$1000 used, ey? Hummmm....
first, may I suggest that you'll never get "that slamm" outta those dinky speakers on their own! They're small in size and low sensitivity, and the laws of pysics take over.
You can however get a good solid state amp to help you out however, in the areas your after, yes. You'll still want to add a subwoofer to the system to make it rock! Infact, you may want to loop a surround processor into the system, that will alow you to kick the deep bass outta the F20's for heavy sessions, and let a good sub or two handle the rest! Processors like the Acurrus Act3 are relatively cheept to get, have advanced bass mangament capabilties, that will alow you to cut off the mains at say, 50-65 hz for best performance on heavy dynamic activity, and let the subs do the rest. Depending on the quaility of your system overall, the act 3 may not be as absolutely pure as an ultra high end preamp, but it's darn good!..and more than good enough to use when your using lot's of Rock for music.
I too am a good rock and roll buff, and use some sonus Faber Minima Amators (similar output to your little revels), and have a sub kicken on the bottom. I mostly use the speakers running full range however, with the sub playing as well. But when I do home theater with the set-up, I cross the speakers over, and let the sub play below about 60hz....anyway, it's a suggestion.
Now, back to your original question...
Those revels are pretty low sensetivity (around 85db) I think, and are about 4 ohms nominal. They should really have something like a 200 watt amp to drive those properly. If you have a smaller room however, you can get by with a very good current 100-150 watt amp(minimum) and a subwoofer is a must!!!
For something in that price range that's used, that has adequate output power for your set-up, you could consider finding a used Aragon 8008ST amplifier at 200w/ch. They can be had around $1000 price for used. The 8008BB is even better but about $1200 on up is the norm for these used.
Classe amps at around 100 watts and above are descent current for the newer amps. The older amps are a bit weeker, but very good sounding for the money. The likes of McCormack DNA-1's and DNA-1.5's are about the same sonic league as the Classe offerings, but are a bit stronger for rock dubties!(at least stronger then the old CA 100/150/200 and such series). You can find the DNA-1 (about 185w/ch) at around $900-1000 sometimes,and it's a very good amp overall.
For a slightly warmer sounding amp with good snap and slam, the Bryston 4B's are strong amps. But I slighty prefer the sound of the others I mentioned, as they're a bit more refined, cleared and detailed sounding.
Other choices to consider would be the likes of Parasound(HCA2200,3500,maybe HCA1500), Adcom(HCA5802,5500,555, etc), and Rotel's under that price bracket, but these are a slight step down over all. I take it back, the Adcom GFA5802 is a pretty darn good sounding amp overall for the money, and has about 300 watts per channel! you could find one of these for close to $1000 used as well.
Used Aragon 4004Mk II's are worth considering, if you find a good deal on one cheaply(like $500-700 range).
In summing, I'd say my first choice to look for would probably be the Aragon 8008BB at just a bit over $1000 mark, followed by the 8008st, then the Adcom GFA5802(simply because of it's 300w/ch and good sound overall), Then probably the McCormacks(prefer the DNA1 over DNA.5 if you can, but both good)
the likes of a Classe CA151 at around $1000 used(the older Classe series is good sounding, but not as strong), then and Aragon 4004mk II, then the Bryston 4B, then the others I mentioned.
All of the top mentioned amps are strong enough to consider to driver your speakers to a wide soundstage, given the set-up and room acoustics of course(this area is where a lot of people fall way short).
There's some other amps to consider, that you may or may not come accross at higher prices, should a killer deal come a long, but it's if'y.
Everything is ultimately system dependent, and a balancing act in ultimate terms. I still think, once you find a good amp, to get something integrated into your system that might divert heavy bass dubties away from the Revels and into a sub. However, if you listen at more modest sane levels in a small/mediumish room, you might be ok just running the Revels in paralell with a sub for good results.
I love the sound of my $3k 2 way Minima Amators with solid state all the way through, mated with sub of course. I've got it sounding way way too good!
Anyway, good luck...AVDcreations
first, may I suggest that you'll never get "that slamm" outta those dinky speakers on their own! They're small in size and low sensitivity, and the laws of pysics take over.
You can however get a good solid state amp to help you out however, in the areas your after, yes. You'll still want to add a subwoofer to the system to make it rock! Infact, you may want to loop a surround processor into the system, that will alow you to kick the deep bass outta the F20's for heavy sessions, and let a good sub or two handle the rest! Processors like the Acurrus Act3 are relatively cheept to get, have advanced bass mangament capabilties, that will alow you to cut off the mains at say, 50-65 hz for best performance on heavy dynamic activity, and let the subs do the rest. Depending on the quaility of your system overall, the act 3 may not be as absolutely pure as an ultra high end preamp, but it's darn good!..and more than good enough to use when your using lot's of Rock for music.
I too am a good rock and roll buff, and use some sonus Faber Minima Amators (similar output to your little revels), and have a sub kicken on the bottom. I mostly use the speakers running full range however, with the sub playing as well. But when I do home theater with the set-up, I cross the speakers over, and let the sub play below about 60hz....anyway, it's a suggestion.
Now, back to your original question...
Those revels are pretty low sensetivity (around 85db) I think, and are about 4 ohms nominal. They should really have something like a 200 watt amp to drive those properly. If you have a smaller room however, you can get by with a very good current 100-150 watt amp(minimum) and a subwoofer is a must!!!
For something in that price range that's used, that has adequate output power for your set-up, you could consider finding a used Aragon 8008ST amplifier at 200w/ch. They can be had around $1000 price for used. The 8008BB is even better but about $1200 on up is the norm for these used.
Classe amps at around 100 watts and above are descent current for the newer amps. The older amps are a bit weeker, but very good sounding for the money. The likes of McCormack DNA-1's and DNA-1.5's are about the same sonic league as the Classe offerings, but are a bit stronger for rock dubties!(at least stronger then the old CA 100/150/200 and such series). You can find the DNA-1 (about 185w/ch) at around $900-1000 sometimes,and it's a very good amp overall.
For a slightly warmer sounding amp with good snap and slam, the Bryston 4B's are strong amps. But I slighty prefer the sound of the others I mentioned, as they're a bit more refined, cleared and detailed sounding.
Other choices to consider would be the likes of Parasound(HCA2200,3500,maybe HCA1500), Adcom(HCA5802,5500,555, etc), and Rotel's under that price bracket, but these are a slight step down over all. I take it back, the Adcom GFA5802 is a pretty darn good sounding amp overall for the money, and has about 300 watts per channel! you could find one of these for close to $1000 used as well.
Used Aragon 4004Mk II's are worth considering, if you find a good deal on one cheaply(like $500-700 range).
In summing, I'd say my first choice to look for would probably be the Aragon 8008BB at just a bit over $1000 mark, followed by the 8008st, then the Adcom GFA5802(simply because of it's 300w/ch and good sound overall), Then probably the McCormacks(prefer the DNA1 over DNA.5 if you can, but both good)
the likes of a Classe CA151 at around $1000 used(the older Classe series is good sounding, but not as strong), then and Aragon 4004mk II, then the Bryston 4B, then the others I mentioned.
All of the top mentioned amps are strong enough to consider to driver your speakers to a wide soundstage, given the set-up and room acoustics of course(this area is where a lot of people fall way short).
There's some other amps to consider, that you may or may not come accross at higher prices, should a killer deal come a long, but it's if'y.
Everything is ultimately system dependent, and a balancing act in ultimate terms. I still think, once you find a good amp, to get something integrated into your system that might divert heavy bass dubties away from the Revels and into a sub. However, if you listen at more modest sane levels in a small/mediumish room, you might be ok just running the Revels in paralell with a sub for good results.
I love the sound of my $3k 2 way Minima Amators with solid state all the way through, mated with sub of course. I've got it sounding way way too good!
Anyway, good luck...AVDcreations
