Short version: Looking for suggestions on amp gear (integrated or separates) to pair with ELAC Debut 2.0 B6.2 and Klipsch RP-600M speakers for ~$1k (or less). Could be used gear.
Long version:
My quite modest system consists of a Yamaha R-202 stereo receiver, ELAC Debut 2.0 B6.2 and Klipsch RP-600M speakers. I listen to both sets of speakers interchangeably. I recently got the Klipschs so not looking to upgrade speakers for awhile. I also don't want to upgrade my source (Ross Martin 24-bit DAC) quite yet as I'd like to save up for an R-2R DAC way out in the future. I'm starting to think that my $129 receiver is the next thing to upgrade, specially since my speakers scale very well the better the amp is (at least according to some Youtube reviews I've seen).
I listen to all sorts of music but mainly rock, classical, vocal and
some EDM. Most of the time, my music is NOT high-quality recordings
since I only have MP3s, Amazon Music HD, and Youtube as sources. But,
with some exceptions, I haven't had any issues with the music sounding awful
thru my system.
I usually listen at reasonably loud but lively volumes. According to a free sound meter phone app, I average about 80-85 dB (peaks of 93dB) at listening position 7.5 ft away from speakers.
Here's what I'm looking for:
- The amp has to pair well with BOTH sets of speakers. So I'd guess this rules out too-bright sounding amps since they'd not pair well with the Klipschs. The ELACs are more balanced so I think warm-sounding amps would work.
- The integrated amp (or the pre-amp) must have a remote volume control.
-
Tone controls would be highly-desirable (given my low quality source material) but not absolutely necessary. Even with my low quality music files, I usually only use the tone controls in the receiver about 10% of the time.
- Would prefer the amp had 100W per channel at 8 Ohms or more (going by
Paul McGowan's philosophy that more is better for dynamic headroom) since my current receiver is 100W. Though, I know it's also about the quality of the watts so any suggestions in the 50-100W per channel range are also welcome.
- Sub-outs (or full range pre-outs) would be nice to have for future integration with a sub. I know you can buy some subs with speaker level inputs so having pre/sub outs is not absolutely necessary.
Any suggestions? Could go up to $1,200 for the perfect gear.
Here's what I've come up with so far:
Schiit Saga+ (tube pre-amp + solid state power amp option is very tempting) paired with:
- Schiit Vidar
- Emotiva A-300 (too bright?)
- Marantz MM7025
Rotel RA-1570 (saw this used for $880, main selling point is that it has balanced inputs. My DAC has balanced outputs I'm not currently using.)
Outlaw Audio RR2160 (main selling point is the bass management for experimenting in the future with high-passing the main speakers so future sub handles all the low frequency effects.)
IOTAVX stack (don't know much about this one besides what I've seen on Youtube reviews)
Could always go back to Yamaha with A-S801 stereo receiver but rather not go back to the same company. I wanna try something different to broaden my experience.
Thank you all in advance for the help.
