Thanks everyone for your very thoughtful responses to my question about which amp to use with the Maggies. I just got back from my Christmas vacation. I will post a more detailed response after I have read each of your responses carefully. Thanks again and Happy New Year! |
Hi Tireguy!
How do you like the BAT VK500? Have you heard the VK6200? How would you compare the two amps?
The reviews on the VK500 have been very good on Audioreview.com and in the audio press.
From what I have read, the VK500 has a full-bodied, smooth sound reminiscent of tubed equipment while possessing considerable detail, transparency, clarity, dynamics, and bass control. Some, however, consider to be dark sounding, whatever that means. These attributes should work well with my system. If I had chosen a preamp with a big, bold, and vivid sound, like a VAC preamp or maybe even a Conrad Johnson, I would be more inclined to choose either the Pass X250 or the CAM 350, both of which have a faster, somewhat cooler, and learner presentation.
My current amp, the Proceed AMP 5, has a full-bodied, dynamic, sweet, somewhat dark, and slightly rich sound. I am looking for an amp that has these qualities but with more detail, air, and transparency. Perhaps the VK500 will fit this description well.
Best regards, |
I am very impressed and a little overwhelmed by the response to my question regarding which amp to use with the Maggies. I must say that each one of you have helped sharpen my thinking and test some of my long-standing biases about amplifiers. For this I am very grateful.
If money were less of an object, I would choose one of two amps based on my current system setup: Plinius SA250 MK IV or the Wolcott P220M. While there are many good amps on the market today and many amps would make a very good match with the Maggies, these two units would be the best for my system. Unfortunately, they are outside my budget, and for the Plinius, I must admit that I am a little nervous about buying this amp knowing that I would have to ship it back to New Zealand should it ever need repairing.
Many of you have suggested either ARC or Bryston. The big ARC amps are more than I can afford and I would rather own the Pass or Classe amp over a Bryston. Having said that, I have heard the Magnepan 3.6/R with the Bryston 4B ST and was impressed with how good the system sounded.
I am intrigued by the Halo JC-1 recommendation that several of you have made. To be honest, however, I was not overly impressed with the sound of the less powerful stereo version in the Halo line. With a Halo amp and preamp along with a Sony ES CD player powering a pair of Veritas 2.3 loudspeakers, I found the overall sound to be detailed but rather thin and clinical. On warmer sounding loudspeakers, the Halo equipment might be a good match.
My observation about the Halo equipment raises a concern I have with both the Classe CAM 350s and the Pass X250. In his response, RAL indicated that the X250 sounded a bit cool and lean; that's not the first time I have heard this criticism of this fine amp. As for the CAM 350, Brain Damkroger of Stereophile also mentioned that this Classe amp had a lean sonic cast. If I were using a Conrad Johnson preamp, these concerns would be moot.
Because I am looking for good price/performance, the Theta Dreadnaught and the Belles 350A have to be my top choices. Either amp will deliver a full-bodied sound with plenty of transparency and detail for my tastes. To this list I will also add the McIntosh 352. It has a full-bodied sound as well while having all the power I need. It costs about $4,500.
I will also audition the Pass X250 and CAM 350, but my preferences are leaning toward the units mentioned above.
Once again I would like to thank all of you for taking the time to answer my questions. You have helped me a lot in my purchasing decision.
Best regards, |
Hi Tok20000!
I did not know that there was a repair facility in the United States for Plinius amps. That makes a big difference. By far, the Plinius is the best sounding solid state amp I have heard. A new one is not cheap, but the sound quality is wonderful.
Do you know why so many people are selling their SA 250s? Weight would not be a deterrent for me. I use a Proceed AMP 5 in my home theater system, and it weighs more than 100 pounds.
I noticed that you are selling a GamuT D200. It's a nice amp in the right system. Very detailed and sweet sounding with a high degree of transparency. Are you upgrading or are you looking for something else?
Best regards, |
Hi Tireguy!
You have reached a very expensive crossroads in the design and development of your system. Because you are not using an active preamp, but instead are running the BAT VK500 directly off your Audio Aero Capitole CD player, you will experience high transparency and detail perhaps at the cost of harmonic body and some loss of soundstage width and depth. To preserve your transparency and detail to a large degree while increasing body, texture, and atmosphere, a tube amplifier would be in order. The Wolcot amp would be a good choice, although I have not seen or heard one. It will set you back by a little over nine thousand. The perfect match with your Maggies would be a VTL MB750, which offers 360 watts triode into a 4 ohm load. I have heard this amp with the Magnepan 3.6/R along with a VAC Renaissance preamp ($28,200), and it was an awesome combination, as one would expect. The VTL had been modified at the factory at no additional cost with a premium wire that improved the upper octave air and detail of the unit. Well, at $20,000, it puts this amp out of reach for me, and this monoblock amp is huge! Not only that, it really pumps out a lot of heat; it could easily warm your living room in winter, I kid you not. I made the mistake of putting my head over one of the amps and got a blast of hot air for my ignorance.
Another alternative would be for you to buy a tubed preamp to increase the body and soundstage width and depth of your system. You will notice an increase in texture and atmosphere too at a cost of ultimate detail and transparency, not to mention a slight increase in noise in the form of tube hiss that you will hear on very quiet passages when you sit a little too close to the Maggies.
Another possibility would be to change loudspeakers and/or to buy the Wolcot amp. But keep in mind that the Wolcot amp will cut your available power in half when compared to the BAT VK500.
These are not good alternatives. It's what keeps us changing equipment in a never-ending quest to find the right system.
Best regards, |
Hi Lance328!
I am not familiar with the Innersound amp. Do you like it? Didn't TAS do an article on it? |
Hi Tok20000!
I did get a chance to hear the GamuT D200. The system consisted of an Elecrtrocompaniet EMC 1 CD player, a Herron VTSP 1A preamp, and the Von Schweikert VR4 Gen III SE loudspeakers with JPS cables and interconnects. The overall sound was excellent, but I felt that the GamuT D200 added what I would describe as a "relentless" quality to the upper midrange, lower treble. The amp was certainly detailed, transparent, and dynamic with an excellent low-end response. The soundstage was wide and deep but not quite as voluminous as some more expensive tubed designs I have heard. There was a lack of harshness, brightness, and grain, but the treble was not quite as airy as a pair of Krell FPB 350 MCs ($17,500), nor did the midrange have the same three-dimensionality and overall atmospheric quality of a VTL MB750 reference ($20,000). But for $5,500, it's a very hot product that will do justice to any system that is tilted more toward the warm side. Perhaps the VR4 Gen III and the D200 are not a good match? As for handling the load presented by the Magnepan 3.6/R, the impendence curve of that loud speaker drops to a low of about 3 ohms, well within the capabilities of the D200.
Best regards, |
Richa,
You are never too late for this discussion.
The real question is how loud will she be playing her music? Does she want to rock at 100 dB? If so, she will need a lot of power.
My vote is for a very high powered solid state design. She could choose a number of units. By the way, how much is she willing to spend? She might try the Classe CAM 350, Brynston 7B SST, the Parasound Halo JC 1, Pass X250/X350, or BAT VK500. For tubes there is the VTL MB 450.
Bi-amping will be expensive: there is the electronic crossover, two amps, and the extra speaker cable.
I hope this helps. |
