amp help - joule - transcendent - berning - atma


i am looking for the next level in amps (i currently have rogue 120s) looking at joule stargate; transcendent t8ln
david berning 270 or atma-sphere m602.2.

componet list:
joule la 150 with opus phono stage
vpihw19m3/fr64fx/shelter 501
pioneer trans- birdland dac
mac 67
merlins vsm-m bb
diy cables all the way around

anybody heard any combos of these amps??? anything else to look at 6k budget. no dealers in my area have this equipment to demo.

thanks
jvr

Showing 1 response by tacs

good advice clueless.
didn't say what you were looking for in an amp upgrade...sweeter sound, more air, better bass?
it's difficult to make a system sound much better by adding something on the 'back end'...just different.
perhaps lower power is what you are looking for. if you have a small room, you don't need all the rogue's power. in that case, the newer joule single ended w/ transformer amp is a nice choice at a reasonable price (off the top of my head)...and a match with the preamp.
the problems with otls and so on is that you'll end up changing your sources because you'll find out the amp is too revealing!