System Synergy ???

CH46E

Just moved into a new house. Time to set it all up.
Decided I really want a nice amp. The Hafler and Adcom won't do anymore.

I have ordered a new stylus for the Audio Technica $300 turntable. I have a Ifi phono stage. A Marantz UDP7007 for SACD and DVD-Audio. An Ifi blutooth receiver. An Anthem Pre 2L tube pre amp with some NOS matched National tubes from Upscale Audio. Right now a Halfer XL600 amp. Several speakers to play with. Some recapped RTA12B and others.

I'm looking to buy a new amp this week. I see some used Krell FPB 200 and 300, a used Mark Levinson ML335, a Mark Levinson no433 (3 channel) a New open box Balanced Audio Technology VK-6200 and a New Parasound Halo A21+. They have all made the top of the list. They are all between $3k and $4k. Not sure I want to deal with servicing 15-20 year old Krells and MLs.

I'm kind of leaning towards the new Parasound Halo A21+. Do they sound good with a tube pre amp? How would you describe the sound? Bass, mids ,highs?

Has anyone heard the BAT VK-6200? It weighs 100+ pounds and is the 2 channel model. I see the Parasound is 30 lbs lighter at 71lbs.


Thanks for any thoughts.

nooshinjohn

https://www.usaudiomart.com/details/650044596-carver-350-monoblock-amplifiers/

heiney9

Those all sound very differnent, too bad there is no place to demo something. It's not something like picking out underwear. Do your research. Synergy is usually a longer, step by step process.

H9

CH46E

nooshinjohn wrote: »

https://www.usaudiomart.com/details/650044596-carver-350-monoblock-amplifiers/

I would very much love to have them. I always wanted the Silver 7 or 9 amp back in the day. But I'm trying to stay away from tube amps. I can't leave well enough alone and tube rolling these would be very expensive.

I purchased a Ford Explorer as a reasonable vehicle/SUV. It now has 600 HP. 😂 I can't leave anything alone. So I should stay away from tube amps. I do very much like this tube pre amp though.

nooshinjohn

Not really that bad. The ones I have are still using the same compliment of tubes as they did when new 12 years ago. In that time, I replaced the 12AX7’s once and a couple of the KT120’s. The reliability has been exceptional.

VR3

I run a 335... Love the amp but be prepared, if it has never been serviced... It's time! Cost close to 2k to fully redo it.

audioluvr

Are your Infinitys set up?

CH46E

VR3 wrote: »

I run a 335... Love the amp but be prepared, if it has never been serviced... It's time! Cost close to 2k to fully redo it.

Gotcha. That was one of the questions I was asking in my head. What it might cost to service one of the MLs or Krell. That, combined with the purchase cost is way more than I want to get into. I'd love to have a huge class A Krell /space heater sitting on the floor but not if I've got to dump another 2K into it.

So it looks like the Halo A21+ and the BAT are at the top of the list now.

Thanks for that info man.

For the record I wish I had used you to do these Infinity RSII crossovers. I'm about to get back into them. Just not even sure where to start. I'm about 65% done.

CH46E

Anyone ever listened to a solid state Balanced Audio Technology amp?

I've had a few other Parasound and liked them but never a Halo. I've never even gotten to listen to a Halo. I had two of the HCA 750s, and a 2250 v2 Classic.

VR3

For sure, the mark Levinson is one of the best amps I've ever heard and I truly love the stand by mode as it puts out very little heat when idle but yes they are older and are in need of a full rebuild. Hefty investment but so far no complaints.

If I hit the lottery I would love to acquire a set of 33 Monoblocks!

audioluvr

I'd be willing to send you my spare set of monos for your evaluation. You pay for shipping. If you like it, you pay for it. Otherwise send it back. I'd really like your review compared to the XL600 to see if your comparison matches what I found.

Clipdat

Between these options, I'd be leaning heavily toward the A21+

Emlyn

The A21+ for sure is a good option. The plain Jane A21 would also save you some money. I used a Pre-2L with the earlier A21 and it has good synergy with adjustable gain on the amp if you want that. If possible look around for a demo JC5 model. I got one and its the last stereo amp I'll be buying. It's way better than the A21.

CH46E

Clipdat wrote: »

Between these options, I'd be leaning heavily toward the A21+

The more I look into the A21+ the more I'm liking it. Especially since it can handle dips below 1.5 ohms. These Infinity RSII I'll be finishing are known for dipping super low.

Emlyn

May be more than you want to spend but the Anthem STR amp is a good contender:

https://www.crutchfield.com/p_973STRAMPB/Anthem-STR-Power-Amplifier-Black.html?tp=180

I was taking a close look at that model when I sprung for the JC5 at a great price instead.

CH46E

audioluvr wrote: »

Are your Infinitys set up?

No, just got all the unfinished parts together. While moving them into the new house yesterday 😢 I noticed the woofer surround on at least one woofer is coming apart. So I'm pretty sure they all are rotting. Who ever did the reform must have used a cheap replacement. IIRC they were done by the previous owner just before I purchased them. I may take a drive over Simply Speakers in Tampa and have them all (4) professionally repaired. I also got some beautiful birds eye maple vinyl wrap. Not that these are in bad shape but I've always wanted some birds eye maple speakers. It's cheating I know. 😂

CH46E

Emlyn wrote: »

May be more than you want to spend but the Anthem STR amp is a good contender:

https://www.crutchfield.com/p_973STRAMPB/Anthem-STR-Power-Amplifier-Black.html?tp=180

I was taking a close look at that model when I sprung for the JC5 at a great price instead.

I thought it would be nice to have and Anthem Statement amp to match the Anthem Pre 2L. But that amp as gorgeous as it may be is just out of my budget.

CH46E

I did find a Lexicon ZX7 for sale locally for $3K. It's a absolute beast of an amp. 7 channel (that's ok for me as it will see plenty of HT use also) thing weighs 145 lbs. 300 watts. Not sure how much or to what extent Levinson had in this amps design.
But then again, now I'm looking at a nearly 20 year old amp that will need service soon. Sheesh. I really should just get the Parasound.

Emlyn

CH46E wrote: »

I thought it would be nice to have and Anthem Statement amp to match the Anthem Pre 2L. But that amp as gorgeous as it may be is just out of my budget.

I ended up getting a JC5 for less so I was happy to pair it with a JC2 preamp for synergy reasons. I also wasn't entirely sure if the Anthem STR is a common ground amp given it has two transformers inside. Unfortunately I see the JC5 went way up in price this year.

pearsall001

I just sent you a PM.

Toolfan66

I got tired of chasing synergy ghosts.

You piece together something good, and you change something and it gets a little better, next time it gets worse, and you sold the better piece that fit, to get this piece that made things worse, and the cycle starts up again, and you get pleasantly happy one moment, and super bummed the next.

I am happy not having gear go in and out of here like i did many years ago.

I just want nice gear, and listen to some tunes.

Don't get me wrong I have a wish list of stuff I want, but I am not going to keep going back and forth listening to the same 10 or so songs 15 times to see if what I am hearing is better or not..

That is just not enjoyable to me.

Been listening to my VH M7's the last few days, I couldn't be happier to just load some songs on the playlist and jam out..

VR3

I'm with you there man, my favorite tracks list is over 1k and I always start my listening with daily discovery and then hit shuffle on the Playlist... The days of analyzing the same track over and over and over and over and over are long gone for me!

nooshinjohn

https://www.facebook.com/marketplace/item/3653404758215541/?ref=search&referral_code=null&referral_story_type=post&tracking=browse_serp:8bc85e8c-1f08-45fd-a61b-a2333d2410d6

They are reasonably close to me so I can help out if you need brother...

msg

I thought I remembered reading several years back that Lexicon and Bryston were the same build, and that Lexicon was just a rebadged Bryston. I do remember calling up to speak with a Bryston tech, who confirmed this. They had/have a ridiculous warranty for 20 yrs.

At some point, apparently Lexicon stopped using Bryston Amos and switched to Crown, though they may still be of modular design - each channel has its own amp.

I found a few threads out there after searching "lexicon same as bryston". Wanna buy a Crown amp?

https://www.hometheaterforum.com/community/threads/lexicon-lx-7-vs-bryston-9b-4b-sst.153960/post-1675820

msg

At the time, there was this scammy dude here on the forum who was selling a Bryston 4B SST and a Lexicon 5ch-something, though I forget the model. I was lined up to buy the pair, because I wanted to build a 7ch combo use system, but then the story started changing.

The Lex had a bad channel, so he backed out of selling it, though it would have been warranty covered. This was how I ended up speaking with Bryston - checking on that repair. This was around 2014. "whitecamaross" was the member.

I really wanted the 5ch Lex more than the Bryston. At the time, I wasn't really into 2ch,amd needed a multi-channel amp. Even so, I was going to move ahead with the 4B SST, but then just felt weirded out, and canceled. There were a bunch of red flags. He tried to up the price and then there was a long delay, spotty comms... It just felt all wrong, like he didn't actually have the gear.

I don't know what happened with that dude, but i searched his username back then, and he had the same user on different non-audio related forums, and selling some weird stuff.

invalid

I wonder if it's the guy from Jay's audio lab, his username on audiogon was whitecamaross.

msg

Interesting. Must have been. That's a bit of a unique name, isn't it?

This guy lived in FL. I didn't get the impression he owned a shop or business. At least not only audio. Seemed like a flipper of everything. Hints in photos didn't seem to match the stories.

invalid

He had a long running thread on audiogon titled my long list of amplifiers and my personal review of each. He does live in Florida, has a YouTube channel now reviewing ultra expensive gear. He has sold a lot of gear over the last 4 or so years, I think he's been through over 100 or more amplifiers in that time. He was using top of the line Boulder monoblocks last time I seen his channel.

mhardy6647

msg wrote: »

Interesting. Must have been. That's a bit of a unique name, isn't it?

This guy lived in FL. I didn't get the impression he owned a shop or business. At least not only audio. Seemed like a flipper of everything. Hints in photos didn't seem to match the stories.

I mean -- if he has a white Camaro SS, or he's white and has a Camaro SS of any color... probably a fair number of such guys. Maybe even a high local concentration in FL. You know... Florida men.


EDIT: With no intended slight towards the numerous Florida men (and perhaps women and others) on this august forum who... by all appearances, sublimate any "Florida man" tendencies.

daddyjt

Toolfan66 wrote: »

…I am happy not having gear go in and out of here like i did many years ago…

I am with you 100% here. I spent years buying, selling, searching and swapping gear. I couldn’t help thinking there was always something better just over the horizon. I suffered through phases of mediocre sound because I was convinced that price, brand or reviews were guarantees of superior sound. I realized that I was listening to gear, and not music. So I just stopped, and went with the combination that sounded the best to me. High end “audiophiles” undoubtedly scoff at my rag-tag system, but I really don’t give a chit - it’s amazing how freeing it is to stop caring about the opinions of anonymous strangers, and just sit back and enjoy the music…

msg

invalid wrote: »

He had a long running thread on audiogon titled my long list of amplifiers and my personal review of each. He does live in Florida, has a YouTube channel now reviewing ultra expensive gear. He has sold a lot of gear over the last 4 or so years, I think he's been through over 100 or more amplifiers in that time. He was using top of the line Boulder monoblocks last time I seen his channel.

Wow, yeah, sounds like the same person. I guess he's legit and I just had a weird experience.