Hello, I'd appreciate some perspective from forum members on what to look for in new 2 channel amplification. I guess I am getting bamboozled by some of the descriptive terms used by reviewers describing the quality of amplifiers and need some perspective.
Background: solid state amp wanted to replace a Creek 5350SE driving Paradigm Studio 100v3 floor standers (nasty low impedance at below 200Hz, so high current and output impedance required). Squeezebox Touch via Rega DAC will be the source. I'd like to spend under $3k in the US, but could stretch this a bit for the right product. Questions: 1) I consider the Creek 5350SE to be on the warm side of neutral, but so is the Rega DAC. Should I try to fix this by going to a more accurate, detailed and analytic amplifier solution? Or will higher power (and higher damping factor) get me in that direction be default? 2) I want better L/R channel balance than I am used to with the Alps motorized volume pot in the passive-pre of the Creek, or at least a balance control to fix up any offset that might be there. Will it be worth looking for an amplifier or pre-amp with switched resistor attenuators for volume control to address this problem? Do I have to go way up-market to find this? 3) The last time I auditioned integrated amplifiers in a store, I listened to Naim Nait, Arcam and Creek amplifiers. I found the Arcam (A90) too polite and didn't engage me musically as much as the Creek or the Naim. Does this kind of "house sound" still persist today and is it a valid way to down-select among brands? 4) Any specific model suggestions? TIA. -- dsdreamer ---------------------- "Dreamer, easy in the chair that really fits you..." ------------------------------------------------------------------------ dsdreamer's Profile: http://forums.slimdevices.com/member.php?userid=12588 View this thread: http://forums.slimdevices.com/showthread.php?t=88452 _______________________________________________ audiophiles mailing list [email protected] http://lists.slimdevices.com/mailman/listinfo/audiophiles
