Great, love all the comments! Any tips on the type of amp in terms of circuitry? I know class-A amps sound amazing, even though they run pretty hot and aren't as efficient as other. I know technically class D are inferior but with today's tech, they can sound just as good.
@billybob , those NADs do look great. Are you working with a NAD amp? I like that the C 368 is a bit more high end than the 3045. Although I do love the size of the 3045, just wanted something more 'audiophile'.
@glens, read that the 338 does sound smooooth. Many reviews compared it to the Cambridge Audio CX60, seems like they might be similiar in that comparison. Good to hear it drives your Fortes though. Did you bi-amp as well? Curious how that would work out. The CX80 has XLR inputs too which I think my analog mixer would love to take advantage of!
@Panelhead, i don't know much about Marantz, but i feel like i should! Can you recommend something for me or do you think that model works? They make so many different models are hard to narrow a few down.
@ODS123, good points. I originally wanted the Sprout, but also read the same things. And because I'll be connecting an analog rotary mixer to the amp, my first priority is sound, then functionality (pre/sub out, maybe a digital in, so yes a quality internal DAC but analog circuitry is more important for me), then appearance (was hoping for something small like the Heed Elixir). Do you have a particular marantz or cambridge audio amp you'd recommend than the ones i listed?
@willland, you're home set up sounds amazing! Any particular amp you lean towards between the Cambridge and NAD w/ your H1 and H2s?
At this point, I think Im narrowing down my list to the Elixir (might be the best sounding one with its class A amp), Cambridge Audio, NAD, and Marantz.