A rejoining member from the SF Bay Area

[bayork]

Greetings all! I'm a prior member(who didn't notice that accounts were DELETED if you didn't post an intro message....Duhh).

I've been a fan of ES/Planar speakers since one of my roommates brought a pair of Magnapan Tympani 1-D's to our apt at college to demo back in '79. I wimped out the FIRST purchaseand bought conventional main speakers(Polk RTA12A's). They had to endure a trip across the country/handling by movers. I had vivid images of ML's/Magnapans arriving with a hole punched through them....

It was my great pleasure to replace them with a pair of Vista's in 2010, and I'm S-L-O-W-L-Y upgrading the rest of my system to the same level. Items not-soon-to-be replaced are my Velodyne FSR18 sub and Proceed AVP preamp....they'll get consideration for "uplift" after everything else is upgraded.

First on the list is an amp upgrade. That is where I expect to get the greatest leap in overall music quality/fidelity. I'll be replacing a Carver AV806X...it served it's purpose for HT-movies adequately, but just doesn't cut it for critical music listening, nor to drive my ML's.

I welcome suggestions.... currently on my list for consideration (my price point at the moment is $10K or less to replace my current 8 channel amp with 5 channels of much better/cleaner power.):

• ATI
• Bryston
• Classe
• Krell
• Mark Levinson
• McIntosh
• Odyssey
• Parasound
• Pass Labs
• Plinius
• Sunfire
• Theta

Eliminated based on research/feedback (does anyone know why the strikethrough bbcode tag.... ... is not implemented on this forum...?)

• Emotiva

Some things I'm struggling with, and would welcome input and/or materials to read/catch up....

• The plus/minuses of going with mono-amps? I'm thinking very seriously about taking that route.
• I'm leery of Tube amps....how long do tubes typically last/how hard are they to REPLACE? Am I assuming the tubes are more delicate than they really are?
• The whole Class A power vs. power at 8 ohms difference. How powerful does an amp need to be running class A to be enough? It seem like the ratings for class A are ~10% of the same rating into 8 ohms...
  • (Answered...was confusing class A and Class AB...am now doing remedial reading on the various classes of Amps!)
• What is the likelihood that I will need to install a new 20 amp (30?) circuit to run some of the behemoth amps I'm considering? If I don't....how will it effect the performance of the amp?
• HOW reasonable is the strategy of purchasing used high-end amps?

 

[TomDac]

Many audiophiles are constantly upgrading their gear, which means there is a good selection of used equipment on the market. IMHO, buying used is a great way to go... you can save thousands. Your list looks good. Emotiva is not in the same league as the others, though. Their stuff is priced well, though.

 

[slowGEEZR]

I'd suggest room treatments as the way to get the most bang for your buck. Then, if you want, get a new amp.

 

[twich54]

Welcome back !

as to your bullet points………

mono amps = flexibility, control and power at the expense of $$ and space

given your 5 channel preference I don't think tubes makes a lot of sense. For two channel listening…… nothing to be leery about

'Class A power vs. power @ 8ohm' ----- ???? not sure what you mean, power @ an 8 ohm rating is just that, regardless of the amps design topology. Assuming your trying to compare Class A with that of AB a simple 'Google' will get you all you need to know

I'm a firm believer in dedicated power, so if your gonna install one…..make it two 20 amp circuits !

As Tom said purchasing of used amps makes sense……. when done sensibly !

 

[bayork]

Thanks for all of the feedback. I should mention...I need the 5 channels for my Movie viewing(major cinemaphile), and didn't intend to indicate that all 5 channels needed to be from the same source, OR upgraded at the same time, for that matter. Upgrading 2 channels to power my ML's specifically for critical music listening is actually probably what I'll do, particularly if I end up taking the mono-amp path.

I think the class A question... I'm sure you're correct that I'm confusing myself. I'd already started reading what I could find from Google right after posting(ok...after first browsing Audiogon and drooling over possible upgrades....). Does anyone have a favorite treatiste on Amp design they could recommend?

As for room-treatments....I know they're another item that has immediate impact. I **wish** I had a dedicated room. Unfortunately, all of this is happening in our family room, and the WAF on treatments is about 0.00001% percent. (ain't gonna happen. )

Sounds like Emotiva probably won't hang in an A/B against my other "contenders..."?