNA-Ht5 $1800

Any of these amps should give you enough power especially if you are crossing over the bottom end to your sub.
I use Pass Labs XA100.5 with my Eggleston Rosa. Pass and Eggleston are a wonderful match and they used to be paired together at shows. Have you considered a multi channel Pass like the X5? Occasionally they are available here on Audiogon. I haven't heard one, though, as all of my listening is two channel. You might also have luck with an upper end Pass stereo amp and some mono blocks. I suggest you try contacting Pass and/or Mark @ RENO HIFI. They are very good and answering questions and making recommendations.
Kurt_tank, Lokie:

Thanks for your replies very much.
I have read a few threads on Lamm on audigon. I have no doubt of their quality. But they are too pricy if I use them for my 5 channels.

Maybe I should expect less or concentrate on two channels because my budget is merely $20000?

Thanks again
David
I don't think tubes would be the way to go in this situation. If you are going to use a single 5 channel amp, I would recommend an amp with quality solid state power and beefy transformers.
Krell, Plinius and BAT are a few brands that come to mind and are great matches with Eggleston's.

What's your budget?
Well, I use the Lamm M2.1 (200 wpc hybrid) monoblocks with my Andra II speakers, and I am very happy with the results.
In fact, I have quit looking to upgrade both my speakers as well as my amps. (Well, with one caveat I must admit, as I would like to upgrade to the M2.1's successor, the Lamm M2.2s, (220 wpc) as they have a slightly more extended treble response.) The M2.1s have lots of power reserves, and great bass response, and they have a great mid-range. But, I will admit, that there is just the slightest bit of darkness in the top end of the treble response. (However, switching to Nordost Valhalla cables helped make that virtually disappear though.) Two friends use the Lamm M2.2s, and it is a world class amp, with no darkness on the top end at all. And in direct comparisons with several other top end amps, including the DarTZeel, VTL, BAT, Classe, the M2.2s always came out on top. (Only the Vac Phi 300 even came close to being as good as the M2.2s, and in that particular case, it was more a case of each amp having different strengths and weaknesses.)

FYI: I know that Paul Bolin, of The Audio Beat, (TAB), also uses the Andra II speakers with hybrid Lamm monoblock amps too. (In his case though, he uses the M1.2 Reference amps - 110 wpc). He too has said that he is more than happy with the results.

Well, I hope that helps.
Good Luck in your search!