I Need A Power Amp?

[jimmy m]

I got a good deal on some Cerwin Vega speakers. Got a pair of DX-9's and RE-30's. The speakers are in immaculate condition. But I have only an older Marantz 2250B as my tuner/power amp. I get to half volume and the sound starts to distort. Forgive me for not having a lot of stereo savvy, but I am assuming I need more power to make the speakers sound better. I'm using the system to play music only. Any recommendations on what I can do to have a better sounding system when I crank the volume. D'ont really want to spend more than 2-3 hundred, but I have seen some interesting power amps on ebay for that kind of money, and have no idea what I'm bidding on and what to look for. Any HELP? There is pretty good sized speaker wire so I don't think that is it either. Sorry for sounding so lame.
Listen, I'm a 61 year old hippie who has collected music for 50 years and still likes to crank it up once in awhile. I know I dont have the astute questions that all the audiophiles seem to like to pounce on. Give an old man a break, just looking for some kind of direction.
jimmy m

[blackraven]

Do you want a 2ch receiver, integrated amp or a separate power amp and preamp?

For a good high power 2ch receiver, consider the Harmon Kardon 3490. It's a nice high current receiver with preamp out, phono preamp and bass management.

http://www.amazon.com/Harman-Kardon-.../dp/B00198F89A

If your Marantz has preamp outs then you can use it asa preamp and buy a separate power amp.

[jimmy m]

Yes, I was hoping to use the Marantz as a preamp and integrate a power amp into the system. Those DX-9's can take a pretty hefty wattage, thats why I was looking for some kind of idea on an amp which would make it sound sweet. QSC? Another Marantz? Been looking at a lot of vintage stuff, but just confused on what I need for power.

[harley .guy07]

I have head the DX-9's powered by several amps with good results for the "cranking" that you crave. As far as power amps in your price class the best amp I have heard with these speakers that will give you the power you need to crank these big boys a Adcom 5500 or 5800 will allow you to play them as loud as almost anyone will be able to handle. I have actually heard setups when I sold Adcom in the 90's where people would run multiple pairs of dx-9 with these adcom amps and got awesome results and even though with 2 pairs the load is 2 ohm these adcom amps can handle 2ohm loads with no problems. I don't know about your receiver and if it has preamp outputs to run amps but that would get you there cheap for right now and you could buy a dedicated preamp in the future. I also heard the DX-9's through a harmon Kardon amp back in the 90's that cranked on the vega's as well but I can't remember the model number of the amp.

[jimmy m]

Yes, there is a pre out/ main in. Thanks so much for the reply. I have seen Adcoms for sale and they certainly would fit the budget. Is QSC something I should be lookin at? They tend to be a little higher but 1450's seem to be in range. 2450s if I'm lucky. I remember Crown used to be big back in the day along with Mcintosh.

[Mr Peabody]

QSC & Crown are Pro audio amps and probably not what you want. Mac, forget about it, too much money. Look for Adcom gfa-545 or 5400 which both are 125x2, or, 555 and 5500 which are both 200x2. I had a 5500 and loved it. Well, I had a 5400 as well, it is extremely strong but if you can swing it the 5500 sounds noticeably better in my opinion. A Rotel 1082 at 200x2 would do the job as well. Another option would be to check www.emotiva.com and buy new with a 30 day trial option to return. Several members have these amps and say they do perform beyond their price. You need something like these with some grunt.

If not wanting to mess around with bidding look on www.audiogon.com for straight up sales.

[jimmy m]

Thanks guys for the info. I feel like I am at least pointed in a decent direction. Many thanks!!

[Mr Peabody]

I see www.spearitsound.com has a 545 used $249.00. B&K is another brand you might find used that would do the job.

[thekid]

Second the recommendations for the Adcom gear. The 545 or 555 would be more than up to the job and are available at reasonable prices.

[jimmy m]

Thanks Mr Peabody and all for your help. The 1st when I get my disability check, I'm in. It's like going to the toy store again.

[blackraven]

If you are handy you might want to consider building a digital amp like this-

http://classdaudio.com/index.php/pro...mplifiers.html

The reviews on this amps are fantastic. One of the members here built the STS and is using it in place of his Monarchy amps with his Magnepan 1.6 speakers.

Check out the pages of reviews here-

http://www.audiocircle.com/index.php?topic=76400.0

I'm eventually going to build one for my son and one for my second system. If they sound better than my Parasound Halo, I might build a pair to use as mono blocks for my main system.

[harley .guy07]

I second the building option if a person is a good solderer and is knowledgeable with putting things together but otherwise I would hate to put the op ina position to get in over his head with a project when there are excellent amps out there within his budget. I personally own a Adcom 545 series 2 and love it. Mr Peabody is right that the 5500 is an awesome piece and would be perfect for you and better than the 5400, But in my opinion the 545 series two is better than the 5400 in my opinion and i have extensive experience with Adcom produicts since I used to sell them. But with the speakers you are running I am in agreance with Mr Peabody a 5500 for 555 series 2 would be a perfect affordable option for you. A lot of people forget or dismiss that adcom shook the world in the 80's and 90's with what they could do for the price they charged and I remember when I was younger reading reviews of Adcom's amps embarrassing way pricier amps and I have actually heard them do it for myself and that is why I have not changed from mine in all these years. I am not saying that there is not better out there but you have to have your check book pretty full to get much better in most cases.

[blackraven]

I agree with Adcom and B&K. You should be able to find a B&K reference 100.2 for about $300. Plenty of power at 125wpc at 8ohm and 185 at 4ohm. It has a warmer sound as well and I believe it is true balanced.

[Poultrygeist]

You don't have to solder to put the class D together and for $175 nothing else comes close in terms of quality sound and power.

[jimmy m]

Hello again! I was looking at the class d's and the sds-254 grabbed my attention. They kind of actually appear like there isn't a heck of alot of pieces to them and I am fairly confident I could assemble if there was no soldering involved. And providing the kit manual spells it out for you rather than assume you know what they're talking about. A dumb question - but are they not covered for a reason? It seems they would be a catch all for dust?
Also I saw a Adcom 5400 for $200, but now I'm thinking I should probably wait (thats the hardest part) until I find a 545 or 555 for a decent price. Adcoms seem to be quite popular, and when they come up you probably should jump on it. But I still would like to be convinced I could throw a kit together. The open air board still has me dumbfounded.

[Mr Peabody]

$200.00 for a 5400 is good, the 5400 & 545 are both 125x2. The 555 gets up to 200x2 and more output devices, as well as the 5500. I haven't heard the 545 so not sure if the sound difference is anything worth waiting for. The Class D could be a step up over both from what the guys are saying about them.

[blackraven]

Hello again! I was looking at the class d's and the sds-254 grabbed my attention. They kind of actually appear like there isn't a heck of alot of pieces to them and I am fairly confident I could assemble if there was no soldering involved. And providing the kit manual spells it out for you rather than assume you know what they're talking about. A dumb question - but are they not covered for a reason? It seems they would be a catch all for dust?
Also I saw a Adcom 5400 for $200, but now I'm thinking I should probably wait (thats the hardest part) until I find a 545 or 555 for a decent price. Adcoms seem to be quite popular, and when they come up you probably should jump on it. But I still would like to be convinced I could throw a kit together. The open air board still has me dumbfounded.

You need to place the 254 in a chassis like these-

http://www.vt4c.com/shop/program/mai...032&group_id=2

Just make sure that th einside dimensions will fit the amp. There are a few other sites for chassis

[jimmy m]

Thanks again blackraven!! You guys have all been a wealth of knowledge.

[Poultrygeist]

The SDS will stomp the Adcom.

[JoeE SP9]

jimmy m, I agree with harley .guy. The GFA-545 Series I or II have always been my favorite of all Adcom amps. I am biased in this. I have 2 Series I's. With the going rate for them around $200 they're a no brainer for used gear.

[Jim Eck]

Adcom's are very nice amplifiers, I am currently running a 585 in my set up. A couple of other amps that you may consider are Hafler's and even Soundcraftsmen's. Both are rock solid performers. The Hafler's do offer much more in upgrades (whether the 220 or the 500) than the Soundcraftsmen's do but both will handle the type load you are posing, 2-4 ohm stable, 205 wpc-250 wpc depending on model. I have a pair of Soundcraftsmen pcr 800's bridged for 600 wpc.

One question on your current set up, are you running both the DX's and the RE's at the same time on your Marantz? If you are I wouldn't run it for any extended periods of time at high volumes, the old circuitry may not be up to the load.

As part of your 'new' endeavors you might consider recapping your Marantz, it is amazing the difference new capacitors can make. These 40-50 year old amps (2250B circa 1976-1977) used some oil filled capacitors and they tend to fail with time. You might even 'pop the hood' and take a look around just to be sure non of the capacitors are bulging or leaking.

Jim

[wessongroup]

You might check out the Odyssey amp's... down size is their size, 68 lb... but, for their sound it is a rather good trade off....

Ran a pair of Maggie's bi-amp with a Marchand x-over and a maggie center, with a Sony TA9000ES pre/pro for a number of years...(Odyssey HT3/Mono Blocks) but, have sold off all but the HT3 amp for my front's and center (Kilpsch RB II in cherry) and it the process of picking up center to replaces an old PSB center which is not a good match for what I'm going to be using... and my hearing in my old age...

Currently I'm putting new socks on my 3.3R (true ribbon tweeters maggie's)... "color black" the old were white, didn't like and they show dirt ... plus going through the guts ... "tacking" down the wires of the speakers to the planar speakers ... have upgraded the Cap's with Stolen for both the external x-overs... and for the speakers themselves...

A great sounding speaker if you like the plannar speaker... which I will be selling in the near future, among some other things I just need to get rid of .... tube tester Hichock 600 A and one heck of a lot of tubes ... which I have tested using the tester... and culled out the non working.. some NOS... all test good...

[JoeE SP9]

Welcome to AR wessongroup. What's replacing the Maggy's?

[harley .guy07]

jimmy m, I agree with harley .guy. The GFA-545 Series I or II have always been my favorite of all Adcom amps. I am biased in this. I have 2 Series I's. With the going rate for them around $200 they're a no brainer for used gear.

Yeah I did quite a bit of listening and comparing back in the 90's when Adcom first came out with the 5000 series line of amps and even went so far as to take the top plates off to dissect the components and found that the 545 series 1 and 2 to be a cleaner design and cooler running amp than the 5400 was and the same with the 535 and 5300. On the flip side of this I think the 5500 and 5800 had something that was above the 555 and 565 in terms of sound quality. This is just my opinion and my tasts but in the lower power series I would go 500 series and the higher powered the 5000 series but through all the Adcom amps I have heard and I used to manage a shop that sold them so I have extensive knowledge of them the 545 series 2 was my favorite sounding and most balanced out of them all and just to show how I feel about that amp I bought the demo model which was the last one we could get at the shop from the shop owner and still run it today running my 2 Dynaudio towers and I will say it sounds sweet with them. Now when I get my separate preamp in then we will be talking.

[harley .guy07]

In fact I should go and buy a couple more sense they are selling for so little now just in case but the only downside to the 545 series 2 is that they are not bridgeable so I could not run them as monoblocks. That kinda sucks because I love the way they sound and if I could run my Dyn's with 2 of them one for each side it would be power heaven at a reasonable price. And just for the knowledge Musical Design/Musical Concepts does do modifications on Adcom amps and from what I have heard can make them into something out of this world.