Question on Marsh Sound Design vs Channel Islands Audio Amps

slbenz
slbenz Posts: 97
in Electronics
Doing a search and I notice several forum members having experience with a Marsh Sound Design A-200s. I am looking at that stereo amp and a set of Channel Islands Audio D-200 monoblocks. CIA's first generation of this monoblock. Have any of you compared the two? I am looking to power a set of Polk SDA 2Bs that I have. Thanks in advance.
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  • tonyb
    tonyb Posts: 32,966
    Haven't heard either, but I think Doug had the Marsh at one point, or still does. I believe he really dug it too.

    Pretty expensive amps for 2b's though in my opinion.
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  • slbenz
    slbenz Posts: 97
    tonyb wrote: »
    Haven't heard either, but I think Doug had the Marsh at one point, or still does. I believe he really dug it too.

    Pretty expensive amps for 2b's though in my opinion.

    Since I am still a bit new to this forum, what is Doug's moniker so that I can PM him? Also these amps on the used market aren't bad on price vs. when they were new. Thanks.
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  • tonyb
    tonyb Posts: 32,966
    DKG I believe....don't know if he chimes in much these days though.
    HT SYSTEM-
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  • ken brydson
    ken brydson Posts: 8,761
    tonyb wrote: »
    DKG I believe....don't know if he chimes in much these days though.

    @dkg999 , he pops in once in awhile...
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  • slbenz
    slbenz Posts: 97
    Thanks to the both of you. I will PM him for his take on the Marsh amp.
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  • erniejade
    erniejade Posts: 6,321
    A long time ago, I thought h9 heard a marsh and said it was really good
    Klipsch The Nines, Audioquest Thunderbird Interconnect, Innuos Zen MK3 W4S recovery, Revolution Audio Labs USB & Ethernet, Border Patrol SE-I, Audioquest Niagara 5000 & Thunder, Cullen Crossover II PC's.
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  • ken brydson
    ken brydson Posts: 8,761
    slbenz wrote: »
    Thanks to the both of you. I will PM him for his take on the Marsh amp.

    Did Doug get back to you? I can message him of FB...
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  • slbenz
    slbenz Posts: 97
    ken brydson wrote: »
    slbenz wrote: »
    Thanks to the both of you. I will PM him for his take on the Marsh amp.

    Did Doug get back to you? I can message him of FB...

    Haven't heard from him as of yet.
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  • ken brydson
    ken brydson Posts: 8,761
    edited January 2016
    slbenz wrote: »
    ken brydson wrote: »
    slbenz wrote: »
    Thanks to the both of you. I will PM him for his take on the Marsh amp.

    Did Doug get back to you? I can message him of FB...



    Haven't heard from him as of yet.

    Just messaged him...

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  • slbenz
    slbenz Posts: 97
    ken brydson wrote: »
    slbenz wrote: »
    ken brydson wrote: »
    slbenz wrote: »
    Thanks to the both of you. I will PM him for his take on the Marsh amp.

    Did Doug get back to you? I can message him of FB...



    Haven't heard from him as of yet.

    Just messaged him...

    Thanks for your help. Will let you know when I hear from him.
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  • strider
    strider Posts: 2,568
    I don't have experience with the amps you listed, but I did own (and love) a set of 2B. If you went with the Channel Islands monoblocks, you'll need to use an AI-1 interface instead of the regular SDA interconnect.
    Wristwatch--->Crisco
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  • slbenz
    slbenz Posts: 97
    strider wrote: »
    I don't have experience with the amps you listed, but I did own (and love) a set of 2B. If you went with the Channel Islands monoblocks, you'll need to use an AI-1 interface instead of the regular SDA interconnect.

    Thanks. That is good to know. I asked that question on the Channel Islands forum and am waiting for their response on this.
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  • slbenz
    slbenz Posts: 97
    Just received an answer from the owner of Channel Islands Audio. The owner doesn't think there should be a problem but it doesn't matter now. I just took ownership of a Marsh Sound Design A200s I found locally. Now that I had a chance to listen to the amp in my system, I can understand all the accolades for this amp. It creates a very wide sound stage with rich mids with very clear highs. It makes my modded 2Bs the equal, if not better than my Magnepan IIIa mids using a Wyred4Sound ST-250 amp. The bass out of the Marsh amp is very well controlled and even better than the Rotel RMB-1565 in my home theater set up which has a similar output but the Marsh sounds more dynamic and authoritative.
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  • slbenz
    slbenz Posts: 97
    To those of you that helped me to reach out to Doug, he just answered my request for information this morning. He supported the experiences that I am having with the Marsh amp with my SDAs. Thanks to all that helped me with this amp decision. Still good to know that if I decide on a Channel Islands Audio amp, the only one the owner said that wouldn't work with SDA speakers is his bridge D-500MKII amp.
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  • dkg999
    dkg999 Posts: 5,647
    Glad you like the Marsh amp, and sorry for taking so long to answer your message! I need to make an effort to stop by CP more often.
    DKG999
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  • ken brydson
    ken brydson Posts: 8,761
    dkg999 wrote: »
    Glad you like the Marsh amp, and sorry for taking so long to answer your message! I need to make an effort to stop by CP more often.

    Slacker...
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