Amp advice ahoy.

[darinpix]

Greetings and salutations, dudes and dudettes. I having been doing a lot of lurking - and this is my first post.

My Plinius 2.4 & 3100 combo - which I don't mind at all - is slowly dying. One channel is literally 4 times louder than the other, the balance knobs are coming off, and, well, its pretty bloody old.

So, I am looking for a new amp, to drive Proac Studio 125s.

Ideally, a decent integrated, to help keep the wife happy. Something with an HT bypass would be great, as there will be a projector in my life soonish. An MC phono stage would be good, but not essential. Budget? Well, less than 2K - but I am happy to buy secondhand.

I have seen a Musical Fidelity A3 for $500 - which looks pretty tempting, as well as a Krell KAV 300i for $1600 - equally tempting. The Musical Fidelity M3i also looks purty...

Thoughts? Suggestions? Recommendations?

Your advice would be much appreciated.

[LHH]

I can't comment on the MF M3i, but I wouldn't go for the MF A3. The ProAc's are lovely speakers, but are a little loose at the bottom end and need more control than the somewhat soft A3 will give them (the A3 CD player, on the other hand, worked very well with the 125s).

I'd be on the lookout for a second hand Plinius 9100 (or 9200). As an alternative, it may be worth checking out one of the class D offerings from Wyred 4 Sound, I have the SX-1000 mono blocks and have been extremely happy with them. The Wyred 4 Sound STI-500 should come in at close to your budget at the current exchange rate. The Aus dealer is Deep Hz Audio and is very good to deal with:

http://www.deephzaudio.com/Wyred%204%20Sound%20Australia%20price%20page.html

[darinpix]

Thanks for the reply, and your opinion of the A3, as I couldn't find much info online.

Second hand Plinius gear basically doesn't happen in Australia, otherwise I would happily upgrade, as the 3100 has been great for a long time.

The Wyred 4 Sound amp looks very interesting indeed - although it has pretty much the worst name ever. I will investigate.

Does anyone have an opinon on the Krell KAV 300i - don't often see them second hand - and I am kinda tempted...

[Ernie]

The Krell review well, but they are getting on in age. The W4S will be easier on your power bill.

[horn-loaded]

Interested in the Wyred4Sound amp myself, as a possible replacement for my Perreaux 160i - but not this year.

That Class D technology seems to be getting better with time, and as Ernie alludes to, efficient in terms of turning watts into sound waves. A bass player I know has a tiny Class D amp driving a quad box which has plenty of low end welly.

[Ernie]

Yep, a lot of subwoofer amps are Class D. One of the most popular applications for Class D in the early days. Now their usefulness has broadened immensely.

[Michael Wong]

Does anyone have an opinon on the Krell KAV 300i - don't often see them second hand - and I am kinda tempted...

Long time KAV-300i user here.

A great little amp.

Not as forgiving as many but not quite of the take-no-prisoners school of the big Krells.
It will tell you in no uncertain terms what your source is doing and has enough balls to handle almost any loudspeaker.

Great for reviewers :)

Runs in Class AB so won't have a huge impact on your power bill.

Old it may be but to my ears sounds better than anything Class D and quite different to any Plinius/Perreaux etc.

[too_tall]

Michael, might be time to listen to some W4S amplifiers -they are pretty good considering they are a class D amplifier. I heard one of the STI1000 stereo integrated amplifiers beside a Plinius 9200 and the W4S clearly was superior to my ears. You have a truly stupid amount of amplification - they would happily run most PA speakers - indeed, over 1Kw into 4 ohms is kinda stupid for home audio applications. However, the sound quality is what counts, right?

[Michael Wong]

Is there an NZ distributor ?

[LHH]

Deep Hz Audio in Aus has page dedicated to NZ sales, so I'm guessing they're it.

[Ernie]

Some think that NZ is another state of AU. [rolleyes]

[too_tall]

I thought that Au was the third island of NZ? whenever I go there it appears that there are more Kiwis than aussies there......... Reminds me of a famous quote from Muldoon....

Michael, DeepHz are pretty easy to deal with - if you want to listen to one.... talk to them.

[darinpix]

Michael, DeepHz are pretty easy to deal with - if you want to listen to one.... talk to them.[/QUOTE]

He sure is - I emailed at 7am and got a reply within about 30 minutes. He is based in Lilydale, in Melbourne -so I will be going in to have a listen

[LHH]

Let us know how you get on. Will you be taking the 125s in with you? I've always liked the smaller ProAcs and would be interested to know how well they match with the W4S kit. :)

[darinpix]

I don't think I will be taking them. But I will share my experience.