Voting for Amp (Ayre vs. Pass vs. Krell vs. Theta)

MartinLogan Audio Owners Forum

Help Support MartinLogan Audio Owners Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

liljackiepaper

New member
Joined
Apr 23, 2007
Messages
2
Reaction score
0
Location
Naples
I am awaiting the arrival of a pair of Vistas, a Stage and a pair of vignettes. I currently have a Denon AVR 5805 that Denon tells me can push down below 3 ohms. It's bascially 10 170watt amps. I have used it to power my previous system but I'm not sure how it will handle the electrostats.

So...what I'm thinking of doing is using the Denon to power the in wall speakers that are already in other rooms in my house as well as the Vignettes in the rear of my main theater.

I am in pursuit of either a 3-channel amp, three monoblocks, or a stereo amp and a monoblock to power the vistas and the stage. Oh and the vistas will ultimately become my side 7.1 speakers with a pair of Summits (eventually...hopefully) becoming the fronts.

With that in mind I am looking at amps that could handle either the Vistas or the Summits and be used for both DVDs as well as CDs.

I can get the following all for about the same price:

Ayre V1X (+ somebody's monoblock for the stage)
Pass Labs 250.5 (+ somebody's monoblock for the stage)
Krell FPB-250M monblocks
Theta Enterprise Monoblocks

I have nothing but respect for the level of knowledge on this board :bowdown: . What say you? I'm just going to go by a straight vote. Price being the same, which would you guys/gals pick?
 
Um, those are all awesome amps. Have you been able to demo any of them? I'd pick what you KNOW sounds great to you.
 
The Denon will handle it, but you will not get anywhere near the quality of sound you will get with the proposed amps you are listing.

With the amount of $$$ you are going to spend on these, you are seriously considering making a purchase based on someone elses preferences and likes?? Why don't you spend a few hundred of those $$$ and plan some road-trips to try to audition them to get a true feeling for their sound qualities?? You list Naples as your location, is this Florida or in Europe? If FLA you should not have too far to travel around to some of the other major cities and be able to hear some of this equipment. Well worth the effort again considering the outlay of cash you are proposing for the amps and what you have already spent on the speakers.

Otherwise why wait for replies, just make a purchase and live with it, as all the amps listed will drive the speakers in question.
 
Vista amp

Hello all...new to ML (Summits on the way)
One of the best amps for bass is the Eagle series (2,2A,2C,400), they have Krell like bass without the high price.
I have a few (2A & 400's) and whenever I sold speakers locally I have demoed them with the Eagle amps.
The 2 series are stereo only, the 400's are two of the 2 series (120wpc) amps made into mono amps at 400wpc and very high current.
They will make the bass on those Vistas deep and tight, the rest of the amp's characterics are up front and immediate vs laid back. Either one of these will do the trick; you could then get a multichannel amp which will power the top of the Vistas and later when you have reached the Summit, it will have amps for the top of those as well...all matching!
There are 3,4,5 and 7 channel amps to choose from.
I recently sold a Theta Dreadnaught 5 ch amp that I used to biamp my speakers, one ch went unused.
That is a great amp! I had the original one version...actually if you find one of those, that would be ideal. The 2 version has a little more power 225wpc vs 200.
Have fun !
 
Pass all the way...I can sell you my X-250.:D
 
A user poll to decide

Hi Liljackie,

IMHO and not to be disrespectful, making an amp purchase decision on a users poll makes about as much sense as deciding on what vehicle to buy based on how the tires felt when you kicked them. I appreciate your enthusiam for the ML Club and the knowledge / background that its members can bring. However, everthing you read here is based on personal (read subjective) opinions. Assuming your system, room, etc. is optimized, all of the amps you listed will definitely have different sonic signatures.

Those who have been in this crazy hobby long enough know that a "test drive" is the way to go. Assuming you want to make an informed decision, there's a plethorea of variables (room, cables, speaker positions, other components in your system and, most importantly your personal listening biases) that need to be considered regarding the answer to your question.

If at all possible, get a two week audition with each of the amps on your "short list" and use those silly things on the side of your head to decide.

I love my Pass Labs but fully realize that it may not suit other peoples criteria and frankly, I believe that's a very good thing.

Best of luck with your venture and base your decision on defensible criteria. You're not talking pocket change and hopefully you will live happily with your decision for a long time to come.

Best regards,

GG :cool:
 
I'd say buy any two and let me have whichever one you don't like. :)

Any dealer that's worth buying from knows that an audition is needed. If you're buying used or on the internet, then it'll have to be a toss of the dice. Nice dice, though.
 
One opinion

I heard the Vantages with Ayre. I did not think the amp/ pre amp was a great match with the Logans when compared to the much affordable Bryston and Mac. In head to head comps, it was Mac, then Bryston (very close), then Ayre (far behind). Ayre sounded flatter and did not have the 3 dimensionality the other brands had.

Not to completely trash Ayre, I do think they OWN the cd player, but to me the other amps had better synergy with the Logans.

Please listen for yourself, though.
 
As you can see, a bunch of personal opinions that really won't help you decide what will sound best to YOU in YOUR system. All the brands you mention make high quality well respected and designed equipement.

I personally found that the Ayre MX-R monos were right for me after auditionong McIntosh 501 monos and ARC Ref 210 Monos.

Good luck, but don't buy a thing based on our choices, make your own........Steve
 
Krell

Krell ! iTS THE BEST OF ALL WORLDS



I agree on the Krells too. IMHO that is.:)

But also like McIntosh. Those where my first choice many moons ago.

But I was hooked on the Krells after i audition them.

There is a place on 41 in Naples that have McIntosh. I think it's called "House of High Fidelity."

It's a small place but they know there stuff.


Good luck.:music:
 
Back
Top