+1 For the Yamaha. I believe the Marantz is an excellent choice as well. Good luck with your search.
Cheers,
Scott
Cheers,
Scott
Amp Recommendation for new JBL L100 Classic
Greetings,
I am looking into buying the new JBL L100 Classics and I would also like to buy a decent integrated amplifier with an internal DAC and optical input to drive them. My budget for the amp is around $1200 (or £ since prices seem to translate 1:1), but it will be great if I can do it with less than 1k. I auditioned the speakers this weekend (along with L82s and KLH model 5s) all with a Leak Stereo 130 amp.
The L100s sounded great actually, but then on further research I got worried that the Leak amp might not be powerful enough for them, even though on paper L100s should work with 25-200W/4ohm and the Leak is supposed to give 65W on 4ohms. I also didn't push the amp past mid volume in the store. Anyways, I decided to look for more options around the same price point and I came up with these alternatives:
- Cambridge CXA81: 120W. one drawback for this is lack of phono and bass/treble knobs.
- Pro-ject Maiaa DS2: 135W. is this a good amp?
- Marantz PM7000N: 80W. Only 15W higher than the Leak, so pretty much same concerns. Just wondering if this is a better amp than the leak.
- Peachtree Nova 125SE: 200W. has great features but is class D unlike others above, is that a problem? I have heard mixed things about how it sounds.
Really appreciate some tips about these and also comments on whether Leak is indeed not enough for the L100s.
I am looking into buying the new JBL L100 Classics and I would also like to buy a decent integrated amplifier with an internal DAC and optical input to drive them. My budget for the amp is around $1200 (or £ since prices seem to translate 1:1), but it will be great if I can do it with less than 1k. I auditioned the speakers this weekend (along with L82s and KLH model 5s) all with a Leak Stereo 130 amp.
The L100s sounded great actually, but then on further research I got worried that the Leak amp might not be powerful enough for them, even though on paper L100s should work with 25-200W/4ohm and the Leak is supposed to give 65W on 4ohms. I also didn't push the amp past mid volume in the store. Anyways, I decided to look for more options around the same price point and I came up with these alternatives:
- Cambridge CXA81: 120W. one drawback for this is lack of phono and bass/treble knobs.
- Pro-ject Maiaa DS2: 135W. is this a good amp?
- Marantz PM7000N: 80W. Only 15W higher than the Leak, so pretty much same concerns. Just wondering if this is a better amp than the leak.
- Peachtree Nova 125SE: 200W. has great features but is class D unlike others above, is that a problem? I have heard mixed things about how it sounds.
Really appreciate some tips about these and also comments on whether Leak is indeed not enough for the L100s.