2. amps-preamps
  3. 1053973567

Power amp upgrades for Mirage, M3si speakers

Hello forum members, I am the happy owner of a pair of M3si's. I use them mostly for music and some home theatre. I would like to upgrade my power amp (currently Acurus 200w/ch) and possibly my cables (Audioquest Crystal biwired). I was hoping you could share some opinions, comments, and/or insights that might help guide me. My preamp is an Acurus Act3 upgrading to an almost Aragon Stage One, Toshiba SD 9200 DVD-A possibly replaced by the Denon 2900 universal player, Monster and Audioquest interconnects.
Based on my research, 200+ WPC power amps candidates are Aragon 8008 MkII, McCormick DNA 225 (some, although maybe unfounded, concern about all the UPGRADES??), Conrad Johnson MF2500A. I was advised to also consider EAD Powermaster multichannel. I like my music laid back not too forward, huge soundstage, all genres but mostly jazz, classical, soft rock, blues, R&B, etc.
I am willing to buy (~$2,200. budget) good condition pre-owned equipment.

Thanks in advance.
awegr8

Showing 1 response by lotusm50

lotusm50
31 posts
 
The advice for you to consider the EAD powermaster was pretty good. I have a pair of M-3si's that I bi-amp with a Powermaster 1000 (5x200 watts). It sounds great. I also have the bass below 65Hz crossed-over to a pair of Mirage BPSS-210 subwoofers (through a modded FX-3) and that helped the sound of the M-3si's significantly. Soundstage is wide and deep (be sure to have your M-3si's a good distance away from the back wall). The Powermaster has clean, is just on the warm side of neutral, with a laidback sound with plenty of muscle. These amps are a bargain on the used market.

As suggested by Sogood, you might look further into the pre-amp upgrade. I've found that makes a big difference, and the clarity.neutrality of the Powermaster will let you hear the differences.
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