New amp needed for Snell Type D's


My current setup is nothing too hot, but being the poor college student I am, I went with what I could: Snell Type D's, Denon AVR-2500 (good amp and preamp sections for the money, considering I was going to go surround), and a cheap Sony 10-disc. Realizing Super-CD or DVD audio is around the corner, I'm holding out on the cd player. The amps that I have taken an interest in: Rotel 990BX, 991, 985 NAD (I forget which numbers) Bryston (again, I can't remember the number) from what I've been told, the Snells are revealing, but bright. I'm looking for an amp that has plenty of solid state power, but around a grand or less. Any suggestions are apprectiated!
schaal1
I would recommend NAD. The Snells (I have owned EIIS and DIVS) are very bright and sound best when matched with laid back gear. Neither Bryston or Rotel fit that description. Another brand to consider is Classe.
You may want to consider the Anthem line of electronics to mate with the Snell D. Anthem is the "budget" line from Sonic Frontiers, but are solidly built and are well regarded. The Snell D sounded real good with the Anthem Amp1, Preamp and CD changer. They are tubed, not SS, but I believe you will be pleased.
Another amp that may suit you is the Jolida 302. It's a nice integrated tube amp. I believe that it retails for just under $1000. And it's upgradeable to better quality tubes when the upgrade bug strikes again. -Chris
Hi, I own Snell E/IIIs and have for a long time, so I'll throw my $.02. As you say the Snells are a bit bright. And they have that rear fired tweeter, so they will be a but difficult to place in a small room, if that's what you have. So this is a hard case. On the plus side they are reasonably effecient, so you wont need a huge amp. I would say you need high quality sound rather than high power. Whatever you get you will want carpeting in the room ;-). Of the amps you mentioned, Bryston is the best regarded, but their reputation tends to be that they are gritty in the upper frequencies. I've only listened to them first hand on a couple of occasions, though. Im not a huge Rotel or Adcom fan, though. If you could afford it, a decent tube or hybrid amp would probably match well. Probably this is out of your range. You might just want to be patient and troll through the local audio stores for used gear. People who buy $1500+ integrated amps frequently decide that they need more gear, and these end up back on store shelves in a couple of years at low prices. If you are patient and wait a few months you can get some great stuff. I will offer one specific recomendation. Musical Fidelity A2. I'm running my Snells with the A1 (late 80's vintage), and it works well. It drove my dad's ineffecient IMF speakers (<85 dB) in a large room. It's still a bit bright in my house with the Snells, but it's in a small room. I think these retail for about $700, but it's a gorgeous sounding class A amp. I don't know if there are many (or any) retailers in the US, but you can order over the internet at www.audioadvisor.com, and they have a good reputation. I don't want to sound like I'm advocating anything, except this has worked well for my setup. System matching is the key, don't buy anything unless it's got a no hassle type return policy, particularly over the internet. G'luck. -Chris