To the OP. I fully support what others have said about the Lexicon. If you can get a good LX-7 or GX-7 go for it. I think most of them will be older so keep that in mind. I got a used GX-7 and did something stupid and blew 2 channels. When I took it in for service found out two more channels needed repair. Swollen capacitors and so forth. I figured because of the age not worth it and started looking in other directions. It is a power hog and hot but really good sound.
Now I am responding to this because you mentioned Classe. So a quick summary of my systems to help in your decision. In my home theater setup I have Sonus Faber Venere 5 channel with Martin Logan SLM for heights. Marantz pre amp, I will talk about the amp in a min. The heights are on a separate amp and 2 subs, but irrelevant for this conversation.
In the other room for music, new B&W 804 d3’s, marantz pre amp, recently added Classe ca-d200. I have only been focused on my music system. I had the new Rotel 1582. It sounded really good and I was skeptical being a class D but decided to try the Classe. Good decision, better in every way. So I moved the Rotel back to the home theater just for the main floor standers.
Here is where it got a little more interesting. Since I was so impressed with the Classe I started looking at the Sigma Amp5 for my home theater. Got one last week and just hooked it up to the main Sonus Faber’s as I was waiting on better interconnects before hooking up the others. So I just tried it out listening to music. Now my B&w’s should sound better that the SF, they cost twice as much. But better is subjective. I found that on a few songs the SF actually sounded better. That was very encouraging.
Got my interconnects today. Watching movies now. I will say the sound is fantastic. The Classe amp5 is better sounding than the Rotel, Lexicon and Parasound. I cannot speak to the Krell. Never had one.
So I suppose my conclusion is on the Classe class D amps, there marketing is no bullshit like most companies. However they tuned them they just sound beautiful in the way you would want it to.
Hope this helps your decision.
Now I am responding to this because you mentioned Classe. So a quick summary of my systems to help in your decision. In my home theater setup I have Sonus Faber Venere 5 channel with Martin Logan SLM for heights. Marantz pre amp, I will talk about the amp in a min. The heights are on a separate amp and 2 subs, but irrelevant for this conversation.
In the other room for music, new B&W 804 d3’s, marantz pre amp, recently added Classe ca-d200. I have only been focused on my music system. I had the new Rotel 1582. It sounded really good and I was skeptical being a class D but decided to try the Classe. Good decision, better in every way. So I moved the Rotel back to the home theater just for the main floor standers.
Here is where it got a little more interesting. Since I was so impressed with the Classe I started looking at the Sigma Amp5 for my home theater. Got one last week and just hooked it up to the main Sonus Faber’s as I was waiting on better interconnects before hooking up the others. So I just tried it out listening to music. Now my B&w’s should sound better that the SF, they cost twice as much. But better is subjective. I found that on a few songs the SF actually sounded better. That was very encouraging.
Got my interconnects today. Watching movies now. I will say the sound is fantastic. The Classe amp5 is better sounding than the Rotel, Lexicon and Parasound. I cannot speak to the Krell. Never had one.
So I suppose my conclusion is on the Classe class D amps, there marketing is no bullshit like most companies. However they tuned them they just sound beautiful in the way you would want it to.
Hope this helps your decision.