I am looking for help selecting an amplifier to match my Revel F228Be speakers.


I am looking for help selecting  an amplifier to my Revel F228F speakers (which I love!) and twin REL T/9i subs.

Currently running a NAD M22 V1 or a YBA Integre DT. The NAD is dead silent and has great bottom end but the highs can be bright/screechy/digital at times. The YBA has nice highs but has a somewhat weak bottom-end and is only 50wpc. I tried bi-amping these two amps which takes advantage of the strengths of each. The problem is matching output. The YBA amp volume is almost maxed-out to match the NADs much larger output. This results in an irritating hum from the YBA.

So I plan to sell both amps and buy another. Looking for recommendations. Budget is $7,000, for amp and $2,000 for streamer. I prefer to buy ‘almost new’ components as is seems to me that you get more ‘bang for the buck’.

I mostly listen to streaming music (80%), and CDs (15%) with the balance being vinyl. Taste in music is very wide, Jazz (25%), Acoustic guitar (25%), Blues (15%), Orchestra (10%), Rock (25%)

Current DAC is a Benchmark DAC2 HGC, streamer is a Bluesound Node 2i (which I plan to upgrade).

My acoustically treated music room is 15x20 with sloped ceilings rising to 20 feet at one end.  

At the top of my wish list is a Mark Levinson 585. I like the fact that this amp is integrated and has a built-in DAC.  Thanks in advance for your suggestions.


128x128ericnicky
I have the Revel F328Be's paired with a McIntosh MA-8900. I really like the sound from the DAC in the Mac but I think my Schiit Yggdrasil (A2) is better. So I am running my server to the Yggy and then on to the amp via XLR. The sound right now from the combo of the Revels with the Yggy & McIntosh is very impressive, I am loving it!
Well, I bought the Vitus RI-100. It's a monster 300WPC integrated amp that weighs-in at 88 pounds. Sounds great with the Revel 228Be. The next upgrade is speaker cables and PC. I have ordered a used Inakustic PC and will be auditioning Audience AU24-SE speaker cables this weekend.

The next upgrade is an R2R DAC! Looking a the Metrum Adagio along with the Metrum Amber streamer. 

Any suggestions for speaker cables under one thousand $ would be appreciated. Also, thoughts on this DAC/streamer would be appreciated.

I'd try another DAC first. Go to the local HiFi shop and 'borrow' one. Benchmark DACs are borderline mastering grade. You're going to have crispy highs with almost every SS amp you hook up to that thing.