First foray into separate 2-channel amp, 200wpc

Thanks! OK, Adcom, Acurus, B&K...how would anyone characterize the "house sound" differences between these?

Also, is there much difference between the Acurus A150 and A250? They actually seem to be about the same size and weight.

"Rok2id
get the Emotiva used. The big one. The pre amp section of your receiver will just be a switch box and volume control, unless you listen to LPs."

Rok, are you talking about the mono monster, or the XPA-2? I can't afford two of the mono amps. I would jump on a XPA-2, but they rarely show up for sale used.

BTW, I don't have my turntable in action now and my receiver has a phono input, so I am good there as well.

What about between a McCormack DNA 0.5 and an Aragon 2004 Mk II? Both rated at similar output, but the McCormack going for several hundred dollars higher. There is also a McCormack DNA 0.5 Deluxe, that runs a bit higher. Not sure how much better it is than the regular 0.5.

Soix, thanks for the tips. Yeah, I just saw some of those Brystons on Agon. With the 3BST not being rated particularly high in watts, I wasn't sure about how much improvement it might make. Sounds like you are saying even those Bryston amps that are rated lower than 200 wpc can deliver powerful response. Will take another look at 3BST if the Agon classifieds start working again.

Regarding cables, I am researching that now as well.

Regarding room placement, the Monitor 9is have to be out 2 feet from the wall because they sit on the left and right sides of a desk that is about 2 feet deep. I don't have a whole lot of leeway in where they can sit. I know they would have more bass if they were 8 inches from the wall, but besides the fact that they cannot be there, I am looking more for quality than quantity of bass.

Imhififan,

Hmm...my Yamaha receiver I am driving them with now is rated for 130 wpc in stereo mode. The only reason I was thinking of a separate amp was that the person I bought the 9is from stated they sounded better with more power and that he had been using a McCormack amp with them. Do you think a separate amp is not going to improve much over the receiver?

Also, I filled the 9is with sand. Do you think lead shot will be noticeably better than sand?

Imhififan,

Thanks, I am already bi-amping them with the bi-amp feature of the 1800. Using Morrow SP2 for the HF terminals, and some regular copper zip cord for the LF terminals. Mike Morrow says his cable will improve the bass quality(not quantity) if I wire the LF terminals with his wire as well as the HF terminals. Not sure if I want to spend $200-300 in order to find out!

Thanks for the tip on lead + sand.

What about between say, B&K Ref 2220, Adcom 5500, Acurus A250? Only thing on the B&K is that owner is asking $650 and can get new Emotiva XPA-2 now for $699. As of now, no good Aragons listed on Agon.

Thanks, Samzx12, I prefer from about $350 to $450. In that range, the most common units I am finding are the Adcom 5500, Adcom 555 Mark II, and Acurus A250. What about between Adcom and Acurus? There was an Aragon 2004 II, but it is gone now.

I have now found and bought a McCormack DNA-1 Rev.A here on Agon. In the course of researching amps, I read so many good things about this amp that I decided to give it a try. I should be receiving it soon and will report back my experience.

"Waterzlife
Mtrot,
So what's your experience with the McCormack DNA-1 RevA ???"

Well, that's a long story. I had bought the DNA-1 here on Audiogon last December, but shortly after hooking it up, it blew up. I think something was amiss with the amp from the start, because even when I first hooked it up, it produced a horrible raspy, scratching sound from the speakers. And upon turning it off and on, both would produce a huge pop from the speakers. Now, I did use Goertz MI-2 Veracity speaker cables, and failed to connect the Zobel networks, which I am told could destabilize wide bandwidth amps.

So, I sent the amp off for repair to SMC Audio in January, where it stayed for about 6 months. Apparently a lot of stuff blew out, and there was a lot of difficulty in repairing it for a reasonable price.

I just finally got the amp back last week, and have only done limited listening to the amp, but I do think it sounds pretty good. I actually am not now using the DNA-1 with the Yamaha receiver, but rather I have swapped out the DNA-1 with a Sherbourn 5/1500A multi-channel power amp that was in the family room, with my Onkyo NR-809 Receiver as a pre-pro. It was immediately apparent that the DNA-1 has a greater bandwidth than the Sherbourn. There is just a greater sense of "presence" of the music or dialog, more clarity. One area I think may be sounding significantly better than with the Sherbourn is vocals, which seem very tonally nice and enjoyable. Instruments just have more of a "signature" to them, if that makes any sense.

I have not played enough dynamic content yet to tell anything about dynamics or bass impact, compared to the Sherbourn. But I will soon be cranking up some jazz, classical, and movies to find out.