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Most musical S.S. Amp under 2k used ?

i'm counting on you guys to fan the flames of this inquiry.

geez, i’m really going a lil crazy here with all this new and unexpected fervor toward this ridiculously addictive material. my girlfriends actually a bit worried about how much time i can spend on this stuff. guess the possibilities are endless. thank god i have a budget!!!!

just by studying the reviews i like what's been said about some of the krell's and mccormack's. which of these would be considered more musical overall - ksa-100, 150, 250 or dna 125, 225? what does 100 watts of krell sound like compared to 225 watts of mccormack?

other considerations: {please give feedback if you can... and remember - musical!}

PS Audio GCA-100

jeff rowland model 5

ayre v-3

edge g-5

conrad johnson - motif ms 2001

classe 201

gamut 100 mklll

arc 100.2

odyssey extreme

pass labs x-150.5

audio research 150.2

Meridian 205 100 Watts Pure Class A Mono block

Musical Fidelity A5

hosting a dear friend of 30+ years in my home in a couple of weeks and i really hope to have pulled the trigger on my upgrade amp. by then.

quite anxious to sit around the fire with my ole compadre - sippin on something smokey/peety & reminiscing... listening to tunes that helped define our youth. so looking forward to having the opportunity to hear some of our favorite music for the first time - if you catch my drift?

please help me to choose something worthwhile.

much obliged,
timtopper
loudandclear
79 posts
 
ARC 100.2 hands down.

We chose it over literally dozens of other amps. Unbelievable value for under $2k used.

Musical is the first word that comes to mind as we listen to it. The 100.2 just "gets out of the way". You don't hear the amp, you hear the music with all of it's harmonics, sweetness, dynamics, warmth, impact and soul.

With most other amps we auditioned, we heard the amp. This is such a key concept and took us way too long to figure out.

Good Luck!
gundam91
506 posts
 
I am surprised that nobody has mentioned Pass Lab's Aleph series amps yet. You can find several models for under $2k. But these are hard to find on used market and many owners are just holding on to them. I have an Aleph Os, and it is one of the most tube-like sounding amp I've heard. It had been in my second system which was boxed up due to the arrival of my first born two years ago. The system consisted of:
Sonic Frontier SFT-1/Mark Levinson #36/ARC LS-1/Pass Aleph Os/Unity Audio Signature 1s. It was a very musical sounding system. (The amp was not powerful enough to drive my speakers in my main system, otherwise I would have used it) My wife loved my little system more than my main system which is more analytical sounding. I've been contemplating about selling the amp, but I the thought that one day I might be able to have that second system up and running again is preventing me from putting on up for sale.

FrankC
manged3
4 posts
 
This is a response from a newbie who's heard very few systems. I'd love to hear what your system sounded like with the Krell KSA. I am going to buy an amp soon and will be very interested to know what you choose, and how you like it.
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