2. amps-preamps
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looking for a warm ss amp....

for my paradigm studio 40s. i hate a bright treblely sound! i currently use signal cables and a denon 3802 reciever. i have had many people tell me to go with bryston or anthem, but both have been out of my price range so far. which of these have a warmer sound? how would rotel or b&K amps sound with my speakers? they seem to cost much less. since i can only buy used, i really do not have the opportunity to audition the different amps. i will continue to use the denon as my pre-amp.
128x128fishcall
amthanh
34 posts
 
Check out Classe, the used market is quite reasonable. I have been using Denon 2802 as pre-amp and Classe Ca201 as power amp to drive a pair of Maggies SMGc. Sound very warm and very musical. Please also check the IC and speaker cables to match up.
cmach
193 posts
 
I think a Conrad Johnson might be a good choice. I owned
a Sonographe SA 400 for a couple of years and enjoyed it
a lot. Very tube like sound. Warm and very musical.The
MF series is supposed to be even better but they do cost
a bit more. My guess is that a CJ might be a closer match for the sound you want than either the B&K or Rotel. Of course
thats just my opinion.

Good luck
mwilson
430 posts
 
I have also owned a CJ Sonographe SA400 and second the CJ amplifier recommendation... you can get an SA250 for less than the SA400, and more likely to find this model as well. B&K ST140 is famously warm, and you might also look into B&K M200 monoblocks or B&K EX4420 - neither of which I have heard, but come up in these "warm amplifier" threads sometimes. Classe? I have a Classe Seventy and I don't find it "warm" in the least, but rather highly-detailed and slightly etched. I haven't heard anyone yet describe the Classe house sound as warm. I use a B&K ST140 in its place, which fleshes out the sound much more, if giving up deep yardage to the Classe in the detail department.

You may just find that the brightness is coming from the Denon receiver.

Which Anthem... AMP 1? That's an EL34 tube amp, if I'm correct. Used price around $500-$550. Bryston, 3BST starting around $850, 4BST around $1250. Which gets us more to the point -- what's your price range?
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