I am looking for help selecting an amplifier to match my Revel F228Be speakers.


I am looking for help selecting  an amplifier to my Revel F228F speakers (which I love!) and twin REL T/9i subs.

Currently running a NAD M22 V1 or a YBA Integre DT. The NAD is dead silent and has great bottom end but the highs can be bright/screechy/digital at times. The YBA has nice highs but has a somewhat weak bottom-end and is only 50wpc. I tried bi-amping these two amps which takes advantage of the strengths of each. The problem is matching output. The YBA amp volume is almost maxed-out to match the NADs much larger output. This results in an irritating hum from the YBA.

So I plan to sell both amps and buy another. Looking for recommendations. Budget is $7,000, for amp and $2,000 for streamer. I prefer to buy ‘almost new’ components as is seems to me that you get more ‘bang for the buck’.

I mostly listen to streaming music (80%), and CDs (15%) with the balance being vinyl. Taste in music is very wide, Jazz (25%), Acoustic guitar (25%), Blues (15%), Orchestra (10%), Rock (25%)

Current DAC is a Benchmark DAC2 HGC, streamer is a Bluesound Node 2i (which I plan to upgrade).

My acoustically treated music room is 15x20 with sloped ceilings rising to 20 feet at one end.  

At the top of my wish list is a Mark Levinson 585. I like the fact that this amp is integrated and has a built-in DAC.  Thanks in advance for your suggestions.


128x128ericnicky

Showing 6 responses by ericnicky

soix,  I spend a lot of my time  listening to female vocalists. Daina Krall, Patricia Barber, Eva Cassidy, Tracy Chapman, Karen Carpenter, Mary Black,  etc. I like a nice focused center image, where I can close my eyes and she standing there in front of me. The speakers disappear. I also enjoy classical and flamenco guitar and want clear, detailed , natural sound.... 
Jetter, that's an interesting 'cheap' experiment to consider. I am using the DAC2 as a preamp currently. so not sure how the SYS would connect.

Auxinput, also a relatively inexpensive to try with a fuse change. I never heard of a fuse change making a sonic change. Can you help me understand the rational?

thanks,
auxinput, thanks for the explanation. This helps explain why a fuse retails for $125.

Thanks to all for the great suggestions, much food for thought. It is so hard to decide when you can't hear the sound with your own ears.
Well, I bought the Vitus RI-100. It's a monster 300WPC integrated amp that weighs-in at 88 pounds. Sounds great with the Revel 228Be. The next upgrade is speaker cables and PC. I have ordered a used Inakustic PC and will be auditioning Audience AU24-SE speaker cables this weekend.

The next upgrade is an R2R DAC! Looking a the Metrum Adagio along with the Metrum Amber streamer. 

Any suggestions for speaker cables under one thousand $ would be appreciated. Also, thoughts on this DAC/streamer would be appreciated.

I was told by a reputable source that the previous owner/designer of Metrum re-purchased the company.  Cees Ruijtenberg