suggest an under $2000 amp to match 4ohm speakers


Hi Y'all,

I'm looking for suggestions for a used power amp under $2000 to power Vienna Acoustics Mozart Grand speakers.

CURRENT STATUS: Mozart Grand speakers are 4 ohm, 90 dB. Current amp is a Linn Klassik integrated: I like this little integrated amp (with cd player) but it got too hot yesterday when I got to playing a record a little bit too loud. It gave me a bad taste of things to come. My phono preamp is Conrad Johnson PV10, recently bought used here.

PREFERENCES: Would prefer a power amp with balance control (and maybe treble/bass), as the listening room is awkward (crampbed man cave in basement). Would prefer a remote. Would prefer something that can be serviced in USA or southern Ontario, if need be.

LISTENING: I listen most intently to acoustic jazz on vinyl and cd; thus, I prefer maximum midrange warmth and depth for horns. Also listen to rock, hiphop, soul, classical, but less regularly.

BUDGET: Am working on a scholar's budget (plus two kids etc), so $2000 used or new is a true budget ceiling.

INITIAL THOUGHTS: I live in southeastern Michigan, so don't get to audition much used gear except in local audio salons with limited offerings. I'm thinking that Conrad Johnson used gear is probably a good match, but not sure about impedance load issues. Above all, I prefer "musicality" over "analytical" sound, as I want to sound like I'm listening to the music live and can hear the wood on the drums and woodwinds pianos (if that makes sense). Must avoid brightness above all.

Thanks for any thoughts.
paanders
Prima Luna and Kevin Deal is a solid recommendation. Also I have the spks you have and I heard a Nait 5i at 1795.00 with it and the Nait unit is a must audition. It is musical(in other words you get carried away in the music and then you don't care much about the audiophile virtues even though they are also good) with the Vienna's and I think that is one of the best things you can have in a component. I think it is only 50 watts but it had plenty of solid power for anything I listened to. For my system 1 yr ago I got a new Belles 150a v2 amp, it goes at about 1500.00 used and 2000.00 new. So you can see I like the Belles a lot. And with your conrad pre amp it would probably be a fantastic match
I highly recommend the MF M6i integrated. It doesn't have the tone controls you are looking for but it's in your budget and frankly sounds incredible. It can handle your 4ohm speakers without a problem.
I heartily second the Belles. The 350A reference can be had for less than
$2000 used. Check out the Soundstage review of this amp. It is a perfect
match with both the CJ and 4 ohm speakers. I know because I have them!
My recommendation is to forget tone controls as a requirement, not because I'm an audio snob, but the output of treble/bass controls have overlaping frequencies. It's more effective to acoustically treat the room. Since it's a man-cave, use sound absorption and reflection.
Do nothing and keep what you have. If you're budget truly is tight, then spending $2k really is not a wise investment at this time. What you have works and works well so why change anything. True the Linn is being pushed to near its limits with the Mozarts, but it's not like it will self destruct. Is it really worth $2k to play a little bit louder?