2. amps-preamps
  3. 1227326266

Pass, Bryston, Audio Research, or McIntosh?

I have been auditioning speakers and think I am settled on buying Magnepans--either the 3.6 or 20.1. Wife and budget will help me decide. I currently have an Audio Research 100.2 which I like, but I expect I will need to get a beefier amp than only 100 into 8 and 200 into 4 ohms. I like buying used and have heard good things about the Pass 250 or 350 x.5. I have also read that Magnepans are often demoed with Brystons which speaks well of the combination--am looking at the sst models. I like audio research and am a bit intrigued by the hybrid HD220 as this will get me 400 wpc into 4 ohms and may provide some tube sound (a good thing for Maggies by most accounts). Lastly, I have no experience with McIntosh, but many seem to like them. Am going to stick with solid state for now. My current pre/pro is an older unit--an EAD Classic Signature which I have had modded by Noble Electronics. It is a sweet sounding dac tho it does not decode SACD or DVD audio. I may eventually go to an Audio Research tube preamp, but my budget will only allow so much for the time being. Any thoughts as to which direction I should go for amps? Room is about 17 x 23 with 10 foot ceilings and an opening along one side wall into another similar sized room.

Thanks.
luvwine
dbarger
215 posts
 
Do not sell your 100.2 until you compare it with those other amps you are considering. I have owned a couple of them, a Pass X250 (not .5), and two McIntosh 402's. I found the Pass a bit bland, but loved the Mac's. I do currently have a 100.2 and a Ref 110. I think if you go to the other amps you will miss the immediacy of the 100.2. The Mc402 is the smoothest of the bunch, but a bit laid back compared to the 100.2. The 100.2 has a bit of grain compared to the Ref110 or Mc402, but it's immediacy is addicting. It needs to be on over an hour to really sound it's best, as you know, but it is very good at that point. I think it may be hotter than my tube amp, so I assume it has a pretty hight class A bias. I have not heard the Brystons.
luvwine OP
44 posts
 
DBarger,

Interesting. Do you bi amp your 100.2 and the reference 110? Are you a Magnepan owner? I have considered trying to get another 100.2 and bi amping, but I also figured it might be better to just get a "higher end" amp as I expected that the HD220 from ARC would be better than the older (lowly) 100.2 and that especially on the 20.1's, the power of something like the Bryston 7Bsst might be the best bet as a "one amp" solution (not sure I want to jump to trying to tie in a tube and a solid state amp right away, if ever). One possible strategy I have considered is just to buy two or three amps and then sell the one(s) I like least.

Thanks again for your thoughts. It will probably be another week or two before I make a decision on speakers and probably is silly to order an amp (or more than one!) before I know for sure which speakers are going to arrive....
scott_kindt
3 posts
 
While I don't own magnepans, I have spent the last three years looking for the perfect amps to drive my Apogee Stages. After trying Bryston, Audio Research, Sim Audio, Pass Labs, Rotel, Rogue Audio, and Exposure, I found the best combination was biamping with SS Sim Audio W3 driving the bass ribbon and the tube amp Rogue Aduio ST 90 driving the tweeter ribbon. I think you will appreciate the power of the Pass Labs however it can really create listener fatigue in an all solid state system. If you can bi-amp your magnepans then I highly recommend tubes on the tweeters and a SS amp on the bass.
luvwine OP
44 posts
 
Forgive my ignorance, please, but is there not an issue with output levels between amps of different power levels? I assume there is a way of dealing with this via an external crossover, but frankly I don't know anything about this and how one balances the output. Anyplace I can get a primer? I ordinarily have a bias in favor of simpler solutions, but if it is really necessary to get the most out of the maggies, I am willing to consider such a solution--tho probably not immediately due to budgetary concerns....
dbarger
215 posts
 
No, I don't biamp my speakers. I have a pair of MG12's, my second pair, and I have had 1.6's in the past. I trade them in and out in place of Spendor S-100's.
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