My Long List of Amplifiers and My Personal Review of Each!


So I have been in a long journey looking to find the best amplifiers for my martin logan montis. As you know, the match between an amplifier and speakers has to be a good "marriage" and needs to be blend exquisitely. Right now, I think I might have found the best sounding amplifier for martin logan. I have gone through approximately 34-36 amplifiers in the past 12 months. Some of these are:

Bryston ST, SST, SST2 series
NAD M25
PARASOUND HALO
PARASOUND CLASSIC
KRELL TAS
KRELL KAV 500
KRELL CHORUS
ROTEL RMB 1095
CLASSE CT 5300
CLASSE CA 2200
CLASSE CA 5200
MCINTOSH MC 205
CARY AUDIO CINEMA 7
OUTLAW AUDIO 755
LEXICON RX7
PASS LABS XA 30.8
BUTLER AUDIO 5150
ATI SIGNATURE SERIES 6005

With all that said, the amplifiers I mentioned above are the ones that in my opinion are worth mentioning. To make a long story short, there is NO 5 CHANNEL POWER AMP that sounds as good as a 3ch and 2ch amplifier combination. i have done both experiments and the truth is that YOU DO lose details and more channel separation,etc when you select a 5 channel power amplifier of any manufacturer.
My recollection of what each amp sounded like is as follows:

ATI SIGNATURE SERIES 6005 (great power and amazing soundstage. Very low noise floor, BUT this amplifiers NEEDS TO BE cranked up in order to fully enjoy it. If you like listening at low volume levels or somewhat moderate, you are wasting your time here. This amp won’t sound any different than many other brands out there at this volume. The bass is great, good highs although they are a bit bright for my taste)

NAD M25 (very smooth, powerful, but somewhat thin sounding as far as bass goes)
Bryston sst2(detailed, good soundstage, good power, but can be a little forward with certain speakers which could make them ear fatiguing at loud volumes)

Krell (fast sounding, nice bass attack, nice highs, but some detail does get lost with certain speakers)

rotel (good amp for the money, but too bright in my opinion)

cary audio (good sound overall, very musical, but it didn’t have enough oomph)

parasound halo (good detail, great bass, but it still holds back some background detail that i can hear in others)

lexicon (very laid back and smooth. huge power, but if you like more detail or crisper highs, this amp will disappoint you)

McIntosh mc205 (probably the worst multichannel amp given its price point. it was too thin sounding, had detail but lacked bass.

butler audio (good amplifier. very warm and smooth sweet sounding. i think for the money, this is a better amp than the parasound a51)

pass labs (very VERY musical with excellent bass control. You can listen to this for hours and hours without getting ear fatigue. however, it DOES NOT do well in home theater applications if all you have is a 2 channel set up for movies. The midrange gets somewhat "muddy" or very weak sounding that you find yourself trying to turn it up.

classe audio (best amplifier for multi channel applications. i simply COULDNT FIND a better multi channel amplifier PERIOD. IT has amazing smoothness, amazing power and good bass control although i would say krell has much better bass control)

Update: The reviews above were done in January 2015. Below is my newest update as of October 2016:



PS AUDIO BHK 300 MONOBLOCKS: Amazing amps. Tons of detail and really amazing midrange. the bass is amazing too, but the one thing i will say is that those of you with speakers efficiency of 87db and below you will not have all the "loudness" that you may want from time to time. These amps go into protection mode when using a speaker such as the Salon, but only at very loud levels. Maybe 97db and above. If you don’t listen to extreme crazy levels, these amps will please you in every way.

Plinius Odeon 7 channel amp: This is THE BEST multichannel amp i have ever owned. Far , but FAR SUPERIOR to any other multichannel amp i have owned. In my opinion it destroyed all of the multichannel amps i mentioned above and below. The Odeon is an amp that is in a different tier group and it is in a league of its own. Amazing bass, treble and it made my center channel sound more articulate than ever before. The voices where never scrambled with the action scenes. It just separated everything very nicely.

Theta Dreadnaught D: Good detailed amp. Looks very elegant, has a pleasant sound, but i found it a tad too bright for my taste. I thought it was also somewhat "thin" sounding lacking body to the music. could be that it is because it is class d?

Krell Duo 300: Good amp. Nice and detailed with enough power to handle most speakers out there. I found that it does have a very nice "3d" sound through my electrostatics. Nothing to fault here on this amp.
Mark Levinson 532H: Great 2 channel amp. Lots of detail, amazing midrange which is what Mark Levinson is known for. It sounds very holographic and will please those of you looking for more detail and a better midrange. As far as bass, it is there, but it is not going to give you the slam of a pass labs 350.5 or JC1s for example. It is great for those that appreciate classical music, instrumental, etc, but not those of you who love tons of deep bass.

 It is articulate sounding too
Krell 7200: Plenty of detail and enough power for most people. i found that my rear speakers contained more information after installed this amp. One thing that i hated is that you must use xlr cables with this amp or else you lose most of its sound performance when using RCA’s.

Krell 402e: Great amp. Very powerful and will handle any speaker you wish. Power is incredible and with great detail. That said, i didn’t get all the bass that most reviewers mentioned. I thought it was "ok" in regards to bass. It was there, but it didn’t slam me to my listening chair.

Bryston 4B3: Good amp with a complete sound. I think this amp is more laid back than the SST2 version. I think those of you who found the SST2 version of this amp a little too forward with your speakers will definitely benefit from this amp’s warmth. Bryston has gone towards the "warm" side in my opinion with their new SST3 series. As always, they are built like tanks. I wouldn’t call this amp tube-like, but rather closer to what the classe audio delta 2 series sound like which is on the warm side of things.

Parasound JC1s: Good powerful amps. Amazing low end punch (far superior bass than the 402e). This amp is the amp that i consider complete from top to bottom in regards to sound. Nothing is lacking other than perhaps a nicer chassis. Parasound needs to rework their external appearance when they introduce new amps. This amp would sell much more if it had a revised external appearance because the sound is a great bang for the money. It made my 800 Nautilus scream and slam. Again, amazing low end punch.

Simaudio W7: Good detailed amp. This amp reminds me a lot of the Mark Levinson 532h. Great detail and very articulate. I think this amp will go well with bookshelves that are ported in order to compensate for what it lacks when it comes to the bass. That doesn’t mean it has no bass, but when it is no Parasound JC1 either.
Pass labs 350.5: Wow, where do i begin? maybe my first time around with the xa30.8 wasn’t as special as it was with this monster 350.5. It is just SPECTACULAR sounding with my electrostatics. The bass was THE BEST BASS i have ever heard from ANY amp period. The only amp that comes close would be the jC1s. It made me check my settings to make sure the bass was not boosted and kept making my jaw drop each time i heard it. It totally destroyed the krell 402e in every regard. The krell sounded too "flat" when compared to this amp. This amp had amazing mirange with great detail up top. In my opinion, this amp is the best bang for the money. i loved this amp so much that i ended up buying the amp that follows below.

Pass labs 250.8: What can i say here. This is THE BEST STEREO AMP i have ever heard. This amp destroys all the amps i have listed above today to include the pass labs 350.5. It is a refined 350.5 amp. It has more 3d sound which is something the 350.5 lacked. It has a level of detail that i really have never experienced before and the bass was amazing as well. I really thought it was the most complete power amplifier i have ever heard HANDS DOWN. To me, this is a benchmark of an amplifier. This is the amp that others should be judged by. NOTHING is lacking and right now it is the #1 amplifier that i have ever owned.

My current amps are Mcintosh MC601s: i decided to give these 601s a try and they don’t disappoint. They have great detail, HUGE soundstage, MASSIVE power and great midrange/highs. The bass is great, but it is no pass labs 250.8 or 350.5. As far as looks, these are the best looking amps i have ever owned. No contest there. i gotta be honest with you all, i never bought mcintosh monos before because i wasn’t really "wowed" by the mc452, but it could have been also because at that time i was using a processor as a preamp which i no longer do. Today, i own the Mcintosh C1100 2 chassis tube preamp which sounds unbelievable. All the amps i just described above have been amps that i auditioned with the C1100 as a preamp. The MC601s sound great without a doubt, but i will say that if you are looking for THE BEST sound for the money, these would not be it. However, Mcintosh remains UNMATCHED when it comes to looks and also resale value. Every other amp above depreciates much faster than Mcintosh.

That said, my future purchase (when i can find a steal of a deal) will be the Pass labs 350.8. I am tempted to make a preliminary statement which is that i feel this amp could be THE BEST stereo amp under 30k dollars. Again, i will be able to say more and confirm once i own it. I hope this update can help you all in your buying decisions!


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Showing 18 responses by charles1dad

No attempt to redefine the term neutral. My point is how does one determine a component is neutral relative to competing components? WC said that the Boulder lacked soul. He isn’t the first listener to make this type of istening observation in regard to Boulder. Some have described their sound as clinical, sterile or analytical. Doesn’t this suggest a coloration or imparting a sonic characteristic at the opposite end of the spectrum from full bodied, rich or warmth?

You could make the case that a leaner/thinner or sterile (soulless?) presentation should not be the default criteria for neutral. It is another form of coloration/altercation that goes in a different direction. Just my observation and not a proclamation. No doubt we all perceive things differently when deciphering what we hear and our attempt to describe it.
Charles
"There is nothing sweet about the sounds of nature" 
One problem with High End audio is a vocabulary where there are no precise or clearly defined words/terms. So individuals are free to use words that can be interpreted differently when communicating with others. 

For  me the essence of unamplified instruments and vocals is natural sweetness and beauty,  pure and uncorrupted. A few days ago I was listening to a professional tenor saxophonist practicing a few feet away from me. My goodness,  talk about sheer and pure sweetness, richness and vividness of sound coming from that un-miked instrum9.it doesn't get any better.

 Most probably the term sweetness has a different connotation to me. It's no add on coloration and that big beautiful sounding Tenor Sax had it undeniably. Oh the body and tone I heard.
Charles 
WC,
I believe you’ll find the BHK to be a very good value and worthy amplifier (possibly competitive with the incoming Pass Labs 200,8). My gut feeling is that neither will equal the level of realism and naturalness you’re hearing from the MAC 2301. Based purely on your written description this amplifier and the Magico is quite an impressive pairing (within  the context of your overall system synergy ). You have used the term "real" several times in regard to the sound quality of the MAC 2301. I find this to be a very positive and revealing outcome of its overall impact.
Charles
Hello viber6, 
Your posts are interesting and provoke thought. You wrote that big name musicians often sound mediocre and that the better sounding musicians struggle to make a living. My question is why aren't the better musicians recognized for their superior talent?

How do the lesser musicians acquire the bigger name ,fame and presumably higher income? This is a sincere question. How is this possible? This isn't the case with athletics/sports. Those with a higher talent level are clearly sorted out.
Charles 
Viber6,
Thank you for your reply. "Playing the game" has more influence than innate musician talent? That's regrettable as well as disappointing. 

I'm much more involved and knowledgeable about jazz than classical music. When listening it is so apparent to recognize genuine ability.  No had to tell me Theloneus Monk, Miles Davis or Gerry Mulligan are special,  it's self evident. No amount of "playing the game" could overshadow that truth. Or so it would seem.
Charles 
Viber6,
I appreciate your very kind comments and as stated earlier I personally find your perspective and thread contributions quite worthy and stimulating. It is apparent that a brief deviation from the thread topic is annoying to some participants here and I apologize for this deversion into a discussion centered on musicians rather than the Audio hardware.  This is of course the dominant interest to the majority  here. Whitecamaross thanks for your tolerance of my interaction and topic deviation with viber6.
Charles
WC,
Realism is used consistently in your description of the MAC 2301 sonic character. I interpret this to mean  a more convincing sense of live musicians presence and less reproduced or electronic /Hifi character. Is this what you mean or am I inferring you comments incorrectly?
Charles
Line Magnetic is a different case with some of their models. The 219ia and 508ia are genuine high quality sounding amplifiers. As always YMMV.
Charles 
I’ve had the opportunity to hear Rogue and ARC amplifiers directly compared in a showroom a feds years back. Rogue is decent and a solid value but it isn’t on the same tier as the ARC REF amplifiers in my opinion. There is a performance gap between them.
Charles
Riaa,
 Sorry to hear that. A couple of members on this site  own the LM 508ia and at least thus far haven't experienced those problems. They rave about its sound quality. 
Charles 
Viber6,
Is it really your intention to disparage the wide spectrum of audio engineers in this manner? That is quite a very broad brush.
Charles
Ricred1 and Dracule1,
Agree with your distinction of subjective versus true objectivity. Subjectivity is unavoidable if someone listens to an audio product and then describes what they hear. This is pure opinion (listening impressions) and subjective by default. Test bench measurements and specifications are objective and useful but won't tell you how something will sound.  You must rely on listening (subjective) to determine that. WC's reporting in this thread is pure subjectivity and that's just fine. He is not measuring any of the amplifiers or equipment he's using and nor does he need to in order to make his point.
Charles 
Thezaks, 
Agree. The very nature of this interesting thread is rooted in subjective reporting. This is the foundation. One listener rotates amplifiers and speakers into his home audio system and renders a listening impression based solely on what he heard. Interesting for sure but by no means absolute. Nor does WC claim to be absolute.
Charles
I find it silly that an audio dealer would be afraid of selling WC a product due to the possibility of negative comments from him. Come on, WC is one listener posting his listening impressions,  one person's opinion.  I enjoy reading this thread for fun. Are there people literally taking his evaluations as gospel? I'd find that surprising if that's the case.. 
Charles 
Well again I realize the discussion has strayed from the original topic and this will upset some participants/readers of this thread. I do however find the contributions from Minori, Dracule1, Ricred1 and Thezaks in response to Viber6’s objectivity comments insightful and meaningful. It seems so clear to me that the very essence/act of listening to audio equipment reproduce recorded music is one of the purest examples of subjectivity in action.
Charles
Techno_dude,
Having high regard for WC's amplifier rankings and acknowledging the subjective nature aren't mutually exclusive. You don't perceive his rankings as proclamations do you? That's my only point. 
Charles 
Over a 30 year period I've had my share of tube and transistor components.  Tube electronics have been rock solid reliable.

Resale value, I summit is more likely brand dependant rather than incriminating all tube components in a general statement.  Solid state is subject to the same outcome due to brand considerations as well.
Charles 
Roxy54,
My Coincident 300b SET  is hands down the most trouble free and dependable amplifier I've ever owned.
Charles