Hi-Fi wanna-be needing advice on an Amp purchase


The Hi-Fi bug has bitten and I'm looking to upgrade my Yamaha receiver with a quality amp at a Mid-Fi price (under $1,000). I currently have the Paradigm Reference Studio 60s that are poorly driven by an under-powered, awfully bright Yamaha receiver. For the time being, the Yamaha will remain in the configuration as the pre-amp. Through my local dealers, I've been courting the Adcom 5500/5503, Rotel RB-1080 and the Anthem MCA 20. I had a weekend test drive of an Anthem MCA 2, which convinced me I needed to upgrade, but now for a decision. Any advice on great amp match-up for Studio 60s???
avalon65
I think Gthirteen was refering to the Sony TA-F808ES integrated amp, not a receiver. While not easy to find, it is IMO, a sweet piece of gear and can be had for a lot less than a grand. I do agree that for the money, buying a integrated makes the most sense because that Yammie is still going to be bright.
IMO, Paradigm and Anthem make a great match. Both Paradigm
and Anthem are owned by the same parent company -- often
you get good synergy that way. Anthem MCA amps [and the
AVM20 processor] are a great value. You will get far better
sound with separates -- you saw that with your test drive.
Gotta recommend the Odyssey Stratos. I have the 60v2s as well and I have the Stratos amp and it was a truly amazing difference over my 5 channel amp.
I agree that the Yamaha will not sound very good as a preamp when you get a better amp, but if you don't want ultimately to go the integrated route, I would still stick to your plan and start with the amp (trying to match it best to your speakers, room, and listening habits - and don't spend for more power than you'll need if you could use that same money to go lower-power but higher-quality), then go on to the preamp (and its interconnects) as the next step. For many reasons that I've discussed before but won't go into again here, I believe it makes the most sense to begin upgrading at the speakers and then work back from there toward the sources, which in your case means the step at hand is upgrading the amp, either with a power amp or an integrated, along with the speaker cables if you haven't already. Try to audition anything you are considering buying (preferably on your speakers, most preferably in your listening room if possible), playing your music, and in direct comparision to one another where possible.