Amp to drive Revel 228Be and have some fun (ideally with HT bypass)


Hi all,

Newbie here building his first system. I have a pair of Revel Performa 228Be on the way. In my old setup I have a Denon 3500H. I'm now planning on the following setup and looking for recommendations:

My current plan which should be somewhere in the region of $5-7k:
- Integrated Amp with HT bypass such as Schiit Ragnarok 2 or going higher end such as Simaudio 340i
- DAC such as Topping D90 DAC or Yggdrassil
- Fanless mini-PC running Roon/ROCK (e.g. the Kingdel i5, 8GB RAM, 128 GB SSD)

Hoping to build a nice system to have a lot of fun and last me 5-10 years, but don't need a 'GOAT' system to compete with my audiophile friends.

Grateful for any advice!
k-man1984
Few points to help answers:

This system will be streaming only (I don't have an existing library as I have moved a lot internationally and had to leave all my records and CDs behind). 
I will use it for HT as well as as music (maybe 60/40)
The system will be in a living room

Thanks again to all the helpful people in this forum as I have already learned so much by browsing other threads. 
Coda CSiB, basically is a Continuum 8 power amp and 05x line stage in a single chassis. Comes with three configurations:
V3: 400W into 8 Ohms, 800W 4 Ohms, Class A up to 8 Watts
V2: 250W into 8 Ohms, 500W 4 Ohms, Class A up to 12 Watts
V1: 150W into 8 Ohms, 300W 4 Ohms, Class A up to 18 Watts
10 year warranty and 5 year transferable.

My friend had a V1 driving F208 with excellent result, and I use a V3 driving Thiel speakers.

hey @k-man1984 , I'm hoping you're still active here.  What did you chose to drive your Revels?  I've got the same speakers so I'm curious.

Samgupta,

I also use the 228be in a duel system. I have a full fledged theater room but it is 95% music use in there…

 

Anyway the 228be is super easy to drive. Any good amp that is 4ohm stable will drive them so it is just depends on the sound signature you want. Personally I run a McIntosh MC462 and find it a perfect combo. It is the first system I have had that I enjoy non audiophile music on and audiophile tracks are still amazing. I have owned other amps but nothing I have enjoyed more. 
 

If you don’t use subs I would focus on an amp that has good bass as I find the 228be a little lean in the sub bass. I use two subs so I focus on the mids, highs, and sound stage for my amp.