I was always against class D but I have recently heard Bel Canto drive Maggies , they are good, very good .
A "best amp for Ohm Walsh Tall 1000's" question with a twist...
Hey all -
I'm a long time reader, mostly lurker. I've dipped my toe in the audio hobby over the last couple of years, and Audiogon has been my education. Many thanks to all for contributing your thoughts here!
I am considering a power amp upgrade. My current rig is digital source -> microRendu -> Metrum Musette -> Quicksilver line stage -> Rotel RB-980BX -> Ohm Walsh Tall 1000's. At some point I plan to upgrade the Musette to an Amethyst - the Musette seems thin, to me.
My wife and I listen to all kinds of stuff, mostly acoustic and choral. We (er, I) listen to some stuff loud-ish, but we don't really "rawk out". What we value in sound are naturalness, realism, presence, and musicality. I like to hear everything that's going on - I don't need acid-etched definition, but I also don't want a big warm cloud of sound. And I like sound with a bit of weight - not loud, but present.
I'm pretty happy with most of my gear. The Rotel is getting it done as far as getting a baseline of power to the OW's, but I suspect I could do better.
The twist in all of is that it would be really, really, really good if the amp could fit in our existing stereo cabinet. Like, "v7b9b13 isn't banished to the couch" good. Which means it has to fit into a space about 18" wide, 13.5" deep, and about 7 or 8 inches high. I have some flexibility in the vertical dimension, but not in width or depth. The 13.5" depth has to account for connectors and wires, so we're really talking about more like 12".
For reference, the Rotel fits, just.
I've been considering vintage Mac for this - MC 754 or MC 2100 - because my understanding is that the Macs have the beef - the current - to drive the Ohms nicely, and because both of those amps will fit in my little shoebox of a space. I'm looking for all y'alls input on a couple of things:
* any other contenders worth looking at?
* any reason to run away from either (or both) of the Macs as fast as I can?
I generally understand the whole autoformer / no autoformer thing - generally - but any thoughts about the appropriateness of that aspect of the two amps in the context of my rig will be greatly appreciated.
Many thanks in advance for your thoughts!!
All the best
I'm a long time reader, mostly lurker. I've dipped my toe in the audio hobby over the last couple of years, and Audiogon has been my education. Many thanks to all for contributing your thoughts here!
I am considering a power amp upgrade. My current rig is digital source -> microRendu -> Metrum Musette -> Quicksilver line stage -> Rotel RB-980BX -> Ohm Walsh Tall 1000's. At some point I plan to upgrade the Musette to an Amethyst - the Musette seems thin, to me.
My wife and I listen to all kinds of stuff, mostly acoustic and choral. We (er, I) listen to some stuff loud-ish, but we don't really "rawk out". What we value in sound are naturalness, realism, presence, and musicality. I like to hear everything that's going on - I don't need acid-etched definition, but I also don't want a big warm cloud of sound. And I like sound with a bit of weight - not loud, but present.
I'm pretty happy with most of my gear. The Rotel is getting it done as far as getting a baseline of power to the OW's, but I suspect I could do better.
The twist in all of is that it would be really, really, really good if the amp could fit in our existing stereo cabinet. Like, "v7b9b13 isn't banished to the couch" good. Which means it has to fit into a space about 18" wide, 13.5" deep, and about 7 or 8 inches high. I have some flexibility in the vertical dimension, but not in width or depth. The 13.5" depth has to account for connectors and wires, so we're really talking about more like 12".
For reference, the Rotel fits, just.
I've been considering vintage Mac for this - MC 754 or MC 2100 - because my understanding is that the Macs have the beef - the current - to drive the Ohms nicely, and because both of those amps will fit in my little shoebox of a space. I'm looking for all y'alls input on a couple of things:
* any other contenders worth looking at?
* any reason to run away from either (or both) of the Macs as fast as I can?
I generally understand the whole autoformer / no autoformer thing - generally - but any thoughts about the appropriateness of that aspect of the two amps in the context of my rig will be greatly appreciated.
Many thanks in advance for your thoughts!!
All the best