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Contemplating other amps

B&W N802's in front, 804's for surrounds, HTM1 Center. I've narrowed my amp search down to Bryston or Pass so far, but was reading up today on Aragon and ATI. Any thoughts on these as matches with the B&W's? Some more info about my situation:

Room - 20x20 with carpet, overstuffed couches and large paintings on all walls. Room also opens into staircase running length of wall to upstairs, landing area into dining room and hall into kitchen. So I have some space to fill and some absorption.

Listening - Concert DVD's 40% of time, DVD-Audio or SACD in 5 channel 30% of time, movies in 5 channel 20%, and straight out 2 channel 10% of the time.

I like to play it loud and listen more for clean delivery, soundstage and headroom than details and nuance.
arthursmuck
sean
6,229 posts
 
If what you said here is true, "I like to play it loud and listen more for clean delivery, soundstage and headroom than details and nuance", you've given up on the amp that was best suited for your needs. That is, the Sunfire Signature series.

Out of all of the amps that i've owned ( i currently have 20+ at this point in time ), the Sunfire's play the loudest with the least amount of "strain" or compression. I don't think that they are as refined or detailed as some other amps, but in terms of being able to deliver power on a dynamic basis, they are QUITE capable of doing so. The fact that they can do that AND present the information in a pleasant manner is even more of a bonus if high spl's are a concern. Many high powered amps will play loud, but they sound "grainy" and cause listening fatigue when doing so.

As far as Pass amps go, they typically produce excellent sonics but are not of the "brute force" variety ( in my opinion ). Bryston's are good utilitarian amps, are quite rugged and reliable but i don't think that they are well suited to driving speakers with reactive loads or impedances that drop down low.

Between the Pass and the Bryston keeping your above comments in mind, i would think that a big Bryston would work out better for you than the Pass would. Sean
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len7
6 posts
 
Stick with the Bryston. If you buy them right and are not truly happy with the results, you could always sell them for close to what you paid.
redkiwi
1,092 posts
 
Sean's comments on the differences between the amps rings pretty true in my experience. Being in NZ I would be looking at the Plinius Odeon or Plinius SB300. The SB300 is a fabulous buy. It has a little more going on than the Sunfire manages. I would lean towards the Sunfire if I needed something that was both very smooth and could drive difficult speakers to loud levels. But the SB300 offers a window that is wider open. Damn close to the SA250 at a lower price and in a smaller box (just no Class A). The Odeon is ideal for multi-channel but won't give you the raw power of the SB300.
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