Amp upgrade for Revel M20 speakers


For the past several months, I've been slowly upgrading my two channel system. Prior to that, I hadn't touched it in over 20 years. For all those years, it was: Denon DCD1520 CD player, Nak SR4A receiver, Spica TC-50 speakers. Today, with latest upgrade of speakers to Revel M20s, the system comprises: Arcam DV-137 (transport for CD, SACD playback), PS Audio Digital Link 3 DAC, Audible Illusions L1 pre, B&K Ref 2220 amp driving the M20s.

I'm pretty happy with everything at this point. At least I think I can finally stop the hunt for the right speakers - at least for a while. BUT....I can't help but think I can do better with my amplification than the B&K. The B&K is very nice but I think the M20s deserve just a little bit better.

There are two aspects of the current system's performance that I am looking to improve with a change in amplification: 1) wider, deeper soundstage and 2) more dynamic transients (I believe the B&K is a bit sluggish though not bad at all)

I have two options that I'm considering and am looking for input from people having experience with the M20s (or very similar). The two options are: 1) change out the B&K for another power amp (budget would be about $800 for used amp), 2) swap out the AI pre and B&K amp for a high quality integrated (budget would be about $1,200 for used integrated).

As far as amps to replace the B&K only, I really am looking for suggestions for something that would mate well with both the AI pre and the M20s and provide a significant improvement in performance.

Integrateds that I've looked into include: Creek Destiny, Nait Naim 5i-2, and Simaudio i-1. Any opinions on these or others in my price range that would give me the performance enhancements I'm looking for would be appreciated.

Thanks in advance for your suggestions.

Jon
jblack16
I have an 8 watt EE Mini-max integrated driving a pr of Silverline Preludes in my bedroom, sounds sweet.
As I said, EE build quality is second to none, real pride of ownership.
My local dealer years ago ran Revel with VTL amps...great clarity with the realism tube amps are known for.
The EE M88 looks really interesting but I have no idea if 40W of tube amplication will be enough for the Revel M20s. They are rated at 87dB efficiency and I listen up to levels of 100dB peak at about 10 feet from the speakers. Does anyone out there have experience with either the M20s or similar moderate efficiency speakers with medium power tube amplifiers?

Jblack16, take a look here at the Stereophile Measurements for the M20. I think they indicate that the speaker is not best suited for a tube amp, especially one that is 40 watt. Also, their estimated sensitivity is lower than what is specified for the speaker.

http://www.stereophile.com/content/revel-performa-m20-loudspeaker-measurements

This link contains a calculator that will allow you to plug in a SPL level, speaker sensitivity, and distance, then give you the required power for those parameters.

http://www.allegrosound.com/Power_AllegroSound.html

Hope this helps.