Amp for Paradgim Studio 100

Hey
I have only listened to one McCormack and frankly I dont remember the model. It was not especially memorable apparently. McIntosh, BAT, and Classe in general catch my attention musically (in somewhat that order).

I am running an Anthem MCA-20 (225Wpc) through my 100v2's and am very happy with it. It is inexpensive compared to the Brystons and Bel Canto's but decent nonetheless. I am using an Onkyo 747 A/V receiver as preamp for the time being and while not perfect, I don't find the sound hot in the treb. Some bad recordings can sound that way of course but on the whole I am happy with the high frequency. There is better certainly, but at what price? Well matched speaker cable could be important for the overall sound of the 100's in the high end. I am using Harmonic Tech Pro 11's at the moment in a single run configuration hooked to the lower terminals. Am on the hunt for better jumpers. I think the important thing is to try a quality name brand amp and see what you get. Anthem is owned by the same folks as Paradigm.

I have the 100 v.2 teamed with a Mark Levinson #23 its 200 watts minimum make these 100's shine, extremely detailed and powerful thru all the octaves,very clean and tight bass,perfect mids and those extended highs,all dead quiet when changing a CD,incredible sound, very well matched setup and the Mark Levinson #23 can be bought used at around 2k .This is a perfect match in my home and can rock the entire neighborhood effortlessly and without one iota of distortion or fatigue....Good luck in your quest

I ran my Studio 100 v2's with a Classe CAP-151 solid state amplifier with good results.

As I said earlier (kzx0v6) I am running the Anthem MCA-20 and am reasonable happy with it. Would I prefer a Bryston or Bel Canto or some such - certainly but I've run out of cash. I found cabling made a huge difference for the better on my system. I bought the Virtual Dynamics Audition package ( http://www.virtualdynamics.ca )which includes 3 PC's, 2 IC's, and speaker cable. I upgraded to a biwire cable with banana ends. A Musical Fidelity A3CD and a Sonic Frontiers Line 1 flesh out the rest of the two channel system.

Two things:

1) I don't find my system bright at all set up the way I am at this time. I have thought it bright in the past with different configurations. Sound is rich and full from top to bottom.

2) My system sounds fine at moderate volume with no large hole in the midrange. Does it sound a little better when you spank the volume? Yes, but I live in an apartment and do so at my own risk as to where I live.

When I bought my CDP I auditioned the Arcam 72T and liked it a lot. I prefered the Musical Fidelity to the 72T though. I was able to A/B them at my dealer. I did not think the Arcam bright in any way. I thought it had just a bit better bass than the MF A3CD. Where the A3CD excelled was sounding a little closer to analog with much better soundstaging.

I strongly suggest you look at some really good cables like the Virtual Dynamics once you have your amp. I was truly shocked at the difference they made and can't recommend them enough.