2. amps-preamps
  3. 1226168738

Amp advice for Sound Lab M-2's

Looking for opinions for a amp to use with my Sound Lab M-2 speakers. I am down to considering the Bryston 7b – SST, Parasound JC – 1, and the new Sanders Sound ESL amp. The former owner of the M-2’s used a Pass X-350, but I found that it sounded dry, and very thin. No warmth at all. Lots of older Krells out there, great bottom ends, but again often very cool sounding. I’m not that familiar with the Levinson’s, another option, maybe. The Sound Labs do need a good honest 300 watts > 8 ohms, and 600 watts > 4 ohms. Most amps don’t have the combination of voltage and current ratings to handle the speakers. I am leaning towards the Brystons. Overall they seem to be an amp that is easy to live with, while maybe not the best over all, they do a lot right. Ideas and experiences appreciated. By the way, the listening room is 23x21, with a ceiling that is 9 feet on one long wall, and slopes up to 16 feet on the other long wall. 15 feet of the highest long wall is open right in the middle of the wall. So the room can really suck up speaker output. Thanks.
128x128gammastrep
brimac
59 posts
 
I 've used the aforementioned JC 1's with my Soundlab A1's, found that Nuforce 9 SE V2 worked better, which came as a surprise, and am now using Bel Canto Ref 1000's. All these amps drove the A1 well, The JC 1 was great, but the Nuforce and BelCanto's expanded the sound stage beyond what the JC 1 could and were somewhat more articulate. The bass has been better with the Nuforce and Bel Canto amps as well, which was the biggest surprise. Digital amps, they're not just for breakfast anymore....
rleff
1,065 posts
 
I think you maybe missing the boat going solid state on the m2's. Do you know if they have the impedance mods and diffusion ring?
If you can you should try a tube amp at least to see what these speakers can really do; The wolcott mentioned earlier is excellant advice; also higher powered vtl, manley,cary and my opinion the best match atma-sphere's ma1 or ma2 otl tube amps.
Also may want to try paul speltz's autoformers to help with the impedance curve these speakers have.
stanleylocke
206 posts
 
Spectron.
hi_hifi
120 posts
 
The best Soundlabs I've heard were with tubes. Wolcotts are popular with SL users as are Atmasphere amps. VTL MB450 and up and possibly some ARC amps are worth considering. A used ARC VT200 MkI (better than the II imo) would be a cost effective solution.

I'd definitely explore the tube amps (and preamps). The M2s are outstanding speakers and they will provide detail and imaging and bloom and air and everything from lows to highs with great non-fatigue if you marry them to a good tube amp.

Let us know what you hear when you get it all together.
preale
34 posts
 
I have had M-1's for about three years, about 9 months ago getting the new PX panels. Initially, I was powering them with a hybrid tube amp made by the Moscode people with good results (this proprietary design was built on the old 600 with two power supplies and a bunch of other goodies on two chassis). The only problem was that there was not quite enough punch to the sound (I listen almost exclusively to classical music). I then changed to the Bryston 14B SST with excellent results. I had the amp upgraded to the Swedish choke and things got even better. For some reason, SL owners avoid this amp (maybe because they think it is too cheap).
More to discover