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Rich; organic true balanced amp w good detail $6k

Suggestions welcomed & appreciated- here are the Criteria:

- fully balanced architecture
- rich, organic sound, extended bass, silky highs, but not at the expense of obscuring detail
- No OTL (too many tubes/heat)
- SS (Class A bias) or tubes OK
- 20-200 wpc ok, the lower the better though all things being equal- well built power supply crucial
- stereo amp easier to put on my Sistrum rack, but mono-bock architecture also considered if better performance
- $6k or less used would be ideal, but would consider up to $8k used if there are no world-beating contenders at the $5k-$6k used price point

Preamp is a modded Sonic Frontiers Line 3- extremely neutral, hence the desire for a richer-sounding amp to balance. High efficiency speakers from Coincident- large open concept room (main floor of house). Re: tubes, have used ARC VT-100 MKIII- good- airy w big soundstage, but meatier mids would be better. Also had Wyetech Topaz 20-watt SET, superb, if slightly lean in the mids (and not fully balanced, but shows you how powerful 20 watts can sound with a well-built power supply) For SS, am considering Pass XA.5 series (they now can run balanced from what I understand?); Clayton Audio M-200 (but unfortunately over the price-range).

Thanks in advance for any suggestions- I have an open mind, so bring it on!
sutts
sutts OP
668 posts
 
excellent advice- thanks again everyone for the thoughtful and informed responses & recommendations- it's been a LONG time since I started a thread in this forum, and you guys have not let me down- I will look into all of the suggestions- cheers.

Sutts in Toronto
tvad
9,467 posts
 
Sutts, with your Coincident speakers, I'd go with Israel's suggestion and use tubes. Given a choice between tubes and solid state, I'd choose tubes as well, but solid state seems to work better (or more to my preference) on my Silverlines.

There is value in following the advice of the speaker designers if they are willing to be specific with their recommendations, IMO.
sutts OP
668 posts
 
Tvad- can't argue with you there- only 'Izzy' as I call him will point me to an SET, but then his priorities are only music listening. This system is on my main floor, and is used a lot for movies as well, so a bit more power and a lower noise floor is nice (hence the 'quieter' fully balanced advantage). *All that being said though, if I hear something that really blows me away, I will overlook some of the criteria for the resulting sonic benefit. I am going to investigate these Belles 150A Ref Monos you suggested- are they full enough sounding in the mids?
tvad
9,467 posts
 
They are full enough in the mids to suit me, but the ultimate sound will be determined to a large extent by your preamp and speakers. Buy a used pair and resell them if they're not to your taste.

BTW, your description of what you want seems to correspond with what I have read about Monarchy SE-250 monoblocks. Check out the review in the January 2008 edition of Affordable Audio.
jmcgrogan2's avatar
jmcgrogan2
6,346 posts
 
Sutts, you are starting to confuse me. It seems like some recommendations are dismissed because they are not balanced (Pass XA-60, Moscode, Manley,etc.). While other single ended amps like the Belles, Lamm and EAR intrigue you. A little help here?
For me, true balanced is a must. My digital front end only outputs balanced, my preamp is fully balanced. Personally, there are enough fully balanced choices out there that I do not see the point in breaking the chain. YMMV.

BTW, the Clayton M-100's that I owned a while back are NOT fully balanced, but do offer balanced inputs, like VAC, EAR and others. The newer M-200's are fully balanced though. If these really interest you, you may try contacting Jonathan at Goldman Audio. He has mentioned to me that he has a demo pair for sale.

Cheers,
John
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