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Are marantz ma500 monoblocks better than an adcom?

My system consists of: classe ssp-25 pre-amp, musical fidelity v-dac II, denon dvd 2900 (used to play cd's), paradigm studio 10's, and an adcom gfa 545.

My question is this: are marantz ma500 monoblocks going to give me better sound? My adcom does sound a little "tinny" and I think my studio 10's could sound better if they were given more power. Also, if I do get the ma500's should I bi-amp the speakers? I've read about some negatives to bridging the amps like impedance loads being too low, overheating amps, distortion issues etc. One last thing to keep in
consideration is I will probably upgrade my paradigm studio 10's to paradigm studio 20's, both of which, I think' are pretty inefficient and power hungry. Also, I'm sort of stuck with the paradigm's unless I try to sell them for a loss in order to get something used, in which case my budget would be around 1k. Thanks in advance for your input!
b_limo

Showing 3 responses by b_limo

b_limo's avatar
b_limo OP
2,290 posts
 
Jeffreybehr, sorry about the confusion. I was planning on bi amping with the mono blocks, not the adcom as I was trading the adcom as part of the deal. I read that bi amping, in most cases, is better than bridging your amps even if they were designed with bridging as an option. I read that you can run into problems when bridging amps and that the sound quality was worse in some cases due to bridging (even bridging two of the same mono blocks).

Hudsonhawk, what kind of b&k did you have? I've been looking at those also.

Thank you to everyone who has posted! I've decieded to not buy the mono blocks as I am looking for a very "musical", high powered 2 channel amp to power my paradigm studio's and I don't think the ma 500's are going to satisfy. Ideally I will leave my system alone for a long time once I find an amp that I'm happy with. Thanks again!
b_limo's avatar
b_limo OP
2,290 posts
 
Hmmm, I've read some reviews of the ma500's and they all say that they are pretty decent little amps for the money. I've been told that they are going to produce more bass and I was hoping that they'd produce more power too, especially since I'm planning on bi-amping. I'll take your advice and hook them up and listen to them first if I can, and if I can't, maybe I'll hold off. Thanks!
b_limo's avatar
b_limo OP
2,290 posts
 
Alot has happened since I originally posted this thread. I got a classe ca-150, running xlr's between that and my classe ssp 25 pre amp, got some better speaker cables, upgraded from studio 10's to studio 20's to studio 60's and also added an svs sub. Whew! Can anyone say upgradiates!! If the classe ca-150 didn't pop up locally and in my price range, I would have gone conrad johnson mf 2250.
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