Best amp between 2-3k
 

I am trying to find a good 5x amp to hook up to my Denon 3803. My budget is about 3k or less, and new or used does not matter. I am currently considering the Parasound HCA 2205AT, Sunfire, and CineNova Grande 5.

Any thoughts on which would be the best? Other suggestions?

And is there a difference between the ATI and CineNova?

Thanks for the help!

You should listen to both. Both the ATI and the Earthquake are great amps. I have an Adcom GFA-7807 which is another great choice in that price range (actually, I guess you'd be looking at the GFA-7805).

I think I would throw Bryston. Proceed, Aragon and McIntosh if you are interested in a used component.


Might want to try www.audiogon.com for used/demo pieces.

Here is the McIntosh

http://www.mcintoshlabs.com/mcprod/s...&product=MC206

Hopefully my upgrade path will take me there.

I also love Adcom products. Very nice pieces.

for that money, i would go with rotel 1095. 200 beefy watts per channel. and why stop at just a single amp? if you can bi-amp, go with a 1095 and 1075 (120/ch). this would give you great dynamics and headroom, well above any single amp.

The GFA-7807 was tested to just over 600watts per channel at 4 ohm into all 7 channels given enough juice, though it's only rated to 450w/channel at 4 ohm (and 300w/chan at 8 ohm).

It's designer is the same guy who designed the $7500 California Audio Labs CL-2500 MCA (rated at 500w per channel into 8 ohm).

http://www.deregle.co.uk/pages/13c.htm

the question of the day is, how good do adcoms sound though? they have had a pretty poor reputation lately for sound quality. i could very well be wrong too.

You could also try looking at the Blue Diamond amp by Gemstone Audio. It comes in 5 and 7 channels and has a power rating of 200x5(or 7) doubling down into 4 ohms to 400x5(or 7). I think it can be had for under $2,800 for the 7 channel model and $2,300 for the 5. I hate to link it but there's a big discussion going on here and you can look at the specs here .

Regards,

Mike

Seriously? Where?

A: I cannot believe anyone would say an Adcom is not a good sounding unit.

B: If you are dropping that much $$$ you should really find a local high end audio place and work with them. They should be willing to let you have one on trial for a week or so. Or at the very least work with you and your system on finding one that "should" be good, then offer an unconditional 30 day return.

Problem with these high end stores is they ususally only carry a few brands, and only the popular ones like B&K, Rotel, etc. At least with using the internet, I am able to choose from a much wider selection of amps.

True...but dang, I would hate to spend that kind of money on an Amp without at least hearing it in my system 1st. Perhaps some on-line places all you to return within 30 days, but I'm sure you would have to pay for shipping on the return.

Good luck...and let us know what you choose and how you like it.

i had HEARD, but no documentation, from reputable friends and colleagues that their newer stuff just didnt sound all that great. could be complete bullsh** though. i was just throwing it out there.

quite frankly, in that price range, there are literally hundreds of options, and 90% of them would be great :)

Well in general you are correct. But I just noticed your sig.

Is this amp going to drive the maggies? Those are great speakers, but are difficult to drive. And many amps that while by the specs might be able to drive them, the question is how easily and how will they sound.

And keep in mind sound is a preference. You are correct to say there may be hundreds of options. But, what is "great" to you might not be "great" to me. I have listened to systems with all well established components, and I did not like the sound. I have heard $10,000 systems and not liked the sound. Doesn't mean the sound was "bad". It means it was my preference. The reason there is so many options is because they sound different.

Anyway...just my nickles worth...

Thanks for all the replies so far. I went ahead and purchased the Cinenova. According to UPS, I should get it next Weds. :)

Awesome amp, you should be very happy. Let us know how you like it.

Yup, since you asked for help, you are now REQUIRED to post you thoughts once you get everything up and running....

Thanks again for the replies...

Just to keep you updated, the amp is supposed to arrive Weds via UPS. This past weekend, I added a 20amp circuit and receptacle in preparation.

Well I finally received the Cinenova amp yesterday, but unfortunately it is not working correctly. :(

When I hook up the speakers to the amp, I get static sound coming from the speakers. When I hook the amp up to my receiver through the preouts and turn it on, the static gets louder. Also, there is even some signal going to my sub, even though it is not hooked up to the amp - just the receiver.

Thinking the receiver might be partly responsible, I disconnected the Cinenova, and connected my old amp - and no problems at all.

I contacted the tech help with Earthquake yesterday- and apparently they only have 2 techs working for them, one was out of town, and the other had gone home for the day. I left my number and ended up getting a call back. The tech said it sounded like a ground loop? in the amp, and told me to touch a metal object to the end of the rca cable coming out of the amp while the amp was powered up to try to short it out?? Tried this and did not work.

Then he asked me to call back today at a specific time - and when I did, I was told he has left for the weekend and I should try back Monday!

UGH!

Any thoughts?

Ground loop = hum

Your problem = hiss


I'd try taking the amp to a different room and hooking it up to different speakers. Still hissy?

(But yeah, seems like the amp has a problem.)

What kind of speakers are we talking about? More efficient speakers can make this problem worse.

I have paradigms studios were of average efficiency - and I don't have other speakers to hook it up to.

Probably should have gone with a different amp....

Or maybe just a not-broken version of the one you got? :)


I'm not too familiar with this amp, but there wouldn't happen to be gain/level trim pots on the back, would there? I think my Parasound has them, but I haven't been "back there" in a while. Just thinking you might be able to back those levels off if that's an option.

If you described the problem as a hiss and they were talking about ground hum, I will go out on a limb and say you weren't talking to one of their techs. See how things shake out on Monday when you talk to a *real* tech.

Probably should have specified that when ordering... :)

He was supposed to be their "master tech" or something like that...

The only things I have on the back are the high/low filer - which I have set to bypass so I get the full signal.

Well, looking back at your description, now I'm not as sure we're talking about hiss. Does it sound like what's described in gotapex's link (a 60 Hz buzzy hum), or more like hiss?