New Amp for Spires: Krell, Belles, Odyssey, Innersound, or Butler

[Jbannas]

I'm looking to expand my system as we're doing more two channel these days and less HT.

I'm looking at getting a Modwright Pre with the home theater bypass and want to upgrade my amp section as I'll move the Anthem to center and surround duties.

Which would you recommend with Spires and Modwright Pre?
Krell 100S
Belles 350a
BAT VK-500 with BAT Pak
Odyssey Stratos Extreme Monos
Classe CAM 350 Monos
Butler 2250 or 5150
Innersound ESL 300 MKii
Krell KAV 250a (this is only on the list as I can pick it up locally and save $1k over the others)

I'd love Class A, but want to stay away from the heat.

 

[gordonmenninger]

From personal experience I would go with the Krell amps. I own both of the ones you listed - a 300s and also the KAV 250 a3. They mate perfectly with ML speakers but they both get warm - hot when you really crank them. It is great in the winter as they heat my basement theater! They have endless power, can dip down really low in impedance and sound magical. Crystal clear highs and mids and strong controlled bass. Done.

 

[peacefulcargo]

I would go with CAM 350, they run moderately warm, great brand stability and refined enough to work well with MLs.

 

[Nielsen]

What about Bryston?

 

[peacefulcargo]

I used to have Bryston 28SST2's, they were brilliant.

 

[twich54]

I used to have Bryston 28SST2's, they were brilliant.

"Billiantly Bright" was what alot of us used to think ! I suspect that was more a room / acoustic issue anyways.......

FWIW, thre is a Krell amp for sale listed in the classified section.

If Class A 'heat' is a real concern you may want to consider Plinius, I love my SA-102 driving my Spire's..... as well as the Rogue M-180's that provide supplemental heat in the winter months !!

 

[peacefulcargo]

"Billiantly Bright" was what alot of us used to think ! I suspect that was more a room / acoustic issue anyways.......

!!

Yes that is a fair comment re the pre SST2 versions, but the SST2 is detailed but not forward at all to my ears and I used it with a couple of different pre-amps (I moved back to Ayre MXRs as there was just something I missed from them that just made me want to go back to them)

 

[ktchnman]

Just to add my 2 cents worth, I'm using the Cary 200.2, which sounds, IMO, very nice with my Theos. I think the burn-in period is longer than Cary says, but it's A-B, and heat is not a factor, and seems to have enough power, rated at 200 into 8 ohms, 350 into 4 ohms. Very musical. The rest of my system, Pre-amp, Phono, CD and Tuner, is all tubes.

 

[Brad225]

Hi jbannas
What are you currently using with the Spires?
Have you been able to listen to or is there any chance you will be able to listen to many of these amps you are looking at. They will all sound different to your ears and with your leaning toward 2 channel that will be even more importnant.

At one time member Sleepsurf had a Modwright pre and Belles amp. From what I remember they didn't play well together and circuits in one or the other had to be replaced. He chose to move to Conrad Johnson electronics. Hopefully he will add what exactly happend with the equipment.

The entire system is dependant on the other pieces to get the sound you are looking for. Sometimes that includes purchase and resale of equipment until you find what you are looking for.

As Roberto always says "Trust your ears"

 

[Jbannas]

I've had Various amps with Logans over the years, but have only had the Sunfire Cinema Grand, Anthem 30, and Earthquake Cinenova Grande 5 with the Spires.
I'm going to test the Krell and Classe first to see what I think and will go from there.

Thanks for the advice, everyone!

 

[snyderkv]

Which sub/amp for EFX mains?

I just read this after reading various posts about how blind tests revealed a 50/50 guess on cheap vs hi-fi amps in terms of sonic quality below clipping

Just saying, I think you should choose which one girls are more impressed with because at least you can say it got you laid. And that's a noticable difference

Ignore the title, wrong thread

 

[sleepysurf]

What happened was that both Dan Wright (Modwright) and David Belles (PowerModules) eschew extra protection circuitry that can degrade their pristine sound. I had one of the earlier versions of the Modwright SWL 9.0 preamp feeding my Belles Ref 350A amp. That (early) version of the Modwright did not incorporate any "mute protection" circuitry while powering up, and apparently passed a DC surge to the Belles amp, which blew. Both Dan Wright and David Belles were stellar with their customer support. Dan upgraded my preamp to his newer design which incorporated basic power-on "muting," and David Belles built me an entirely new amp. I subsequently used those components for another 3+ years with no problems whatsoever. I moved on to the C-J amp because it offered more power (350W vs. 250W for the Belles), and I had read stellar reviews from Jeff Dorgay about how well it mated with his ML's. I later moved up to the C-J CT5 because I was spending way too much time "tube rolling" with the Modwright, and wanted a simple "plug and play" solution that wouldn't tempt me with various tube options. The CT5 is in another league vs. the Modwright, but it should be, given it's price point!

BTW, I "PM'd" Jbannas giving him my impressions of the Belles vs. the Butler TDB 2250 (which I had also auditioned in my setup). The Belles was far more musical, at least in my setup.

...Sleepsurf had a Modwright pre and Belles amp. From what I remember they didn't play well together and circuits in one or the other had to be replaced. He chose to move to Conrad Johnson electronics. Hopefully he will add what exactly happend with the equipment...