Bryston 9B ST FIVE CHANNEL vs Rotel RMB-1585 5ch

@lightfighter2018 Rotel is nice but the specs say only 4 Ohms minimum. I am sure it can do 3 Ohm as others are using it. 

If you want go with Class A/B there is ATI AT4005 a beast second only to its larger sibiling. I think an overkill for surrounds. Used ones are rare I guess most of them just keep them. 

@lightfighter2018, I am assuming you are going to use a AV processor that calibrates the speakers for you to watch movies. That will take care of gain difference in using different amplifiers. There is no need to get same amp for LCR. Same amp for L/R yes but not LCR. The gain difference should not be large however like 6 or 10 dB most amplifiers have gain between 26 and 30. Stick to 26 area and you are good.

I a not sure where you heard about CS issues, but folks at audiocircle are quite happy with Klaus @ Odyssey, he personally responds and takes care of every customer if I am not mistaken. They are a small shop, you are looking for value for $ so I pointed them to you, everything is hand built and 20 year warranty. Real HiFi sound on the cheap. Similarly used Parasound are quite good value, they are stable till 2 Ohm again well engineered.

@lightfighter2018 why not?, but I think Monoprice is based off of ATI 1800 rather than the 4000 or the 6000 series, I could be wrong. From what I read 4000 is really good. You could go 3 channel with 4000 and buy anything for surrounds like Emotiva bass-x A300 or something which is just $400(can find used a bargain).

Again you have a lot of good choice, try getting something that is over engineered. Like http://www.odysseyaudio.com/products-stratos-ht3.html a great value for 3 channel stable to 2 Ohm. You can call Odyssey they may discount it further. You get better parts and build quality when compared to Rotel or Marantz etc. You will be pleasantly surprised with the sound quality you are getting for such a low price :).

Save money on IC and cables, I can whole heartedly recommend https://benchmarkmedia.com/ for cables, no BS cables but a tad better than blue jeans in build still you won't hear a difference compared to blue jeans, keep the cables short and save money on Kimber and AQ and use those funds for amp. 

@lightfighter2018 Since you have $2k budget I wanted to point you to Odyssey. See no one needs 100 Watts all the time. Your amp must supply sufficient current and voltage swings when needed. I am sure Rotel is the most good looking all rounder but do you need 200 Watts for your surrounds?, I would bet no. The odyssey amps can run in high bias Class A, i.e is what makes the difference. 

Think about it, if you want to optimize 2 channel the most then get 2 + 3 i.e two amps. You can skimp on 3 channel amp.

For the budget I would shop like this 1. Used Parasound Halo 2 channel, 2. Used ATI 4003/4002 + ATI 1800 2/3 channel, 3. Used / New Odyssey 2 or 3 channel. 

The saved funds for 2 or 3 channel cheap amp.

My story to power 3 channels (new speakers):
2 Channel evaluation:

  a. Benchmark AHB2, Class Benchmark
  b. Line Magnetic 805IA integrated, Class A SET
  c. Hypex NC500 from Apollon/Nord., Class D

I got myself both AHB2 and LM-805ia, still contemplating on how to get my hands on class D modules economically. I would keep one of the three amps. Also want to evaluate AHB2 in bridged mode.

Center Channel:
  a. Emotiva A-300, lot of people are happy but it has fans inside, I like passive heatsinks, very economical.
  b. Again Hypex NC500 mono block or ICEpower 1200AS2 (look at this, super economical and high current class D). Four channels each at 620W @ 8 Ohm. Do not listen to people who say class D sucks you listen to Class D everywhere. New class D amps have high switching frequency and and most people who have bad impression are people who listen to distortion of tube amps or listened to older class D amps, which were not good.

I want to spend as much less as possible to get the best of my speakers. The rule of thumb is if you are getting Class A/B amp you need to know what is the class A bias of the amp, getting a very low bias amp means you will have lot of cross over distortion and also get a good implementation. 

Again you cannot go wrong with Rotel, it is a good as it gets for 5 channel package and if you are getting it for $2k new and not $3k I would just check it out.

 
   

Generally I think amplifiers do not have a sound and if they did then it is not a good amplifier in my opinion.

Most of the features you are talking about is how the amplifier can drive and control your speakers well. So that the sound has the attributes you are look for in general. 

A high current amplifier with good damping factor and good class A bias(I am thinking 10 to 20 watts Class A bias will be good for most listening situation). Most amplifiers that are rated for 8 Ohm but can double watts to 4 Ohm and is spec'd to be stable to 2 Ohm is a good amplifier. There is a reason most folks don't state 2 Ohm stability, this is something you have to ask about.

It is hard for anyone to be objective about amplifier, some one will say X amp sounds good with B&W, but then you have break down on why X sounds good otherwise the count of X is quite high. 

http://www.parasound.com/a21+.php , one option is the older A21 used, if I am not mistaken first 10 watts are class A. But either ways keep this mind when going with a Class A/B amp. 

@lighfighter2018 email or call the company , sometimes reviewers mention this. Ask around here.

I found Benchmark AHB2 to be such an amp it is like class A but with lower (ridiculously)
distortion. But it is $2k used if even one can get it.

But I found it to be cheaper to lot of class A/B amps and be better at specs in every way.