[bass007]

I going to do a huge upgrade, and condering the following:


Classe SSP-300 £3750
Classe CA5200 £6400

Or

Parasound Halo Stereo Ampliifer: A21 in a Bridge config X 5 so each channel will have 750w in 8ohms £7500

Parasound C2 Processor. £3000

Speakers are M&K S-150 and Tripoles

Any thoughts?

[leon]

halo its better looking

[recruit]

Originally Posted by bass007

I going to do a huge upgrade, and condering the following:


Classe SSP-300 £3750
Classe CA5200 £6400

Or

Parasound Halo Stereo Ampliifer: A21 in a Bridge config X 5 so each channel will have 750w in 8ohms £7500

Parasound C2 Processor. £3000

Speakers are M&K S-150 and Tripoles

Any thoughts?

With you're speakers i would certainly go for the Parasound Halo range as the Classe are easily the better amps but most definitly wasted on the M&K speakers, and personally forget the A21's in mono and just go for 1 parasound A51 and 1 parasound A21 or A23 as this will be more than sufficient for the 150's...

What the Hell, sell you're S-150's and go for the powered versions as they will give the best performance as the amps are matched specifically for the 150 speakers

[bass007]

I am looking for a more harder exciting sound rather than a laid back boring presentation.

[gavp]

I prefer the Classe looks

http://www.hometheatermag.com/preamp...ors/706classe/


Have you considered Meridian G68, Lexicon MC8, Bryston SP2, Arcam AV9....

All the above have power amps. Other than aesthetics I wouldn't mono amp all the channels, its the front 3 that need the power IMHO and will save you money, my ideal combo would be 2 x Bel Canto Evo 2's and a Bel Canto Evo 4 (centre channel bridged and a mono for the fronts), one of the best amps I've heard.

I can only vouch for Meridian and can deifinately say the sound is awesome, Meridian and Lexicon are the class leaders in my opinion, I've read Meridian is better if you want to listen to music and watch films whilst the Lexicon is slightly better suited for movie viewing.

[JohnWH]

I'd hold off on the C2 processor as their customer services/sales dept recently indicated that they would be introducing a new processor this year....

[rags]

The Parasound and M&K S150 combination works well, but what you are proposing is massive overkill. A Parasound A21 for each S150 would not be money well spent. One A51 will run five S150's comfortably, giving them more than enough power and it will probably sound just as good as your proposal.

I personally wouldnt by a new processor as anything available at the moment is likely to have a short lifespan. The new HD formats cant be that far away....

[zero7]

I'd second what Rags said, I have the M&K S-150 and Parasound combination a C1 and 5250, this works really well and I really do not crave more power, however I would like to thy the A51 just to see if my ears can tell any difference.

[danny daniell]

I got invited around to have a listen to Gizlaroc`s system a while back & have never been so pinned to the chair . I think he was packing a Meridian 568.2 processor & Cinepro power amp at the time.Definitely a worthy combination to add to your short list .

[gavp]

I ended up buying Giz's Cinepro, 350 watt x 6 or 1200 x 3 Bridged and can confirm it is uber powerfu

I believe there is an EAD Powermaster for sale at Horsham HIfi for around 2500k 400 watt x 5 channels, spend the same again on a 2nd hand/ex demo processor and you've got another 5K to spend on a couple of of subwoofers!

[danny daniell]

Smart move Gav.....that is one smokin` power amp!

[bass007]

At the moment as I said I have the Lexicon MC12B which I really don't like.

Recruit, when you say the Classe would be wasted on the M&k's why?

Rags: The reson why I proposed the 5 X Parasound A21 is because one of the best systems I heard was with 7 X Lexicon 501 Mono bllks with the M&K s-150 and that sound awesome, I cannot afford the Bryston monoblocks and I'm not sure if the bryston 5 channel will give me the power and excitemnt that I'm looking for, I want to be pinned to my seat when watching an action film.

[danny daniell]

Why not have a look around for a used Cinepro? Think they go at the £1500 mark.

[gavp]

Link for Horsham Hi-Fi:

http://www.projectorsareus.co.uk/

http://www.audioreview.com/cat/ampli...8_1583crx.aspx

http://www.hometheaterhifi.com/volum...-3-page-2.html

Cinepro's are rarer than rockin horse *!?% in the UK although you can source them from here:

http://cineprotheater.com/

Or you could go crazy and go for some Krell FPB's:

http://www.centralaudio.co.uk/

A few options for you!
Still say the Meridian's offer a powerful, punchy dynamic sound although I'm surprised you doin't rate the MC12, maybe an 861 or the new Halcro SSP100:

http://www.halcro.com/logic/productsSSP100.asp

If you go with the Classe go to be the SSP 600 or if your feeling flush the SSP 900 ($25,000!)

http://www.cinenow.com/us/news-2266.html

Interested to know how you get on.

[bass007]

Hi GAVP, notice you have a Meridian G68 how does that sound?

[gavp]

Literally just got it!

Going to sort out the room correction this week as I've been listening without to assess the difference.

First impressions are very good but need another week before before passing judgement.......