2. amps-preamps
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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 1 response by richmon

richmon
262 posts
 
I used to have Paradigm Studio 60's and was bi-amping them with 4 Marantz MA-500's so I'm typing from experience.

The MA-500's are not bad sounding at all and the dynamic punch was excellent in this setup. But in the end, between needing two extra preamp interconnects, two extra speaker cables, and the cost of two extra MA500's my opinion is you'd be better served by putting this extra total-cost-of-ownership money towards a superior amp to the MA500.
I moved onto a Conrad Johnson MF2250 and am now ready for a tube amp.
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