I’ll second the suggestion to upgrade the speakers first. Much more impact overall.
Power amplifier advice?
I am thinking about buying a power amplifier. I want something with about 200 W per channel into 8 Ohms, in the price range up to about $2500. The models that are currently at the top of my shortlist are Rotel Rb-1582 MkII, Anthem MCA 225 Gen 2, and Schiit Wotan.
It is not possible for me to listen to these side by side, so I must base my decision on specs, reviews, and recommendations.
If anyone has experience of these amplifiers, I am eager to hear about their impressions and views.
My current speakers are a pair of old NHT 2.5, which are said to be quite power hungry, and a bit bright. I will probably upgrade speakers later, but I want to hear the NHT:s with a more powerful amp first. My current amplifier is an old HK6850 integrated, with 85 W per channel. My DAC (Denafrips Aress II) lacks volume control, so if I buy a separate power amp I will also need a preamp, but that is a later issue.
I mostly listen to hard rock and heavy metal, and I like to be able to crank it up so that I can hear the music while doing chores in the kitchen (no room for speakers there).
Regards,
Kaj
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Agree with @knotscott . Speakers first. Actually, a lot of people, including myself adhere to the philosophie of picking speakers first and devoting a good portion of the budget on them. Then going from there. Choice of speakers is also the most dependent on room configuration. |
I have had the Rotel for several years and it works great. Delivers all the power without getting too warm or going into protection mode. I have a pair of Arendal 1723 that crave power at 4 ohms and the 350 WPC the Rotel puts out at 4 ohms is plenty cranking classic rock in my setup. If you want an A/B amp with the power you want for around 2K it’s hard to beat. Highly recommend. |
Schiit Wotan is Really great. I think it compares with many amps I have heard up to $20K, in that its competitive and reasonable people could actually prefer it’s sound over other far more expensive amps. Another amp I might consider is the Cary 200ES, which is slightly above your price range but is often on sale. This amp I believe is made to spec by Morris Kessler’s company ATI, and is a true dual mono construction. From word of mouth and review, it has a slightly warm musical sound. I will also toute my amp if you can get it used. The SST Son of Ampzilla has a really beefy power supply (2 KW toroidal transformer with independent windings for each channel and 100,000 mfd of capacitance), a simple but effective power rail management with simple inline fuses), true mono design, and is biased to approximately 10 watts per channel in class A. It has a simple case with non fancy heat sinks, but it really competes with far more expensive amps. It has quite a liquid sound with a great sense of depth and air around instruments, as well as good dynamics and sense of authority. So much of the price of many high end amps is driven by expensive casework and fancy meters, with relatively puny power supplies. |
My first speakers back in the day was a NHT 2.5 and I used a Bryston 3B-ST on it. In retrospect a terrible combo. I owned the Schiit Wotan and sold it to raise some funds. The Wotan is slightly warm and a very powerful amp. Almost as beastly as the CODA #16 that I also had in the house. The Wotan needs a lot of hours (1 month for me) to clear up the top end grunge. It sounds very nice after that. The Wotan would be a great amp with the NHT 2.5. BTW - I currently use the Class D Audio GanFet 6.5 ($985) that replaced the Wotan. It is not as strong on bass as the Wotan, but it is a bit cleaner on top. I think the Wotan is the better amp, but I feel better not spending too much now on my office system since the room is becoming increasing full of computer gear. BTW - I can recommend the Schiit Singular DAC (also a preamp via iPhone). It is the best DAC they made. I owned it and sold it to buy the imersiv D-1 DAC (4x more expensive). I owned the Yggi+ MIB | LIM | OG DACs so I have some frame of reference on the Schiit DACs.
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- 46 posts total