Before I upgraded to the Conrad Johnson CAV 50 tube amp (a perfect match for the Totem Ones and $1300 on Audiogon), I powered my Totem Model Ones with an Arcam A65Plus. A very competent choice.
Budget amp suggestions for Totem Model 1?
I currently have the model 1's driven by an old 70's Sherwood s8900a SS amp. Don't have the bucks now for Plinius, etc. Anybody have any budget solutions for a matching amp? I'd like something ideally good for low volume listening, that's where the Sherwood loses it. And something not to aggressive, that's a problem too.
The room is small, 11 X 11. Listen to jazz and classical mainly.
Thanks for an help, Vince
The room is small, 11 X 11. Listen to jazz and classical mainly.
Thanks for an help, Vince
7 responses Add your response
I'll might be listing my Bryston 3B amp very shortly unless the dealer whom I bought from originally wishes to buy back. Beautiful condition and its rated @120w per channel I believe, but it sounds like a LOT more. Another good choice from what I've heard is the Rotel RB-990. (200w 8ohm) These can ce found used around $450. Another possibility, a B&K amp. I have a 60w per ch. ST1200 amp which sounds just a little recessed on the top end but has good mids and very strong bass. Good Luck! |
Here's what I have in my bedroom system and it sounds absolutely wonderful: Totem Model 1 with Audio Refinement Pre2DSP pre-pro. My original amp here was the Audio Refinement Multi-5, because this room also does a bit of home theater, too. At 125 wpc, the AR Multi-5 sounded pretty darn good, because it's a good amp. But then I added a Marsh 400s (200 wpc stereo amp) for the main front left-right channels. The March A400s does 200wpc into 8 ohms, 400 into 4 ohms. All I can say is... WOW, WHAT A DIFFERENCE! The extension, the bass, the detail. Don't get me wrong, the AR amp was nice, but the Marsh amp really lit-up the room with the TOTEMs. I'm using the extra 2 left over channels from the AR Multi-5 for a Zone 2. A bonus! Hope this is helpful. |
Totem Model 1's like lots of power. You want an integrated, I take it? How about a Classe' integrated, used? Or look for a used McCormack power amp DNA .5 or 1.0 & then get a pre-amp later. Very hard to get good results with Totem Model 1's w/o high quality upstream components--they're only gonna sound like what you feed them.....mid-fi stuff, or inadequate power won't do it. Just my 2 cents. |
I think an Audio Refinement Complete would match your requirements quite well and they're reasonably easy to find used in the $500 range. I'm extremely happy with mine. There are lots of reviews online: http://www.audiorefinement.com/show04.htm http://www.1388.com/recommendations/$5000(2)-eng/ http://www.soundstage.com/revequip/srajan01.htm |
Jungson JA 88C ($400 new). Here's a thread in which another owner prefers it to the Plinius 9200 which he owned: http://forum.audiogon.com/cgi-bin/fr.pl?aamps&1121512271&openflup&2&4#2 Not aggressive, also extremely good at low level listening; these are both points which I noticed immediately replacing an Audiolab 8000A. |