I'm kinda partial to the big old tanks myself. They look like beasts because they are!
A 10 lb amp that sits 2" high just doesn't look very imposing. |
Yep, Specifically power amps such as the older Krell's, Mark Levinson, PS Audio, Moon, etc.
I have a mid 90's Acurus A250 and a 2013 NAD 375BEE and I would consider them pretty much equal.
My feelings on technology in general is that technology can be great for some things, and not so good for others. Technology generally makes things easier, faster and cheaper to manufacture. But when it comes to sound quality, I'm not convinced.
Tubes for example. When solid state came around, tubes largely disappeared but eventually people figured out that Solid State can't do what tubes do.
Also, IMO, the best recordings I have ever heard are from the 60's, 70's and 80's all done on analog gear.
And then there's vinyl... |
The "Magazines" seem to indicate that the "New" version is better than the "Old" version, but I'm not sure if I'm buying it.
Of course magazines are reliant on advertising, and advertising is relying on selling you the "latest and greatest" |
I have been pretty happy with the NAD C375BEE. I think it is a very good integrated for it's price range. I don't really have much to compare it to though. I recently purchased a Parasound P5 pre-amp and it seems to do very nicely. Now I'm looking for a good amp to pair it with.
So I guess what I'm pondering is... If I spend $3000-$5000 on an amp, am I better off with a new amp in that price range, or an older amp. Given that a 3k-5k older amp may have originally sold for about 6k-12k, it seems like the older amp may be the better choice.
As for cables, I'm not completely sold on that yet. While I do believe that quality cables suitable for the amount of current being applied is a must, I think that the thought of spending $1000, $5000, etc for a cable is ridiculous and most likely way overpriced and over hyped. |
Thanks for your input. Honestly I am a little skeptical about class D. I don't really have a reason to be though.
I believe for the most part the ones I am looking at are class A at least to a certain point. It's a little hard to tell sometimes. The specs aren't always very clear about that.
I am kind of leaning towards some of the older Mark Levinson models (300 series mainly). |
Interesting! Thanks Tim.
I had never heard of Classdaudio. I just looked at their website.
Certainly something to consider. |
I do plan on using balanced cables. I have heard a lot of good things about those, and my preamp supports them. |
That's pretty much what I was thinking on the older amps. I feel like I would get a better amp for the same money. As for my P5, I could end up wanting to upgrade that later, but for now, I feel like that is going to be a very good pre for the money.
I agree with your thoughts on the cables. I think the moderately priced cables are the way to go. Although I think they are also pretty overpriced. But I think cables particularly speaker and power cables need to fit the application. For example, I don't think you would want to use the same cables for a 50wpc amp into bookshelf speakers as you would pushing 1000wpc into giant speakers. |
Class D to me feels like one of those things that makes it cheaper, easier and faster to manufacture, but may be lacking in "listening pleasure". But I have not heard any of the newer "High End" class D offerings.
I know PS Audio Stellar line uses some sort of hybrid of Class D technology. I would be curious to compare those to other high end products. |
The speakers I have now are Klipsch KG2's. A fairly moderate speaker from about 1990. They sound pretty good though and are rather efficient (I believe). I am in the process of building some new speakers that will hopefully be done soon. The new ones are 2way stand speakers using Scanspeak drivers, they will also be fairly efficient and are 4ohm. Once I finish those, I will be starting on some more elaborate 3way floor standing speakers with dual woofers. So I am looking for an amp suitable for those, not so much what I have now.
How do you know when the capacitors are in need of replacing? Is it subtle loss of fidelity? Or more of a drastic drop off?
I've experienced bad tubes (in guitar amps) that is a fairly drastic drop off at least mine was.
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jond - Yes, I am interested in tube amps, but for some reason (not really sure why) I tend to lean towards Solid State. I would certainly like to try tubes at some time. I own a few guitar amps, and I wouldn't even consider a solid state guitar amp.
There are SOOOOO many amps out there, it's really difficult to decide which one is best. I guess I just gotta take the plunge and hope for the best.
So... I did just that. I just purchased a Mark Levinson No 333. I sure hope it turns out to be all that I hope it is. I guess I'll see.
Thanks for the great discussion! |
Thanks for the note Pete.
I'm hoping that this ML amp will be my "Reference", therefore, if I want to experiment with class D or tubes or whatever in the future I'll be able to evaluate based on that. For now at least (and maybe I'm wrong) I consider Class D as the "imitator" trying to do what the big amps do with less size, less energy and less cost. Of course solid state is still trying to do what tubes do (to some extent). And I guess tubes are trying to do what solid state does (mainly in the low end). So I guess there's always a trade off.
Pass is another that I was really interested in, but more so their newer stuff, which of course is still pretty pricey. |
I too think a lot of the older gear was great stuff! Much of which probably can't be (or isn't) duplicated today in pure listening pleasure.
I think that's is the HUGE challenge most of us face... How to build a great system on limited funds. I feel like A LOT of the new stuff is WAY overpriced. Some of it may be great, but I think a lot of it is overpriced, over hyped and probably not any better than some of the good stuff made 10, 20, 40 years ago. |
orpheus10... What amp did you buy from Parts Express? I had a little Dayton amp that I used for desktop speakers. It did pretty good until it got fried. Now I'm using a NAD 3020 for my desktop speakers. I'm very happy with that.
I've considered the PrimaLuna stuff. When I do get some tubes, I will certainly look into those (as well as Rogue, BAT, VTL and MAC). |
