scott_home Posted February 13, 2012 Share Posted February 13, 2012 Hi all, I just bought a pair of KLF-20 from a forum member. I have an old Harman AV receiver (AVR-45), which has pre-out, but it is not powerful enough to power them. So I am shopping for either an amp or a receiver. For the receiver, I am thinking about Harman HK-3490 (120W/ch). It costs about $280. For the amp, I am thinking NAD 2200 or others. Jeff Tubbs has been very kind on giving me some advice. What other amps would be a good match? My budget is under $400. Do you think that an external amp will be much better than HK-3490? Thanks. Scott Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rockhound Posted February 14, 2012 Share Posted February 14, 2012 Yes I think an external amp will be the most rewarding. However I currently have my KLF 20's on a Marantz SR5005 and they sound well BOOOOOM! It's usually better to have separates but at your price point that is gonna be hard to do given these 20's LOVE power. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oldmako Posted February 15, 2012 Share Posted February 15, 2012 If you're not opposed to vintage stuff you can really do well on both ebay and Craiglist if you're willing to wait a bit. I picked up a mint Sansui B3000 for 60 bucks and a mint PL400 for 175. I prefer CL because I can audition it and skip the hassle and expense of shipping. But a few years ago I helped a bud steal a very nice amp on ebay. There have been some smoking deals in the Grage Sale section of this site recently as well. Good luck and have fun. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scott_home Posted February 16, 2012 Author Share Posted February 16, 2012 What do you think about Carver TFM series, NAD 2200 series, ADCOM gfa and Marantz MA500 or MA700? They are within my price range. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
leftwinger57 Posted February 16, 2012 Share Posted February 16, 2012 I went w/ an Adcom gfa 555 200wpc and never looked back .This amp is dead silent and could push any speakers that Klipsch puts out. I got mine for $300 at Audio Classics and it came slippery clean and ready to go. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scott_home Posted February 16, 2012 Author Share Posted February 16, 2012 What speakers do you use? I thought about gfa 555 but some people on this forum complain that gfa 555 is on the bright side. So I am not sure... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ousig Posted February 17, 2012 Share Posted February 17, 2012 I used to have the QSC RMS850 on my KLF20s. these things are efficient for sure but they LOVE power. With this amp there was 0 need for a sub at most listening levels. They could have easily handled more also sounded great at all volume levels and you can find these on Ebay for your price range http://www.qscaudio.com/products/amps/rmx/rmx.htm Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
amusingisthedawn Posted February 21, 2012 Share Posted February 21, 2012 I'm in the same situation, have been for a long time! I've been eyeing parasound 2 ch amps, but I don't think you can really go wrong with any quality amp. With all the advice, I've never seen someone go..."I bought this amp and it made my KLF's sound bad." Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
railtycoon Posted February 22, 2012 Share Posted February 22, 2012 I have been going through the same thing with a pair of KLF-30s. It all started when I bought the KLF-30s about three weeks ago. I have been using a Toshiba SA-850 receiver for about twenty years and I loved it. The problem was the KLF-30s are so efficient I couldn't turn the amp down enough at night while my wife slept. The SA-850 has one of those ALPS stepped resistor volume controls with the first and second steps being too quiet and the third step too loud. I dug out my old Luxman L-5 and hooked it up, not too bad, yet I just can't leave anything alone, I have to make it better, so I ordered the titanium mid and tweeter drivers from Klipsch. This is where the whole thing came crashing down. The sound was now very congested in the upper midrange and lower treble, there was little midrange, the speakers were very strident, the only thing that sounded OK was the bass. I couldn't get decent sound and almost went back to the phenolic midrange drivers. I was so disapointed I had thoughts of selling the KLF-30s. Fate took a hand when I was offered a second chance deal on eBay on a Harman Kardon PM665 integrated amp. I bought it and it arrived yesterday. After a trip to my work bench for a once over I installed it. The clouds parted and the stereo gods smiled on my system. The PM665 was the answer to everything. The sound is smooth, seperation is great (huge improvement in the soundstage), the mids are back, the highs are balanced and articulate and bass is tighter. The volume control works as I need it to and if needed there is a -20dB muting switch. A few other things I really like about the PM665 are: 1) Turnover controls for the bass and treble, you can select 200 or 400 Hz for bass and 2K or 6K for treble. 2) The amp is truly twin powered, two seperate power transformers and power supplies, like having two mono block amps. 3) It is powerful, 150 watts/channel into 8 or 4 ohms with good headroom. 4) It has pre-out & main-in jacks. 5) The loudness control is not your typical boomy bass, screachy highs affair, it boosts only bass at 50 Hz by changing the negative feedback of the amp, very cool and very effective, but I don't think I even need it. 6) It comes in silver or black to fit your tastes (I am a silver face guy). The KLF-30s can play quiet, moderate and rip your head off with this amp and do it while making me smile. I think you would love it with your KLF-20s. I paid $155 delivered so it is well within your budget. I also have a Carver TX-11a tuner on the way, it is supposed to be one of the best tuners ever, I hope it is what was promised by the seller and that it gets to me undamaged, if so, HOME RUN! [] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
t-man Posted February 23, 2012 Share Posted February 23, 2012 No surprise to me on the PM665. Those H/Ks are awesome. Great looks, great performance, and great price on the used market. I picked up a sweet PM645 Vxi on local CL for $20. It's amazing. Granted it's doing light duty in my office with the KG1s, but it is so effortless compared to the more expensive vintage Yamaha it replaced and sounds 10x better. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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