looking for a warm ss amp....

I have compared at great length the Pass Aleph 3, Blue Circle BC22 and BAT VK200 and feel all three of these solid state amps may be a good candidate for you. Of the three, I feel the Blue Circle has the rounder, more "tubelike" character.

I own an older Bryston 4B which I use for my subwoofer and because of it's more neutral, grainier nature might not be what you're looking for. However, I understand that the newer ST and SST versions are much smoother.

I think a super bargain is the McCormack DNA 0.5 or 1. You might even be able to snag a Deluxe version of one of these for under $800.

I do think that the brightness you're experiencing may either be room related and/or attributed to the Denon receiver.

I'll restate what I said earlier.

Try to find a used McCormack DNA 0.5 or DNA1 for under $800. They come up for sale very often, and they are outstanding amps! Power, finesse and some warmth.

From what I can tell, you've said nothing about using this setup for home theater. If this will be used in a two channel system only, the best thing you can do is to dump the Denon. Any Denon! You can get a $10,000 amp and it won't sound good with the Denon ahead of it in the chain.

You've given a budget of $1000 to $1300 for a preamp and amp. For $400-$650 you can get an Audible Illusions L1 or 2D preamp, an Audio Research LS1 or LS7 preamp for $500-650. The McCormack DNA 0.5 or DNA1 solid state amps are in the $650-800 range.

Keep the Signal cables and don't worry about spending on anything more expensive. Going to biwire speaker cables at this time wasn't necessary, but since you have them. stand pat with them.

For now, keep it simple and affordable. Good luck!

Hi Fishcall,

I believe the DNA 0.5 is rated at 100wpc and the DNA 1 at 185wpc, so I'm pretty sure the either McCormack can drive the Paradigms quite well.

The 3802 is designed to drive multiple speakers for a home theater. Many more compromises have been made in its design in order to accomplish this. A good two channel amp, the McCormack just being one example, is made with less compromises and designed to drive just two channels. Without going into detail they really are worlds apart.

Please don't think a McCormack is the only amp that might help you achieve your goal. Although I've never owned one, I've heard them and have been impressed. It just seems to be a very good candidate within your budget. Plus, there are many happy past and present McCormack users here on Audiogon.

The Plinius 8200 integrated is also a very suggestion. Its rated at 175wpc and if it's like any of the bigger Plinius amps I've heard, it's very smooth, powerful and has a touch of warmth. It combines the preamp and amp into one chassis and would save space over having separate components.

Either of these would be a big step over the Denon. If the 3802 is sonically similar to my friend's 5700 I remember it being a bit dry and thin sounding overall. It wasn't very dynamic either.

I can understand your hesitation to spending all this cash on gear you've never heard, especially if want to retain HT capability. I tried doing the same five years ago and found that I couldn't be satisfied with an all in one system. I eventually started a second stand alone two channel system.

Whatever you do, don't jump into anything right away. Do more research and save enough money to make a BIG step which will hopefully also be a noticeably improved one.

Good luck.