Cornwalled Posted April 23, 2006 Share Posted April 23, 2006 Hey Guys, I am in a bit of a quandary. The Parasound HCA-1000A amp that I was borrowing from my father to drive my Cornwalls failed today. As it is not mine, I'm not going to open it up and attempt any repair. So basically, I am looking for a power amp for Cornwalls. I am using an Audio Experience Symphonies+ tube preamp with Telefunken 12AX7s and 6x4 rectifier that I bought from 427rs, and a Marantz CD Player. The Cornwalls are 1980 completely stock, in about a 14x14x9 foot room. I don't listen loud, and value detail and smoothness over volume, so high wattage is not necessary. My budget is about $300, maybe a little higher. I know that's not a lot, but that's really about the most I can swing right now. As it is, I'm selling some stuff on ebay to free up a little extra cash. I figure I have two decisions to make: 1. Tube or solid state- if I go solid state I'd want to go with a late model amp. 2. If I go tube however, do I go newer, or older? Also, I tend to listen to mostly singer/songwriter stuff (Joni Mitchell, Kate Bush, etc.) and Jazz (Miles Davis, Coltrane, old Herbie Hancock, etc.) I don't know which tube circuit would be most appropriate for my situation. Something that's not too "hard sounding" I guess would be the best way to describe it. I have heard that 6500s and KT-88s can tend to sound kinda hard/brittle, is this right? I don't want something that sounds too muddy though, as my room has a bit of a bass resonance, so any amp that's really bassy sounding is going to exaggerate my problem. Some amps I have considered so far: Anthem Amp1 on Audiogon: http://cls.audiogon.com/cgi-bin/cls.pl?ampstube&1149453291 Belles Soloist 5: http://cls.audiogon.com/cgi-bin/cls.pl?ampstran&1149871370 I know this is a difficult question, so that's why I'm posing it to you guys, who have dealt with more equipment then I have! Any thoughts or suggestions you have would be greatly appreciated. Thank you! Jon Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cornwalled Posted April 23, 2006 Author Share Posted April 23, 2006 I have heard of a few of you guys using Aragon to power Heritage gear. Anyone familiar with the 2004? http://cls.audiogon.com/cgi-bin/cls.pl?ampstran&1150915361 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
colterphoto1 Posted April 24, 2006 Share Posted April 24, 2006 Get with BSButton- Peach and Aragon into CW- system is smooth and rocks when you need it. M Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cornwalled Posted April 24, 2006 Author Share Posted April 24, 2006 Hey Mike, Yeah, that does sound cool, unfortunately we're a ways away from each other! No other comments? I'm surprised, I thought this would have opened up quite a bit of comments! -Jon Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Colin Posted April 24, 2006 Share Posted April 24, 2006 Both the Pass X250 and the NOSvalue VRDs the best I have heard on raw Corns and modded LaScalas Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cornwalled Posted April 24, 2006 Author Share Posted April 24, 2006 Both those amps are WAY out of my price range though. The Pass, at 3600, is about 10 times my average price! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KungFuNat Posted April 24, 2006 Share Posted April 24, 2006 look for an old threshold stasis s/150,s/200.. etc. or a nakamichi stasis amp like the pa-5 or pa-7.. my pa-5 absolutely rules with my cornwalls, but needed a little work.. they are all based off of nelson pass' original stasis circuit and they have a smooth dynamic sound. aparently nakamichi used to reverse the grounds alot at the factory. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KungFuNat Posted April 24, 2006 Share Posted April 24, 2006 edit , doubble post Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jheis Posted April 24, 2006 Share Posted April 24, 2006 You might want to take a look at (or give a listen to) a B&K ST-140 or a ST-202. You should be able to find a ST-140 for ~$200, a bit more for a ST-202. Or maybe even a ST-125.2 (newer model) - I got one for just under $300 on ebay recently. B&K is built in the USA and their stuff is solid and bullet proof (and it sounds good with Klipsch). James Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BS Button Posted April 24, 2006 Share Posted April 24, 2006 At slightly over your budget, I'm very impressed with Aragon 2004, either one MKI or MkII...and the B&K is no slouch, either. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tillmbil Posted April 24, 2006 Share Posted April 24, 2006 The $300.00 mark is tough. What I would buy is an older pioneer SX1250. Great sound, lots of power, and plenty of adjustments. Truly the best of pioneer. For tubes, at the price you can buy a Dynaco ST70. Not a bad tube sound at all, but you can do better bass wise. The EL34 just doesn't really pound out the bass. If that really is your budget, you could not go wrong with the pioneer. I own three HK twin powered amps, and like the pioneer better. I have been researching the DH200 and 220 by David Hafler though. Seems like it would be a great choice. Maybe someone else will chime in. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stormin Posted April 24, 2006 Share Posted April 24, 2006 I own the big brother 4004 mk II. Never tried a peach in front of it but have an audible illusions L1. Marantz 2325 is alot of fun. HK 930 has its moments as well. But the new flavor of the month is a Luxman L 580 integrate. Now that is one sweet sounding unit with some real drive. A much clearer window into the music than either of the old ss receivers. Its class A the first 8 watts and with my chorus II's at 6 watts this thing is pounding out some serious bass. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chops Posted April 24, 2006 Share Posted April 24, 2006 I have heard of a few of you guys using Aragon to power Heritage gear. Anyone familiar with the 2004? http://cls.audiogon.com/cgi-bin/cls.pl?ampstran&1150915361 All I'll say is that I WISH I still had my 2004 Mk II. That was a sweet amp that I should have never sold. I'd see if you can get that guy to sell that 2004 for your $300. It doesn't hurt to ask.[] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cornwalled Posted April 25, 2006 Author Share Posted April 25, 2006 Hey Guys, Thanks for the suggestions, this gives me something to go on. I just got in from a day consuming trip to New York that was only supposed to take between 3 and 4 hours. Between traffic, accidents, construction, and plain old getting lost, I had all strikes against me. I'll check these out tomorrow, and see what I can figure out. The B&Ks look promising, I did find some on A'gon cheap. -Jon Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daddy Dee Posted April 25, 2006 Share Posted April 25, 2006 Some folks might well scoff at this suggestion... but it would be worth a try to check out the Teac digital amp. It is just about $100, but with a nice tube preamp sounds fabulous to my ears. I've listened to some very nice Khorn systems powered with this little rascal and thought it sounded very good. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SilverSport Posted April 25, 2006 Share Posted April 25, 2006 ...I'll second what NatGun says and add...Nakamichi receivers like the TA-2, TA-3 and TA-4...all STASIS designs based on Nelson Pass...My TA-2 sounds great and is "only" 55wpc...Tuner Amps (TA)...enjoy...(these can be found on eBay for around a $100-$300 bux by the by) Bill Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pmsummer Posted April 25, 2006 Share Posted April 25, 2006 Some folks might well scoff at this suggestion... but it would be worth a try to check out the Teac digital amp. It is just about $100, but with a nice tube preamp sounds fabulous to my ears. I've listened to some very nice Khorn systems powered with this little rascal and thought it sounded very good. Which model TEAC are you suggesting? I've heard a couple of recommendations, but I haven't seen anything specific. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
3dzapper Posted April 25, 2006 Share Posted April 25, 2006 Some folks might well scoff at this suggestion... but it would be worth a try to check out the Teac digital amp. It is just about $100, but with a nice tube preamp sounds fabulous to my ears. I've listened to some very nice Khorn systems powered with this little rascal and thought it sounded very good. Scoff![] Just joking. The little $100 Teac A-L 700P amps are good for the money. They are just not in the same league as the others bandied about in this thread. Rick Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cornwalled Posted April 25, 2006 Author Share Posted April 25, 2006 The Nak Stasis amps and the B&Ks both look promising. Just waiting for my tax return to come in, Grrr. Did my taxes a month ago at least! In the meantime, I can continue to research. As much as I'm sure I'd like the Aragon, I fear it may be out ofmy price range, we'll have to see. -Jon Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cornwalled Posted April 26, 2006 Author Share Posted April 26, 2006 Hey Guys! Good times! Unwilling to give up on it, I opened up the Parasound amp today, and discovered 4 blown fuses. I replaced them, and all is well. Turns out it's not such a good idea to change speaker leads while the amp's on. Duh! So at any rate, I don't have to buy a new amp, which is good, as I love this amp, such a smooth punchy sound. I highly recommend the HCA-1000A. I saw on Audiogon they seem to go around $275-300, a bargain for an amp of this caliber. -Jon Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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