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!
WC, You are an honorable gentleman. I try to keep my posts as short as possible, but often you and others raise thought-provoking issues that stoke my enthusiasm. All the productive comments on so many levels of experience make your thread the leading commentary that it is. You set an enthusiastic tone that keeps us going--thanks for everything.
bigddesign3, Yes, I also enjoyed that review of the Lampi Pacific that was posted by grey9hound last week. It got me interested in the idea that some tube equipment can be very precise and not "tube-like" (common understanding of most tube equipment). If you have heard the Lampi Pacific with the KR300B tubes, do you find it as precise as top SS dac's, or is it still a little "tube-like"?
ok guys, i wanted to follow up my previous statement in regards to this thread. My entire wish here is for me to continue sharing my journey with you all. I have spoken with a few of you on the phone and understand the frustration that is caused when this thread is derailed. I have said time and time again: I want for everyone to contribute here as long as it is relevant and useful. For the most part, my posts are quick and straight to the point because I know that nobody likes to read lengthy posts. Most of you come to this thread for 5-10 minutes and quickly understand what’s the topic of the day and what’s being said which makes this far more appealing. I’m pretty aware of what my followers/readers wish to have and the content that attracts them to keep following me. That said, I also want to be sure that I address those that use profanity in order to get their point across. Please remember that’s the type of behavior that can get this thread removed and I know that EVERYONE comes here a few times a week (if not everyday) in order to see what’s new INCLUDING those that use profanity. If you feel strongly about a certain issue then try to word things correctly without profanity. There’s no need for that. As you can see, I’m starting to get more involved and beginning to ask of you (for the first time ever) to help keep this alive. I know that some of you have differences and disagreements and that’s part of life, but remember one thing which is if they remove this thread then it’s gone and is it really worth it? I know MANY OF YOU have learned through my journey and some others are just using it for entertainment which is fine. If you are bored and don’t care for it then don’t follow the thread but don’t ruin it for those that are really benefiting from it. I hope this is clear going forward.
I came across something when WCSS was deciding on what new DAC to get a couple of weeks ago. It was a review of the Lampizator Pacific, and it told a lot as well about the previous flagship Lampizator Golden Gate. It is quite long, but it points out the differences between the 2 Lampizators.
Dawid Grzyb, the writer had the Golden Gate with Volume Control and fully balanced XLRs. The interesting thing in the review is the way each DAC takes the music and produces a wonderful result. The Golden Gate is much more forgiving with the music (according to David), and many songs that are not the best recordings come out as listenable. The Pacific model comes out as being much more transparent, and faster. The Pacific is going to give you the whole banana of the recording quality, and therefore give you the music without any of the "very tube like" smoothness of the Golden Gate. The article makes for a great read, and points out some of the things that we look for in what we want from our DAC. It is definetly a great read of the 2 DACs from a company that has a designer with vision, and also has mated tubes to the DAC with terrific results.
It would certainly be nice like many forums if you could block seeing certain posters. Doesn't block it for anyone, but just to have it left out of your feed.
Greyhound, thanks for the info on the set up of the mx160. I plan to pull it out of the box as well as the c2600 but I’m quite busy with the family. Not sure if I’ll get to it this weekend.
Viber, you are correct, I don’t accept any of your posts as relevant, but apparently the moderator deletes all posts of the many people here who hold the same opinion.
spinaker01, It appears you don't accept how relevant my comments are to WC's quest. He has found them useful, especially my advice to move the Neolith speakers further away from the wall. Many other examples. He also elaborates his own descriptions in response to my questions and observations, so many people get more value from his own further thoughts.
I own Verity Rienzi speakers , and drive them with a Luxman M900u. Superb results , no doubt.
The Otellos are supposed to be even better ! With the flagship Lux, you can go up the Verity line up to the Sarastro IIs. You won’t be limited by the amp.
Ok guys, so i have held back for the past few months from saying anything because I thought this thread would sort itself out and everyone would just continue to follow the main objective of this thread which is to follow my journey whether it is a new dac, preamp, cables, speakers, etc. I’m trying more than just amps now because the pool is shallow and quite frankly I don’t see anything unseating the block audio monoblocks anytime soon. With that in mind, I want to put it out there: if you are consistently derailing the main purpose of this thread and are essentially creating your own thread within my thread then I want to politely ask you to begin your own journey by creating your thread and do as I have done for the past few years. When I started this thread I didn’t know if anyone would even read what I had to say and look how far it has come. I’ve put a ton of time and effort and yes money too into this thread from all the purchases I’ve made so out of respect to those loyal followers and myself please take your interests outside of my thread if it does not fit in. Begin your own journey and share it with others that want to read what you have to say. Thanks
ron17, We are splitting hairs. I didn't really criticize you for saying "almost tube-like" because in the end I accept the customary meaning of "tube-like." It is almost a language convention where we know that a green light means go and a red light means stop. It still is informative to know that from WC descriptions, the ref 10 is more "tube-like" than the ref 6, even though they are both tube products from the same company. Then I used the word "mellow" to try to learn what fsmithjack likes and to figure out why he hated the Rega/Sutherland phono system. "Mellow" is a description of sound flavor, rather than referring to a type of equipment, whether tube or SS. I think everyone would agree about what "mellow" means, but owners of the Lampi Pacific with KR300B tubes might say their Pacific is very precise and not "tube-like" as far as the conventional meaning of that expression goes. I still want to know whether that Lampi is still "tube-like" compared to top SS DAC's, so the way "tube-like" is commonly understood, it is still a useful term after all.
Are you saying Viber6 can be arrogant, hypocritical, a self-styled expert and know-it-all in a hobby that is all about each individuals personal preferences and tastes?
You criticized me for using the term 'almost tube like' when describing the midrange and top end of a solid state amp and then 2 days later you use the term 'mellow'. Hmmm..... mellow could be construed as a recessed (as apposed to a forward) presentation, lacking in bass information, rolled off top end, rolled off midrange, warm as opposed to cool. I think this common definition of "mellow" should be scrapped in favor of more informative descriptions of sound.
fsmithjack, Thanks for your feedback. Whatever TT/arm you get, the cartridge is the most important item, although obviously the rest of the TT system supports the cartridge and is important. I had this discussion with someone on this thread many months ago. He felt the table was the most important, and I agreed that in some cases he was correct. For example, I had the highly touted SOTA Sapphire. Transferring my arm and cartridge from the Linn Sondek to the SOTA produced a heavy, leaden sound. I went back to the Linn to get fresh air again. Linn got famous in the 1970's by showing that the table is most important. I suspect that the skeletal Rega table/arm, combined with the clinical sound of the Apheta turned you off. The Apheta may not have been broken in enough, or aligned properly or loaded into the phono stage properly. The Rega is attractively priced, and I bet that a more mellow cartridge would please you with it. If you still don't like it, you still have the cartridge which could be used for another TT/arm. Hopefully you can find dealers who can do good demos for you with the same cartridge on different TT/arms. Don't buy anything because it looks good or you like the design. Your own listening is critically important. There is much more difference between different phono systems than between different digital systems. Also, the Sutherland from reviews is clinical, so maybe the whole setup was an overdose of clinical sound. Perhaps you like mellow?
I’ve owned the gryphon Diablo 300. Awesome with magico. Jump on it. fsmith, you need to try to read at least the last 10 pages of my thread so you can gain as much knowledge as possible. You might be able to answer a lot of the questions you are asking.
Don’t want to mess up your thread but there are a lot smart, experienced and helpful eyes 👀 on this thread. Pretty impressive.
Im going to take whart up and start a Verdier - any recommendations on what to call it?
Also,
viber6 - I sold my entire analog front end. Was going to apply the funds into getting a Luxman combo but now they seem to be having supply troubles with the amps. I guess they just sold a bunch of them last week and are waiting for more from Japan.
I’m in no hurry. I’ll buy today or in a month. No big deal - love my rig either way.
The Bricasti M1SE w/built in Roon Ready ethernet media player vs Rega P8/Apheta 2 /Sutherland Duo - honestly it was never close.
Im not a Rega basher by any means as I really wanted to like It badly and committed to it and paid my money and I really like the company and what it stands for but it was a legit shock and awe campaign as the Rega was pounded, it’s line breached and quickly overwhelmed and overrun, surrounded and forced to copitulate in short order and the result was never in question.
The Bricasti just smashed the Rega. I honestly would be glad to talk about sound stage, upper mids, top end, transparency, dynamics, leading edge but there is not one thing I can point to.
It was such a mismatch I was actually bummed out. My wife a total non Audiophile that loves music says “why does it sound like that”. Sure I tried brother in arms, some Marvin Gay, Vanessa Fernandez and mached the tracks and that made it even worse?
I mean my digital delivery system in front of the DAC is quite refined so even a $500 DAC would sound quite good and in many ways it was an unfair fight.
Thats why I’m thinking - Verdier, Schick 12” Arm, Ortofon Winfeld Cart might do the trick. Need a phonostage also as I dumped my Duo and was thinking maybe a Allnic 1201 or Manley Chinook SE but a few guys say those aren’t good enough? Almost out of audio funds so may need skimp a bit on phonostage but all the vinyl guys say that’s a no no no don’t do that but never can find a used Herron so not sure what to do there... sorry guys.... killer thread....
Alright WC, I really think you will be surprised at the MX160 and especially Lyngdorf Room Correction. just remember to start MIc position #1 in the main seat spot ,at ear level , with the mic pointing right at the center towards the speakers not up in the air . If you need help lmk
@WC Back to the MX160. Yes, it has RoomPerfect, but not a great preamp section, when compared to something like a ref10. Too bad you can't get a McIntosh MEN220 to insert between your ref10 and the amps (or between the Lampizator and the amps). That way, you continue with great preamp/amp combos and add just the RoomPerfect. I think that would give RoomPerfect the best opportunity to shine in your setup and to fairly evaluate it as a possible upgrade to a very high end setup.
or @fsmithjack and @folkfreak = start a thread on the Verdier. I’m not an owner but was long interested in that table and there may be others here who would benefit or contribute. back to your regularly scheduled program. thank you,
fsmithjack, Thanks for your comparison of the Bricasti DAC to the Rega/Sutherland phono system. Did you use the same recording on LP vs CD for the comparison? Reviews say the Bricasti is very detailed with great transients and also some warmth. The Rega is supposed to be very detailed but perhaps sterile to some. Is this what you found, or were there other sonic qualities that you preferred in the Bricasti? The Rega RP10 is similar to the RP8, so the dominant factor is the Apheta 2 cartridge. Perhaps you didn’t like the cartridge. If you still have the RP8, trying another compatible cartridge might be the easiest thing to do, such as the ones you mentioned. Can you compare the Bricasti to other DAC’s you have heard, maybe the Ayre QX-5 Twenty? Thanks so much.
folkfreak, I hope you continue to post here about your vinyl and digital experience. Aside from the speakers, the source is the most dominant factor affecting the sound of the total system. A great recording is apparent even on the car system.
WC, of all the preamp/amp combinations you have used, do you mind providing your opinion which do you think would be best for fsmithjack within his preferred price range? Of course you can't know his room and sonic preferences, but it would be interesting to know, this is assuming you have a general familiarity with his new speakers.
Bhk 300 sounded good with my magico s5mk2. Plenty of detail and good bass control. I have nothing against the bhk300s as far as what they provide per dollar. Great bang for the buck. Will they beat a single luxman 900u? It is not that they would beat it because the luxman will still be a more refined and engaging presentation but if you know you won’t get a second luxman then I’d probably get the bhk300 because those speakers really need all the power you can afford but two 900u would stump on the bhk300s. Your situation is the speakers. If you had focal sopra 3s then I’d get the single luxman 900u because one 900u can easily drive the focals. hope this helps
whitecaraross - your amp info and this thread is second to nothing I have read or seen before. Thank you
How close does the PS Audio BKH300 mono blocks come to the Luxman.
I ask because I had an incredible offer on a pair 2/10 cost of Luxman and you have owned my speakers and told me that a single Luxman M-900u will be great but not get all they have. I won't have the money for a 2nd Luxman anytime soon so wanted your thoughts on the BKH300's. I assume obviously not as good but if will work better with my speakers wanted to ask you.
Nice to see the Lyngdorf Room Perfect finally make an appearance in this thread. I myself will be doing a DSP shootout with the Lyngdorf | Linn | Antherm STR in a glass walled room small conference room with Paradigm Persona 5F.
The DSP engines I will use are ROOM PERFECT | SPACE Optimization | Arc2.
@fsmithjack The combination of the Schick 12 on the Verdier would be a classic, especially with a copacetic cartridge such as a Miyajima however this will sound absolutely nothing like your digital setup.
Do you already own several thousand LPs or have an interest in material that is only available on vinyl? Do you also have the real estate for a table like the Verdier, it demands a decent isolation stand, and of course you’ll need a correspondingly strong phono stage (think $5k and up say)? The road to vinyl nirvana is long and difficult 😏
I guess what I’m saying is that I’m at a loss to understand why you are going down this route instead of continuing to invest in the digital path you already prefer. If you check my system you can see that I have a pretty decent vinyl and corresponding digital setup and while I prefer the sound of the former I’d be more than happy with my DCS system if I didn’t own a thousand LPs and have an interest in mono classical and first pressing Islands.
please feel free to DM me to continue this conversation as I’m not sure the “amp of the day” crowd really want us messing up their thread
psnyder, just wanted to mention that I could not agree with your posts more. And I also hope that you realize that clearthink is a caustic entity who like many of his hilt will soon grow tired of having no supporters interested in his audiophile journey and will drift away and no one will even notice he is gone.
That is a cool acquisition in the C2600. Mine is the solid state C47, the 2600 is said to be warmer and more euphonic..
That beeing said , the built in dac is what surprised me the most. It made me sell my 8k dedicated dac, and simplified my system. ( also, I upgraded the internal power supply fuse. ) The dac module is a miniatured Wadia DI322 variant, using the famous ESS Sabre 9018 we see everywhere.
I am really looking foward to read you about it. Especially if you try the internal dac, usb wired. I think you will be impressed considering the low cost of this piece, but the Lampi Pacific should be better I concur. Don’t hesitate to boost the treble on the pre, or else it can sound a bit anemic on warm speakers.
Wesc, I bought the McIntosh mx160 and c2600 in order to do what some have said to me before which was to incorporate room correction so the mx160 will do that for me. I plan to use it as a preamp and run the room correction and see what results I get. Soon after that experiment is done, I’ll try the c2600 so I can give a mainstream tube preamp a run here. Yes guys, these pieces are for those of you who wanted me to try “cheaper” components and give my input on them. I’ve never owned the c2600 but I owned the c2500 and tbe mx160 before. Let’s see how they do now with the block audios and the Neoliths. :) Now, can we all get along and continue to ride together? I’m trying to throw curveballs here by getting gear that you all didn’t expect me to get and it is Mainly so that nobody feels left out here. Let’s keep rolling...
Thanks so much! I am no expert at all with turntable set up so this may not be a good idea but I so want to have a really good sounding turntable. Just a few weeks ago I bought the new Rega Planer 8 turntable with Apheta 2 cart and Sutherland Engineering phonostage and sold it all because it wasn't even close to my Bricasti M1SE.
For the Verdier he offered my the choice of black on black 12" Schick arm or an AMG arm or the Wand arm with a mounted Ortofon Winfeld Ti MC cart?
I am not familiar with any of these? Any arm you prefer? If I got the best of these arms and this cart with this TT could it compete with my Bricasti? My Bricasti destroyed the Rega?
@fsmithjack -- Verdier are certainly very nice tables but they are far from easy to set up if you are not experienced in the black art of TT setup -- especially with the stand alone motor and thread arrangement. As you can tell from the photos they need a good amount of room and the simple act of setting up/tying the thread and getting it to run correctly will take some work - will the seller set this up for you?
Also if that is the specific table you are considering the Wand+ arm installed on it, while an excellent value for the cost, is not up to the quality of the table and you will no doubt be looking for something different soon (I owned this arm in the past and liked it, but like the Verdier it is itself a bit tweaky and will take some experience to get all it is capable of)
Finally you should be aware that there have been fake Verdier's (http://www.jcverdier.com/ADSL/platineV.html) -- no reason to believe that the photos show such (in fact from the photos it all seems kosher) but you should get provenance and all paperwork. The next article in the link above is I believe a review of exactly the table you are considering so well worth a close read
fsmithjack, I don't know anything about this turntable, but my vast experience with many TT's such as AR, Denon 6000, Linn Sondek, SOTA Sapphire, Win Labs belt and direct drive, Goldmund Studio, plus so many tonearms, cartridges, phono stages, stepup transformers, may help. These are all complex systems where synergy is important, so the only way to judge is to listen. If you have the same recording on LP and CD and you are familiar with your own and/or the dealer's reference phono system and CD/DAC, you can listen and decide. Too bad cartridges are not returnable, so this is one reason why many have given up on phono. If you want precision and detail, the Rega 10 with Apheta 2 cartridge for $6600. is a great package, reasonably priced.
Ladies and gentlemen, Let’s get back on track. Ok, so for $hits and giggles I just bought a McIntosh mx160 with the room correction along wirh a McIntosh c2600 tube preamp. Techno, are you starting to sweat now? Yep, your preamp is here but I don’t know if I will even connect it.
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