I heard the Revel F228Be speakers in a couple different systems at RMAF a couple years ago. I could tell the Revel Be were something special. One of the systems was driven by the Levinson integrated. It has absolutely excellent bass, but I just did not like the sound of the Levinson. Like some other high bias bipolar Class A amplifiers, the Levinson really smooths over the upper mids/highs and presents a non-neutral coloration to the sound. You really have to listen to Levinson first to see if you are one of the people who like it.
I am looking for help selecting an amplifier to match my Revel F228Be speakers.
I am looking for help selecting an amplifier to my Revel F228F speakers (which I love!) and twin REL T/9i subs.
Currently running a NAD M22 V1 or a YBA Integre DT. The NAD is dead silent and has great bottom end but the highs can be bright/screechy/digital at times. The YBA has nice highs but has a somewhat weak bottom-end and is only 50wpc. I tried bi-amping these two amps which takes advantage of the strengths of each. The problem is matching output. The YBA amp volume is almost maxed-out to match the NADs much larger output. This results in an irritating hum from the YBA.
So I plan to sell both amps and buy another. Looking for recommendations. Budget is $7,000, for amp and $2,000 for streamer. I prefer to buy ‘almost new’ components as is seems to me that you get more ‘bang for the buck’.
I mostly listen to streaming music (80%), and CDs (15%) with the balance being vinyl. Taste in music is very wide, Jazz (25%), Acoustic guitar (25%), Blues (15%), Orchestra (10%), Rock (25%)
Current DAC is a Benchmark DAC2 HGC, streamer is a Bluesound Node 2i (which I plan to upgrade).
My acoustically treated music room is 15x20 with sloped ceilings rising to 20 feet at one end.
At the top of my wish list is a Mark Levinson 585. I like the fact that this amp is integrated and has a built-in DAC. Thanks in advance for your suggestions.
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- 23 posts total
- 23 posts total