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My Long List of Amplifiers and My Personal Review of Each!

So I have been in a long journey looking to find the best amplifiers for my martin logan montis. As you know, the match between an amplifier and speakers has to be a good "marriage" and needs to be blend exquisitely. Right now, I think I might have found the best sounding amplifier for martin logan. I have gone through approximately 34-36 amplifiers in the past 12 months. Some of these are:

Bryston ST, SST, SST2 series
NAD M25
PARASOUND HALO
PARASOUND CLASSIC
KRELL TAS
KRELL KAV 500
KRELL CHORUS
ROTEL RMB 1095
CLASSE CT 5300
CLASSE CA 2200
CLASSE CA 5200
MCINTOSH MC 205
CARY AUDIO CINEMA 7
OUTLAW AUDIO 755
LEXICON RX7
PASS LABS XA 30.8
BUTLER AUDIO 5150
ATI SIGNATURE SERIES 6005

With all that said, the amplifiers I mentioned above are the ones that in my opinion are worth mentioning. To make a long story short, there is NO 5 CHANNEL POWER AMP that sounds as good as a 3ch and 2ch amplifier combination. i have done both experiments and the truth is that YOU DO lose details and more channel separation,etc when you select a 5 channel power amplifier of any manufacturer.
My recollection of what each amp sounded like is as follows:

ATI SIGNATURE SERIES 6005 (great power and amazing soundstage. Very low noise floor, BUT this amplifiers NEEDS TO BE cranked up in order to fully enjoy it. If you like listening at low volume levels or somewhat moderate, you are wasting your time here. This amp won’t sound any different than many other brands out there at this volume. The bass is great, good highs although they are a bit bright for my taste)

NAD M25 (very smooth, powerful, but somewhat thin sounding as far as bass goes)
Bryston sst2(detailed, good soundstage, good power, but can be a little forward with certain speakers which could make them ear fatiguing at loud volumes)

Krell (fast sounding, nice bass attack, nice highs, but some detail does get lost with certain speakers)

rotel (good amp for the money, but too bright in my opinion)

cary audio (good sound overall, very musical, but it didn’t have enough oomph)

parasound halo (good detail, great bass, but it still holds back some background detail that i can hear in others)

lexicon (very laid back and smooth. huge power, but if you like more detail or crisper highs, this amp will disappoint you)

McIntosh mc205 (probably the worst multichannel amp given its price point. it was too thin sounding, had detail but lacked bass.

butler audio (good amplifier. very warm and smooth sweet sounding. i think for the money, this is a better amp than the parasound a51)

pass labs (very VERY musical with excellent bass control. You can listen to this for hours and hours without getting ear fatigue. however, it DOES NOT do well in home theater applications if all you have is a 2 channel set up for movies. The midrange gets somewhat "muddy" or very weak sounding that you find yourself trying to turn it up.

classe audio (best amplifier for multi channel applications. i simply COULDNT FIND a better multi channel amplifier PERIOD. IT has amazing smoothness, amazing power and good bass control although i would say krell has much better bass control)

Update: The reviews above were done in January 2015. Below is my newest update as of October 2016:



PS AUDIO BHK 300 MONOBLOCKS: Amazing amps. Tons of detail and really amazing midrange. the bass is amazing too, but the one thing i will say is that those of you with speakers efficiency of 87db and below you will not have all the "loudness" that you may want from time to time. These amps go into protection mode when using a speaker such as the Salon, but only at very loud levels. Maybe 97db and above. If you don’t listen to extreme crazy levels, these amps will please you in every way.

Plinius Odeon 7 channel amp: This is THE BEST multichannel amp i have ever owned. Far , but FAR SUPERIOR to any other multichannel amp i have owned. In my opinion it destroyed all of the multichannel amps i mentioned above and below. The Odeon is an amp that is in a different tier group and it is in a league of its own. Amazing bass, treble and it made my center channel sound more articulate than ever before. The voices where never scrambled with the action scenes. It just separated everything very nicely.

Theta Dreadnaught D: Good detailed amp. Looks very elegant, has a pleasant sound, but i found it a tad too bright for my taste. I thought it was also somewhat "thin" sounding lacking body to the music. could be that it is because it is class d?

Krell Duo 300: Good amp. Nice and detailed with enough power to handle most speakers out there. I found that it does have a very nice "3d" sound through my electrostatics. Nothing to fault here on this amp.
Mark Levinson 532H: Great 2 channel amp. Lots of detail, amazing midrange which is what Mark Levinson is known for. It sounds very holographic and will please those of you looking for more detail and a better midrange. As far as bass, it is there, but it is not going to give you the slam of a pass labs 350.5 or JC1s for example. It is great for those that appreciate classical music, instrumental, etc, but not those of you who love tons of deep bass.

 It is articulate sounding too
Krell 7200: Plenty of detail and enough power for most people. i found that my rear speakers contained more information after installed this amp. One thing that i hated is that you must use xlr cables with this amp or else you lose most of its sound performance when using RCA’s.

Krell 402e: Great amp. Very powerful and will handle any speaker you wish. Power is incredible and with great detail. That said, i didn’t get all the bass that most reviewers mentioned. I thought it was "ok" in regards to bass. It was there, but it didn’t slam me to my listening chair.

Bryston 4B3: Good amp with a complete sound. I think this amp is more laid back than the SST2 version. I think those of you who found the SST2 version of this amp a little too forward with your speakers will definitely benefit from this amp’s warmth. Bryston has gone towards the "warm" side in my opinion with their new SST3 series. As always, they are built like tanks. I wouldn’t call this amp tube-like, but rather closer to what the classe audio delta 2 series sound like which is on the warm side of things.

Parasound JC1s: Good powerful amps. Amazing low end punch (far superior bass than the 402e). This amp is the amp that i consider complete from top to bottom in regards to sound. Nothing is lacking other than perhaps a nicer chassis. Parasound needs to rework their external appearance when they introduce new amps. This amp would sell much more if it had a revised external appearance because the sound is a great bang for the money. It made my 800 Nautilus scream and slam. Again, amazing low end punch.

Simaudio W7: Good detailed amp. This amp reminds me a lot of the Mark Levinson 532h. Great detail and very articulate. I think this amp will go well with bookshelves that are ported in order to compensate for what it lacks when it comes to the bass. That doesn’t mean it has no bass, but when it is no Parasound JC1 either.
Pass labs 350.5: Wow, where do i begin? maybe my first time around with the xa30.8 wasn’t as special as it was with this monster 350.5. It is just SPECTACULAR sounding with my electrostatics. The bass was THE BEST BASS i have ever heard from ANY amp period. The only amp that comes close would be the jC1s. It made me check my settings to make sure the bass was not boosted and kept making my jaw drop each time i heard it. It totally destroyed the krell 402e in every regard. The krell sounded too "flat" when compared to this amp. This amp had amazing mirange with great detail up top. In my opinion, this amp is the best bang for the money. i loved this amp so much that i ended up buying the amp that follows below.

Pass labs 250.8: What can i say here. This is THE BEST STEREO AMP i have ever heard. This amp destroys all the amps i have listed above today to include the pass labs 350.5. It is a refined 350.5 amp. It has more 3d sound which is something the 350.5 lacked. It has a level of detail that i really have never experienced before and the bass was amazing as well. I really thought it was the most complete power amplifier i have ever heard HANDS DOWN. To me, this is a benchmark of an amplifier. This is the amp that others should be judged by. NOTHING is lacking and right now it is the #1 amplifier that i have ever owned.

My current amps are Mcintosh MC601s: i decided to give these 601s a try and they don’t disappoint. They have great detail, HUGE soundstage, MASSIVE power and great midrange/highs. The bass is great, but it is no pass labs 250.8 or 350.5. As far as looks, these are the best looking amps i have ever owned. No contest there. i gotta be honest with you all, i never bought mcintosh monos before because i wasn’t really "wowed" by the mc452, but it could have been also because at that time i was using a processor as a preamp which i no longer do. Today, i own the Mcintosh C1100 2 chassis tube preamp which sounds unbelievable. All the amps i just described above have been amps that i auditioned with the C1100 as a preamp. The MC601s sound great without a doubt, but i will say that if you are looking for THE BEST sound for the money, these would not be it. However, Mcintosh remains UNMATCHED when it comes to looks and also resale value. Every other amp above depreciates much faster than Mcintosh.

That said, my future purchase (when i can find a steal of a deal) will be the Pass labs 350.8. I am tempted to make a preliminary statement which is that i feel this amp could be THE BEST stereo amp under 30k dollars. Again, i will be able to say more and confirm once i own it. I hope this update can help you all in your buying decisions!


128x128jays_audio_lab
jays_audio_lab's avatar
jays_audio_lab OP
5,381 posts
 
Today, i am again a proud owner of a pass labs x350.5. I had bought this amp last year and of course, i did not have the best preamp for it (classe cp800) but i still really thought this amp was excellent. Well, today i have been playing with it again and now connected to the no52 Mark Levinson preamp. This is a special amplifier. I REALLY love the big midrange although some might say it is a bit too much. However, with electrostatic speakers you'd be rewarded huge. I also like its bass, slam and dynamics that it has. If i were to knit pick, i would say it is not a transparent amplifier. It has its own flavor and some of you may or may not like it. I personally love it, but everything sounds good through it. That said, system sinergy is important so it is very crucial that you match it with a true high end preamp to really make it shine. 
With all this said, i am contemplating the purchase of a pair of pass labs 200.5 monos and do a real world A/B comparison against the pass labs xs150 and see what happens. Some say that you can't hear a difference and that the only way to really tell them apart is if you have gigantic speakers with crazy power demands, but those of you who don't, there may not be much of a difference. 
I will say that walking into my living room and seeing these xs150s really makes you be like wow... It is a true piece of engineering that makes you feel proud, yes cocky as well, but only because it really is something that not even dealers carry in my instances because of the enormous investment. This weekend i will be doing a great shootout once again but will have the x350.5 in the mix. One thing i did not mention to you all before was that the class a and class ab amps from pass labs sound very different. They also need to be carefully planned and selected based on these 3 things:

1. type of speaker
2. type of music
3. the level at which you listen to music. 

Pass lab class A amps tend to sound very liquid, clean, detailed, but they do lack the slam that their class ab versions have. The class AB amps have massive punch, slam, dynamics, deep bass, don't run as hot, but they are not as accurate sounding as the class A versions. If you are a person who likes to listen to Jazz at night in a cozy environment where there is minimal noise, you are probably a candidate for their Class A amps. however, if you have friends over, like to showcase the horsepower hidden under the hood of these monster chassis, feel the bass in your chest, and you like to put the pedal to the metal in terms of loudness, then you need to consider Class AB. 
The XS series has the best of both worlds which is why they are so much more $. 
jays_audio_lab's avatar
jays_audio_lab OP
5,381 posts
 
Update on the xs150: i was listening to these amps over the weekend and i must say that they don’t hit their stride until about the 3rd hour of playtime. That is when they really open up and begin to sound more liquid. That said, my room begins to get warm at that point and it can get somewhat uncomfortable so the a/c needs to be running more. You can’t get too close to these chassis either because it is very hot near them.
An additional note is the fact that they let you hear EVERYTHING. I am talking things such as having one plugged into an outlet and the other one plugged into a power conditioner will let you hear that each amp sounds different. I had issues with the midrange not being dead center and when i plugged in both amps directly into the wall, the problem was solved. These amps have amazing detail transparency and cutting corners here is not an option. They deserve the very best you can give them in terms of cabling, sources, and preampfification. Think of it as buying a ferrari; You will need expensive tires, brakes, oil changes, etc. It is the nature of the beast and this amp is no exception.
What i find annoying is all the things you need to pay attention to with an amp like this. Everything affects the sound, but with the x350.5 things are totally different. That amp sounds the same with a good power cord, or stock power cord, plugged in anywhere, etc. It sounds good no matter what and the midrange remains dead center as well so there is a lot less of a headache with it.
For now, i am 50/50 as far as what i will be doing with the xs150s. i don't know if i will keep them or will part ways with them. They are a true reference component that deserves special attention and plenty of space. They sound phenomenal and even at low volume levels they really give you everything the music has. They teach you that you don't need to blow your eardrums off by cranking up you music which is cool if you ask me. I don't believe they are meant to be cranked up to ear bleeding levels either because in my opinion they sound best a low to moderate levels. That is their sweet spot. 
jays_audio_lab's avatar
jays_audio_lab OP
5,381 posts
 
Comparing the x350.5 vs xs150:

x350.5: Lovely midrange. Big power and dynamics with slam. Great detail, Sounds extremely organized and composed even at loud levels. The highs are good, but they are not xs150 smooth. The bass is good, but not xs150 bass

xs150.5: Good midrange, but less pronounced than on the x350.5 ( i would say this is a negative in my personal opinion). Awesome detailed highs that are smooth (after a few hours of playtime). The most powerful bass i have ever experienced. Think of it as bass on steroids with tightness, quickness, zero boominess, and really fast sounding. 


All that said, i can say that the law of diminishing returns here is huge. We are comparing a 10k vs a 65k amplifier. Yes the 65k is superior, but it is not necessarily 6.5 times better. Also, after many hours of listening to music, you begin to have listening fatigue and so the difference between both amps is less and less and less. Your ears almost can't differentiate between both amps. However, that is just nature and there is nothing we can do about that. 
Let's see what i will be doing in the next few days with the xs150. I really need to keep hearing them with fresh ears before i decide to part ways with them. I know it will be my last pair for a very long time. 
jafant
18,770 posts
 

At $10k or 65k there should not exist any listener fatigue?

Happy Listening!

tomcy6's avatar
tomcy6
2,532 posts
 

whitecamaross,  I think you have pointed out a couple of important things we need to be aware of: diminishing returns and the "new" factor.

Here's what you said about the Xs 150s the day you got them:

"yesterday i sat down at 3pm and listened to music until 3am this morning.. i couldn't get off the couch. It was just impossible to leave my room because of how amazing these amps sound."

Now a few days later, you've started to notice some downside.  I am not being critical at all.  It's just that those of us less able to move as much equipment as you can need to know when to quit and enjoy what we've got.

You need to keep doing what you're doing, though.  Your reports are very informative and enjoyable.


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