Pretend you have up to $3000 to buy an integrated SS amp. Which would you buy?

Phil A · « **Reply #40 on:** 6 May 2020, 10:00 pm »

Here's a pic of one of the art panels in a spare system I have:

aldcoll · « **Reply #41 on:** 6 May 2020, 10:05 pm »

I have been is the above mentioned room and I have also MEET SHE WHO MUST BE O BAYED.

It would be a monumental task to tame this room or at least make it any where enjoyable. A big screen in the bathroom at the end of the hall would almost be a better starting point. What about getting some of the seat shaker transducers for the chairs.

Just saying if it was my house she can have the room and rules for that room.

Just don't enter the old dinning room that you managed to get. And I would then get a roll able TV stand and set up the screen for some most excellent 2 channel movie.

Alan

WGH · « **Reply #42 on:** 6 May 2020, 11:30 pm »

Quote from: Cacophonix on 6 May 2020, 07:23 pm

Look into anthem integrated. On sale right now for $3600 ... and comes with Anthem Room Correction. Good solid power that is stable to 2 ohms.

That is what I was thinking, so I switched RCA cables between the Van Alstine Fet Valve CFR preamp ($2099) and the Anthem AVM60 ($2400) preamp/processor and played some CD's. The Anthem MRX1120 reciever ($3500) has the same toroidal transformer as the AVM60, the preamp section is probably identical. The Anthem MRX720 at $2500 is well within your budget and the power is the same, just fewer channels.

I have been very happy with the AVM60, best video surround I have heard. TV, blu-ray, streaming Netflix sound absolutely fantastic. The Anthem ARC Genesis room correction transforms a "TV with bigger speakers" into a well balanced home theater experience. The room correction profile can also be tweaked and fine tuned.

But as a stand alone preamp for music only the Van Alstine is better, it is clearer. The Anthem would be my choice for a TV room.

Home theater processors are designed to roll off the bass to the main speakers, usually at 80 - 100Hz, and send all bass to the sub. Dolby Digital+, DTS, and Atmos formats all do this so bigger speakers with bigger woofers would be wasted. A better solution would be a new sub that wasn't ugly, it might be an easier sell to the wife too. I use my sub for both stereo and home theater, REL subwoofers have two inputs: line level stereo and a .1 low frequency effects, both are designed to be used at the same time, no cable swapping. The bigger REL's (model S/812 = 19Hz) would fill up that space, are very pretty, slightly pricey but not too bad. You do need a real nice treat after this lock down. Give Rachael at REL in California a call, she is very nice and knowledgeable.

mresseguie · « **Reply #43 on:** 7 May 2020, 01:42 am »

Quote from: aldcoll on 6 May 2020, 10:05 pm

I have been is the above mentioned room and I have also MEET SHE WHO MUST BE O BAYED.

It would be a monumental task to tame this room or at least make it any where enjoyable. A big screen in the bathroom at the end of the hall would almost be a better starting point. What about getting some of the seat shaker transducers for the chairs.

Just saying if it was my house she can have the room and rules for that room.

Just don't enter the old dinning room that you managed to get. And I would then get a roll able TV stand and set up the screen for some most excellent 2 channel movie.

Alan

Alan,

Believe it or not, I suggested the same thing to Melody. We even have a wheeled TV stand - the one that used to hold my gear - that would be ideal. We could set the TV on it; roll it into the living room between my Apollos; hook it up, and have fantastic two-channel TV sound. I actually did this while I was here in February and she was still in Taiwan. It worked wonderfully.....Her answer? "NO."

I know quite a few American/Canadian/European guys who are married to a Taiwanese woman. Many of them experience the same 'wall' with certain issues.

veloceleste · « **Reply #44 on:** 7 May 2020, 04:34 pm »

Quote from: mresseguie on 6 May 2020, 05:24 pm

Another reason why I <mostly> gave up this idea is I just cannot seem to get this space to sound reasonably good. Too much sound gets sucked into the adjoining spaces...bass, mid-bass and voices seem to disappear. This is our family room. She who must be obeyed demands that the TV MUST remain in this room. No room treatments are allowed. Any speakers must remain close to the front walls. There is already one ugly subwoofer there, so no swarm is allowed. The furniture MUST remain where it is. Multiple speakers in an HT setup are verboten! Oh, and she just doesn't understand (won't understand??) any of the acoustics explanations I try to give. I've tried explaining how this is the worst room acoustically. I might as well be speaking to a polar bear.

This may be a compromise treatment you can use. It is a "vocal booth." It's something you can easily store and put in place when you want to listen. They can be custom sized and covered. It came from Acoustimac.

Tyson · « **Reply #45 on:** 7 May 2020, 05:10 pm »

You could get a projector - it's small and mounts to the ceiling and the screen can be a roll up or roll down so it's gone when not watching a movie.

tabl10s · « **Reply #46 on:** 16 May 2020, 08:40 pm »

Quote from: poseidonsvoice on 20 Mar 2020, 06:59 pm

Not quite 150w/ch, but close enough:

https://www.usaudiomart.com/details/649585264-devialet-120-expert-save-4000/

Best,

Anand.

Two friends use the Hegel and love it to the point that one got rid of his Plinius SA250!

usery · « **Reply #47 on:** 17 May 2020, 12:58 am »

I'd wait, accumulate another $1K or so, then look for sale pricing on a Micromega M-100.

OzarkTom · « **Reply #48 on:** 17 May 2020, 02:03 am »

Quote from: usery on 17 May 2020, 12:58 am

I'd wait, accumulate another $1K or so, then look for sale pricing on a Micromega M-100.

A new one on eBay for 2690 plus shipping.

https://www.ebay.com/c/4019980652

Absolute Sound likes this amp over the Devialet.

usery · « **Reply #49 on:** 17 May 2020, 02:11 am »

Quote from: OzarkTom on 17 May 2020, 02:03 am

A new one on eBay for 2690 plus shipping.

https://www.ebay.com/c/4019980652

OP: if you're indeed shopping seriously, and that finish works for you, contact the seller and if all is legit buy it. Immediately.

(I own one, in silver)

HT cOz · « **Reply #50 on:** 17 May 2020, 02:30 am »

Nice Modwright on eBay right now for $2700

FullRangeMan · « **Reply #51 on:** 17 May 2020, 02:46 am »

MicroMega seems to be a Euro brand, the OP could prefer a local brand for easy repair.

firedog · « **Reply #52 on:** 17 May 2020, 06:55 am »

There are some very good suggestions here.
New, I'd look at VanAlstine, Odyssey, Nord One integrated. They all make near state of the art amps with integrated as a possibility.
If you are interested in Odyssey, call and talk to Klaus. He will make you a custom build to fit your needs at no extra cost for the customizing-just his regular price for whatever he is adding in.

FullRangeMan · « **Reply #53 on:** 17 May 2020, 07:44 am »

Klaus are making integrateds?

opnly bafld · « **Reply #54 on:** 17 May 2020, 12:07 pm »

Quote from: FullRangeMan on 17 May 2020, 07:44 am

Klaus are making integrateds?

Has for a long time, I think it's basically a Khartago with a volume control.
http://www.odysseyaudio.com/products-cyclops.html

Delta77 · « **Reply #55 on:** 17 May 2020, 03:30 pm »

You said I could bump up the $3,000 budget..
Preamp
http://aricaudio.com/products.php?product=MLII
Amp
http://aricaudio.com/products.php?product=SuperPP

opnly bafld · « **Reply #56 on:** 17 May 2020, 03:37 pm »

Quote from: Delta77 on 17 May 2020, 03:30 pm

You said I could bump up the $3,000 budget..
Preamp
http://aricaudio.com/products.php?product=MLII
Amp
http://aricaudio.com/products.php?product=SuperPP

The OP was asking about solid state, since he already has a D. Sachs tube preamp and tube amp:

http://www.dsachsconsulting.com/custom%20line%20stage.html
http://www.dsachsconsulting.com/custom%20kt88%20tube%20amp.html (avatar picture)

usery · « **Reply #57 on:** 17 May 2020, 03:50 pm »

And the OP said he had arrived at more fundamental need (room correction). And that he had abandoned the shopping trip anyway.

But for sake of the exercise, and if benefit to any other readers, it turns out there's a pre-own Micromega M-150 out there - which includes integrated room correction hw & sw: https://tmraudio.com/components/integrated-amplifiers/micromega-m-one-m-150-stereo-integrated-amplifier-m150-remote-room-correction/

At ~ $3900 it's above the stated budget but for what you get, well, if I wasn't saving bank for a loudspeaker upgrade this would be serious contender for my bank. In addition to the M-100 I already own.

mresseguie · « **Reply #58 on:** 17 May 2020, 05:29 pm »

Quote from: opnly bafld on 17 May 2020, 03:37 pm

The OP was asking about solid state, since he already has a D. Sachs tube preamp and tube amp:

http://www.dsachsconsulting.com/custom%20line%20stage.html
http://www.dsachsconsulting.com/custom%20kt88%20tube%20amp.html (avatar picture)

This thread has taken on a life of its own. I suppose SS could be misconstrued to mean stainless steel.

opnly bafld · « **Reply #59 on:** 17 May 2020, 05:45 pm »

Quote from: mresseguie on 17 May 2020, 05:29 pm

This thread has taken on a life of its own. I suppose SS could be misconstrued to mean stainless steel.

Sounds Stupendous?