Looking for advice re: amps for Dynaudio Contour 20i


Hello all. This might be a huge mistake (I don't want to start an internet war), but I find reviews to be less than perfect. Can anyone who actually has Dynaudio Contour 20s or 20is offer any advice on a good amp to pair with them? My budget is $5-$6k. My primary concern is imaging, I am current using a Marantz Model 30 and SACD 30n. 

noob504

Showing 2 responses by akg_ca

My take: You have two challenges to meet to permit your DYNAUDIO’s to max out their potential. I would suggest that you do it in this order

(1) Amplifier power ratings

DYNAUDIO craves high-current amps…. WPC alone are meaningless.
Another word on power: if your speakers are demanding to drive you’ll need a suitably muscular amplifier to support them. Don’t look only at the headline power figure - see what happens when the impedance drops to four ohms. If the number nearly doubles, then your amplifier has good current delivery and will be capable of driving more demanding speakers.

I would stay away from tube amps and stick with refined and beefy solid state options,

(2) System synergy matches

Now, because you have a much shorter list of contenders as you carved out the pretenders, you can now start the auditions and scope out reviews for that ethereal system synergy option tailored with your speakers.

You will get a plethora of amp model suggestions herein as replies to your post. But they have a high element of personal bias pushing their fave. Hopefully this simple matrix assists in assessing their recommendations as a candidate for your ultimate choice.

@noob54

Q.” …. I just don’t know how to read amplifier specs to identify whether an amp is high current. …”

A. Repost : Don’t look only at the headline power figure - see what happens when the impedance drops to four ohms. If the number nearly doubles, then your amplifier has good current delivery and will be capable of driving more demanding speakers.

For example: My REGA OSIRIS integrated amp

A no compromise, super high performance, 162 W into 8 Ω (250 W, 4 Ω), dual mono amplifier.