Best midrange on a high current SS amplifier

McCormack DNA-500. No contest.

Tireguy, I found the Rowland 6 to be the best amp I have owned. It drives the Schweikert VR7SE's to perfection with a total balance of the total bandwidth. Stay away from the tubes unless its VAC

McIntosh MC352 sounds like exactly what you are looking for.

McIntosh 501 monoblocks or 402 very lush for SS.

classe cam monos...

Well this will depend on the rest of your system, but I'd shortlist the following:
Gryphon Antilean (stereo or mono)
GamuT M250MkIII (not the M200- they're good, but do the 250's)
McCormack DNA-500
BAT VK 600M SE

Whats your budget?

Schussor - Sim Audio Moon W5. I see them go for $2500USD used all the time. Read the reviews on the internet. Email me if you have questions. I also own a Bryston 4B-ST and I had a pair of 7B-ST in my home for a week audition before I bought the moon.

go to http://www.simaudio.com for a list of links to the reviews.

I would try a Belles 150 Reference. I use a 150 HotRod to the drive my Maggie 1.6's without a problem.

CJ Sonographe SA 250

Thank you for your responses so far,

Essentially I need the imaging to match or beat a Classe DR-9 and the dynamics to match or beat a Bryston 4B NRB.

Budget is $2K on the used market, hopefully substantially less.

I can split amplification of the line source into two parts and biamp it (it is composed of smaller units) with one stereo amp per side - in which case I would need either 200 WPC into 1.5 ohms (about 50 WPC 8 ohm rating) or 150-200 WPC into 6 ohms (about 200-250 WPC 8 ohm rating).

My current setup:

Triamping with active crossover

Bass: Crown 5002VZ 2500 WPC at 4 ohms WOW bass. Not good for anything else unless you have the most laid back of speakers - due to thin "pro sound" high frequency heat. Grand imaging though.

Mid: 300hz to 5khz Classe DR-9 Great imaging, wonderfully full and nearly lush upper midrange (with good PC) lacks some dynamics. Images more specific and stable than with Bryston 4B NRB)

Bryston 4B NRB imaging not quite as good. More dynamic than DR-9.

Treble: Classe DR-9 smooth and extended, but a little thin clearly outclasses Bryston).
Bryston is smooth (with PC - stock cord is a joke) but heats the treble as output increases

You could give the Blue Circle BC26 a try.
It fits the bill, for everythi9ng your asking. I think you will find it works quite well.

Here is a review:
http://www.soundstage.com/revequip/bluecircle_bc26.htm

Hi Brainwater,

How does the Prem 350 compare with tubes in the mids for liveliness? I ask because I noticed that you are selling the Cary 211 Anniv. monos which probably has great mids, being that its a triode amp, so you know what great mids are. The 350 must be incredible for you to add it to your system.

Can you briefly highlight the 350's sonic attributes? Also does the amp take a long time to stabilze its sound quality? I use to own a solid state amp and I noticed that it took 3 hrs to sound its best. And since I only listen 2 1/2 hrs every other day I find that my current c-j MV-60 only needs 20 min warm up and the sound doesn't change much after that.

I was thinking of upgrading to a Prem 140 my first choice (other choices are: Cary V12R, Used Cary 805C or Quicksilver quickie triodes) but if 350 is a lot better than I might have to re-evaluate.

Thanks!

the CJ Premier 350

Try any quality MOSFET amp.
My first choice would be Pass Aleph 2s.
My next choice would be a pair of Adcom 5500s, you could power the tweeters & midrange on each side, with a dedicated MOSFET channel, and use your Adcom 565s on the bass, where they work best.

Give GamuT a try, it gives super smooth mids thanks to it's single mosfet design. IMHO, it is the best solid state amp for my Magnepans.

http://www.gamutaudio.com/

Good Luck!
Mike (AudioArchon)

PS - I do sell them, but I purchased them long before I was a dealer!

LAMM PERIOD