Amplifier upgrade advice under $2000


Hi!  I have a new pair of speakers on order and want to upgrade my power amplifier to be ready when they arrive.  My current system is Klipsch Heresy III, Onkyo M504 amp, MiniDSP SHD preamp/streamer/room correction, and SVS SB12 sub.

Scheduled to arrive in December are Ohm Walsh 2000.  Research indicates these like a lot of power.  If the Ohms don’t work out I’ll shop for a used B&W 804, so still probably needs good power.

So, with a budget under $2000, wondering if I can get something that sounds significantly better than the Onkyo.  Used is fine.  Brands I have seen come up in the price range are Classe (ca-150), Vincent (331MK), Krell, PS Audio, Parasound, Bryston, etc.

I want to know if this would be a significant upgrade in this price range.  My sense is that brands like Rotel, Adcom, Emotiva, etc. would probably not change the sound all that much.  I also have a Crown ps-400, for example, that sounds pretty much identical to the Onkyo.

I recently tried out a Rogue Atlas Magnum tube amp.  It sounded great with the Heresys, a definite upgrade. Unfortunately  it created a loud speaker hum that I was unable to fix.  But it did make me crave the tube sound.  But it seems like finding a high powered tube amp to work with the Ohm Walsh is going to be challenging.

Sorry for the rambling, basically, is it worth spending $1-2K on a new amp or should I wait until I can get into a higher price range before ditching the Onkyo (which has those awesome green meters!).  Thanks!
judsondickie
Tyray, yeah, so far the MiniDSP SHD has been really interesting.  A definite improvement in different speakers i've tried.  Night and day difference with the Heresy III after a proper calibration (which is a little bit of a pain).  Even without room correction it sounds nearly identical to the Rotel 1550 preamp I had before.  Think the built in streamer quality is really good too, (great reviews on audiosciencereview forums). Much better than the Klipsch Gate streamer I was using.
I have an SHD in one of our systems and think it’s great.

You have a lot of good recommendations already for power amps, so I’ll keep this short.

I owned the AVA Fet Valve 400R and liked it a lot. It has been improved by AVA since and now is available with balanced inputs, if you want them. Frank is great to deal with, and the gear competes with more costly stuff, for sure.

Also, you might find a used Bryston 4BSST for about $2k. While that’s two generations behind current, it is a great amp -- it still might be under warranty, too. I owned its bigger brother (14BSST), which replaced a conrad-johnson MF-2300 and was better than the c-j in every way, at least with all the equipment I tried it with.

Have fun with your Ohms! I knew John Strohbeen at MIT (when he started Tech HiFi). He is a really great guy, and sincere.

P.S. The Bryston is rated at 300Wpc into 8 ohms, or 500Wpc into 4.

MF a1008 integrated is a really interesting design and you can find them used at your price point. I have run Gallo Reference 3.0’s, Spatial audio M4 turbo S’s (with a REL T5 for that 44hz roll-off), and a pair of original B&W matrix 801’s. The external power supply and internal dual monoblock design is very cool, and it has enough juice to drive even the most cantankerous speakers (the Gallo’s). With the B&W’s it turned my listening room into a night club. With the M4’s and the rel it was like being transported to the recording studio. It’s worth considering.
For 2K, you can find a huge array of amazing power amps.
 The 165W onkyo, is ok for some speakers.

 Once I could afford the 300W minimum in amps, I never looked back.

I would recommend change preamp to onkyo p3000r if you can find it used.Rock,classical music sounded amazing ,excellent midrange with big horns speakers