1. Home
  2. amps-preamps
  3. 177530-53619

For classical music lovers best amp for large orchestral forces?

I recently upgraded my pre to an arc ref 6se. Currently using pas xa25. It's a very good amp but I'm noticing a fair amount of compression when playing large symphonic works. My speakers are Dalis and they are excellent as is the arc.

For smaller forces, chamber, piano and voices the system works beautifully. But if I'm looking for more transparency and a deeper sound stage for symphonies I find sometimes a boxy cramped sound. Looking to spend around 8k or less either tube or solid state. There have been discussions about the xa25 and what's better but they fill up immediately with tangents of philosophical and technical discussions of how one hears. I'm looking for as many possibilities of actual units that I can read about and possibly hear.

Thanks for your ideas.

roxy1927
jayctoy's avatar
jayctoy
4,636 posts
 

Try to find Plinius SA 100 , or Mark Levinson 332, 333.

welcher's avatar
welcher
129 posts
 

I have a Pass XA25 and Audio research 75SE. I listen to both amps every week. When compared to the XA25 the Audio Research has a wider sound stage, more detail and a cleaner background. When compared to the Audio research the Pass gives a warmer presentation and has stronger bass. I second the recommendations to look at the newer Audio Research amps.

soix
11,237 posts
 

All you guys recommending tube amps, do you know that the OP’s speakers have a stated NOMINAL impedance of only 5 Ohms?  I haven’t been able to find more detailed measurements, but given that I’d have to think the minimum impedance likely reaches well below 4 Ohms somewhere in the frequency range.  Could something like an ARC Ref75SE (an amp I lust after BTW) perform optimally or provide enough juice on demanding recordings played at higher volumes with this kind of load?  I don’t know the answer, but on the surface it does not seem like an optimal situation. 

drbond
484 posts
 

You probably need more power: try to increase your budget and increase the WPC.  200-400 WPC for starters

ditusa's avatar
ditusa
2,444 posts
 

@roxy1927,

I will also read up on bi-amping as that might be cheapest of all.

This just came to mind! See the article below by JBL about BI- AMPING.

FWIW: All amplifiers produce more distortion in lower impedances then higher impedances.

 

Mike

 

More to discover