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Looking for amp advice (punk, rock & reggae edition)

My current amp isn’t doing it for me. Marantz pm6005 which is class D @45 wpc. Speakers are Focal Chorus 807V. It’s very detailed but a little clinical, my biggest gripe is a lack of midbass. According to Stereophile the impedance curve dives to 4 ohm between 100 and 200 hz which is where I think I the problem lies. All indications are that more power is needed to corrrct this which seems plausible as the more volume I give it the more it fills in in that range. The problem is that apartment living doesn’t allow 100db listening sessions.

So, I’m looking for an amplifier (separates or integrated) that has the current needed to round out the sound. The speakers are staying for many more years so replacing them isn’t a viable option, plus I love the sound.

Im interested in going tube but I have no experience with tubes. I have so many questions regarding tubes it could probably be it’s own thread but it seems to me that people love these more than SS on the whole. I’m open to any suggestions though.

My budget is $2500 (used ok but prefer new)

I listen to punk, post punk, lots of reggae (specifically dub), some electronic, a little jazz and some jangle pop (think REM).

Im looking for a warm side of neutral sound with good detail that can keep its composure with fast music yet be gentle enough for jazz. I like bass, if there’s an 808 or that dubby bass guitar, I want to hear it. These speakers do a nice job when the signal is right.

My analog front end is a PDC with a 2M Blue through a Lounge LCR MKIII. All interconnects are AQ Evergreen.

Thanks
gochurchgo
kosst_amojan
2,095 posts
 
Awesome!

All of that said, class D and AB amps have nowhere near the headroom most class A amps have. A class AB or D amp's rating is usually a pretty hard limit produced by the limit of the power supply to drive voltage, current, or both. The reason your Marantz peters out at 45 watts is that's the limit of the voltage it can reliably push into 8 ohm.. It reaches up 70 watts at 4 ohm because the power supply has some reserve capability, but not much. The power supply in my F5 will swing 150 watts reliably before it melts the outputs or pops the fuse. You rarely see class AB or D amps built like that. And there are guys building out Aleph J's and F5's with dual power supplies and making real monsters out of them for less than you're looking to spend. 
gochurchgo OP
144 posts
 
So I need class A with good voltage delivery and not tons of wattage.  Something like the F5 Yes?
kosst_amojan
2,095 posts
 
I'm not going to say you NEED good class A amp. I highly recommend them though. I built my amp and tweaked that thing for months until it sounded just the way I wanted. I don't have the best speakers on Earth, nor the best amp, but they're probably better matched to each other than most speakers and and amps out there and that makes up for a lot. 
tooblue
787 posts
 
Check out Quicksilvers New integrated amp, in your budget, made in the USA and sounds awesome in the two setups I have heard them in.
kalali's avatar
kalali
1,645 posts
 
Good discussion. Speaking of class A amps, I just bought a tube integrated that runs in class A and with only 10wpc it delivers a dynamic full-bodied lush sound driving a pair of 90dB/1m/1w speakers in my small listening room. Something about the circuit running full-bore all the time that just sounds warm and full. It does get hot so it needs to live in open space. I would not however recommend this set up for your type of music. I think an amplifier that doubles the power as the load is halved should work for you, class A or AB, and almost all solid state class A amps can do that trick. 
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