As Garfish also noted, I have found that most DVD players tend to sound brighter than a good CD player. It might be cheaper to invest in a seperate CD player instead of buying another amp. Keep in mind that MOST solid state preamps also tend to err on the bright side too. As to the specific amps that you mentioned, i would go for the McCormack as being the warmest sounding. The smaller Classe' amps sound bright (not grainy though) and slightly lean, the Aragon's have a reputation for a slightly "hot" high end with very solid bass and the older Bryston 4B that i had was nothing special at all. The newer Bryston's might be better or worse, i don't know. I would agree that the Pass amps are very "sweet" sounding but may not be "warm" enough for what you want. My suggestion is to evaluate each component on its own and see if they fit into the plans that you have for your system down the road. You may find out that changing one component simply "re-arranges" your problem. Sean >
Help me find a smooth solid-state amp?
I'm currently in the market for a *smooth* solid state amp (~100-150wpc into 8ohms) to mellow out an exceedingly bright system. I currently have an Adcom GFA-5400 with Adcom preamp and Soliloquy 5.0 monitors. Front end is a Pioneer DVD/CD player. Any suggestions as to what brands I should check out? Names off the top of my head include: Aragon, Classe, Bryston, and McCormack. I'm not too sure of the actual models I should try out. I'm also not averse to buying used items. Thanks. dd