Older Amps on Theos

[EstebanElequente]

My buddy and I did an even swap his ML Theos for my Motion 12s after he rearranged his living room and was forced out of the sweet spot. His loss is my gain I guess. We are both happy but I have a sinking feeling my modern Denon AVR X3700H is not up to the challenge. My listening is about 75% home theater. I am on a budget $4-$600 also so I am mostly either looking at either a used older amp or something like the crown xls. Locally I have found a few choices at a vintage audio reseller and the crown is out of stock nearly everywhere. FYI I did all the searches and perhaps due to the age of these amps I'm not coming up with much if anything. Here are my choices. (FYI if I go for the 3 channel I will be powering My ML Motion C2 center).

Anthem MCA 2 200X2 into 8ohms for around $450
Proceed Amp 2 By Mark Levinson 150WX2 into 8ohms For around $650
Rotel RB991 $500 or Rotel RB993 $550 200W into 2 or 3 channels respectively at 8Ohms.

Honerable mentions:
Rotel RB 1080 $795 (Just out of budget but should I save?)
Belles OCM200 $475 in budget but less power and I cant find anything on it.
Bryston 9B ST THX $1200 (Further out of budget lower power but 5 channel 120 into 8 ohms 200 into 4)
Carver TFM-35X 250WX2 $425 (I read mixed things about carver but in budget and more power)
McIntosh MC58 $1200 (I don't know it seems like less power but its McIntosh its 8 channel but can be configured down to 4 channels to get more power + its double my current budget)
NAKAMICHI pa-5 Stasis $525 100X2 (lower wattage for more money and I'm not familiar with the brand other than that they now make a soundbar lol)



Some extra optional reading if you have questions. Sources Apple TV 4k for lossless music and not so lossless movies, Sony X800M2 4k BDP, and Project turntable.
I mostly listen to Rock music and some Jazz, I watch movies pretty loud. My System is a 5.2.4 so I am maxed out on the Denon. I understand my denon preamp outs are less than ideal but an atmos Pre pro is not foreseeably in the budget. However, I understand that if I go to a 7.2.4 system I can put my mains into preamp mode and will gain some minimal benefit.

My preferences. All of the reading I have done suggests moving to one of these amps should or may give me more open mids and a more open soundstage. I do not want to lose the airy highs and imaging that to me are the primary benefits I have enjoyed by going from a folded motion to an electrostat. So terms like laid back or rolled off highs scare me although I assume I will be fine or am perhaps misinterpreting what that means. I tend to lean more to a neutral/clinical representation as opposed to a lot of color. Hence originally looking into the crown/pro audio/class D stuff. I do other work now but in a past life earned a degree and worked doing music recording/mixing/mastering and production so it is important that the sound be somewhat true to the source. I cant demo these all on my stats because it wouldn't be practical but I may be able to return and exchange if I cant live with what I get, but I am hoping someone can help me by giving their impressions of the brands, voicing etc. Sorry for the Giant Post!

 

[SomeGeoffGuy]

I haven't heard the old Anthem gear, but the newer stuff is amazing. I heard their latest 200 x 2 at Axpona in 2019 and it was top 3 things I heard that day. I am a big Rotel fan too - I run a 976 for my surround sound. I would get the 10xx series if you have the money though. That Nakamichi amp was designed by Nelson pass too, so don't group it with the current offerings from Nak. Other than being pretty old, it would be pretty solid. Not much on that list I would stay away from - but I would worry about getting good detail out of that crown (that seems to me where the pro audio stuff lags the audiophile gear).

Check out the older Yamaha amps too. They made some big power high S/N gear that you can get under $1000 still. There is an M45 (125 x 2 ) on craigslist by me for $250.

-Geoff

 

[EstebanElequente]

I haven't heard the old Anthem gear, but the newer stuff is amazing. I heard their latest 200 x 2 at Axpona in 2019 and it was top 3 things I heard that day. I am a big Rotel fan too - I run a 976 for my surround sound. I would get the 10xx series if you have the money though. That Nakamichi amp was designed by Nelson pass too, so don't group it with the current offerings from Nak. Other than being pretty old, it would be pretty solid. Not much on that list I would stay away from - but I would worry about getting good detail out of that crown (that seems to me where the pro audio stuff lags the audiophile gear).

Check out the older Yamaha amps too. They made some big power high S/N gear that you can get under $1000 still. There is an M45 (125 x 2 ) on craigslist by me for $250.

-Geoff

Thanks so much. So far I’m leaning towards the anthem because it’s in my budget and the more I read into it the better it looks. I wish I had the budget for the Bryston right now because I’m super impressed by what I’m reading about them.

 

[Andrew149]

Thanks so much. So far I’m leaning towards the anthem because it’s in my budget and the more I read into it the better it looks. I wish I had the budget for the Bryston right now because I’m super impressed by what I’m reading about them.

What did you choose I’m in the same situation as you I just bought used theos.

 

[EstebanElequente]

What did you choose I’m in the same situation as you I just bought used theos.

I chose to go with the old anthem. It is an anthem mca2 my understanding is that it is the predecessor of the mca 20 and is pretty similar but has a larger power supply. I just got it yesterday so I haven’t done a ton of testing and haven’t done a direct a/b test. However, my initial impressions are that it sounds more open in the midrange as advertised. I also am experiencing more headroom. For instance when listening to music I found myself around -4 on my denon receiver where as before I was around 0 to +1or 2 depending on the track. Also with movies I noticed no distortion when played loudly. I watched the race scene to ready player 1, the opening to blade runner 2049, parts of tron legacy and the first 5-10m of max max fury road and did not notice the same distortion I did in the super dynamic parts as I did before adding the amp. With that said I was maxed out on the amp. I was running the theos a motion c2 center 2 8” rears and 4 8” atmos speakers so I was putting a lot of stress and load on the avr. My setup is now the same but now I have the preouts from front r and l from the denon x3700h into the anthem amp then obviously speaker wire to the theos. I’m not sure if it matters much but a I’ve always used either 12 or 14g monoprice wire on my mains and center. Hope this helps.

 

[SomeGeoffGuy]

Great choice! I think Anthem is one of the most under-rated brands out there. They have some amazing room correction tech too - they even put it on their stereo receivers.

-Geoff

 

[Nuri58]

Great choice! I think Anthem is one of the most under-rated brands out there. They have some amazing room correction tech too - they even put it on their stereo receivers.

-Geoff

Well so does ML incedingly the same room correction and the same owners