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Thoughts on potential new system?

Just went to a Magnolia Design Center and did some looking and listening. My wife and I started with the Sonus Faber 2.5 and 3.0. 3.0 was a big step up from 2.5, but still not great. (For reference, our stereo system is Magnepan 20.1 with AR Reference 3 and Cary Monoblocks). Anyway, tried the B&W speakers and liked them but my wife's ears found the treble a bit harsh at times. I thought they were good, but a bit sterile and brighter in character. Eventually settled on Sonus Faber Olympia 3 as our favorite. Thinking of the Olympia 2 in a HT setup to save a few dollars. Here is their recommended system with the TV (75" Samsung 8550).

Sonus Faber Olympia 2 fronts, Olympia Center, and some in ceiling rears (necessitated by room, unfortunately).
McIntosh 5 channel amp, 200wpc
Marantz pre/pro
Oppo 105 player
REL S3 sub

Any thoughts? I am pretty confident on the front speakers and the Oppo as being a good versatile player. However, I have never owned McIntosh gear and close to $7k for an amp is not cheap. The Marantz is under $2k so is reasonable. I have a Rel Britannia B1 sub in our stereo system for30hz on down so am pretty happy with Rel tho not so confident on HT use. My main concern is the McIntosh and whether I could get similar or superior performance for fewer dollars.....

Thanks for any thoughts or suggestions.
luvwine

Showing 1 response by dbphd

dbphd
1,632 posts
 
Runnin,

I've been told the components that John Curl designed are labeled JC, as in the JC-1 amp, JC-2 preamp, and JC-3 phono stage, but I'm not sure of that and I suppose he had collaboration. I have a JC-2 and JC-3. Their sound seems very transparent to the source, although stereo from my Oppo 105 sounds a bit better through the JC-2 BP than direct to the amps.

db
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