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Upgrading: What to use with Dynaudio 3.3's?

I auditioned a pair of Dynaudio 3.3's and they sounded fantastic, so I then purchased a pair. Hooked them up to my Adcom GFA5800 and old Marantz preamp and the speakers sounded good. Then hooked them up to my Yamaha home theater receiver (it serves it's purpose) and the Dynaudio's sound worse than the Boston Acoustics AV70's I have attached to the Yamaha daily. The highs from the Boston's were better, the mids were more open and the Boston's just sounded better. A bit disheartened, I've decided I need a new amp and preamp for the Dynaudio's. I'd like to be able to use them for HT and stereo in the future, but I'm thinking a 5-channel amp and processor for the HT and still have excellent sound for stereo isn't in the budget, so I'll do it one step at a time. Perhaps get a good two-channel and a preamp with HT passthrough and add the three channel and processor later? Is this a good approach? I've read the Dynaudio's need lots of power - does anyone have any experience?
I'm thinking of an amp that can be had used for around $1500-$2000 and a preamp that is in the $1500 range.
Two questions in addition to the ones above:
What's the best bang for the buck?
What works well with the Dynaudio's regardless of price?

Thanks!
linesplice
karl_desch's avatar
karl_desch
422 posts
 
Audition a BAT 6200 amp. You can but a 2 channel version and get a multichannel version when you do the HT thing. Dynaudio's need high current amps to sing.

Have Fun.
auaarons
94 posts
 
I was looking for a power amp for a pair of Dynaudio Contour 1.8 speakers about 2 years ago. I tried a Musical Fidelity A3CR, Parasound HCA-3500, Audio Research D-200, BAT VK-200, Krell KAV-500 and a Krell KSA-100S. The key thing learnt was that the speakers require a lot of current besides a lot of power. The MF, AR and BAT did sound good but they were underpowered. The Parasound was powerful but sounded bad. The KAV-500 matched best in terms of power and current, but the KSA-100S was best balancing power and musicality.

Tube amps are not the right ones for the 3.3s.

For your stated budget, consider an Audible Illusions Modulus 3A preamp for around $1000 used, Bryston 4BST amp around $1300 used and $300 for a pair of Transparent Music Wave Plus speaker cables.

Your problem with the Yamaha was that the 3.3s revealed the shortcomings of the receiver while the Boston Acoustics did not.
john_beavers
47 posts
 
I've had Dynaudio's mated with AVA gear and they drove them to perfection. You can get the Transcendence 7 pre-amp and Fet-Valve 550 EX amp for your stated budget, new. I doubt you'll find anything more dynamic in your price range.
pettyfeversk
87 posts
 
I previously had the Dynaudio Contour 3.3 speakers and had them hooked up to the Conrad Johnson 2500A (solid state 240 into 8) and they sounded quite good. Other combinations that were successful for me were the Simaudio Amps and Musical Fidelity Integrated Amps.
manuel_
38 posts
 
To my ears, in a small room the Audio by Van Alstine 350Ex amp is perfect with my 1.3SE Dynaudios. It drives them astonishingly well. Dynaudios are hyper current suckers, and the AVA gives them what they ask for. I have also listened to it with 3.0, doing a very musical, dynamic and detailed combo.
As you have the 3.3 model, I suppose your room is big, so you should go with 550Ex if you want loud volumes.
Within your budget, you can buy an AVA 550Ex new, and they have a 30 day return policy.
About preamps, the transcendence 7EC has a HT bypass for HT processors. You should give them a listen.
Hope this helps
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