New Speakers On The Way Need An Amp

[bruny]

Got some new Monitor Audio Silver 6 speakers on order and need an Integrated Amp. I've upgraded my front 3 speakers to silver 6 floorstanding and the silver centre. I will use them in a 5.1 set up with the BRFX rears. leaning more towards music 70% movies 30%. I have a Yamaha RX-V2065 for A/V duties that I use for music at the moment. sounds pretty good but I'm wanting to incorporate a stereo integrated amp in to the mix, to see if I could improve the sound quality. Ideally would like an amp with HT Bypass but not essential as could get a switch, not ideal but if needs must then I would go that way. room size is 5mx4.5m.does anyone have any recommendations on good matches with these speakers. most of my music is streamed from a NAS. don't have a turntable. all Flac, DSD, and some Mp3. looking to spend in the region of £1000 could stretch a touch more for the right match. The amp I demoed the speakers on was a Sim Audio moon, not sure of the model, obviously they sounded wonderful. but well out of my price range. I understand these speakers like a lot of power but open to suggestions on that point. any recommendations or input of any kind would be most welcome.

Amps I've been looking at are as follows

musical fidelity m3si
creek evolution 50A (not sure if it's powerful enough)
Exposure 2010S2D (not sure if this has HT bypass)
Naim Nait 5si
Primare I22
Roksan K3 an K2BT
Rega Elex-R
Marantz PM8005
Arcam FMJ A29

anyone have or heard any of these matched with the silver 6

 

[bruny]

thoughts anyone, would I notice much improvement by adding an integrated amp.

 

[Don Dadda]

Mate, that is an impressive list.
I'm not a great fan of MA speakers so it wouldn't be fair for me to comment but anyone of those amps would so nicely.
To help others narrow down the list, What your music taste?
You may find that a particular combo suits your taste of music than others.

Ultimately, you need to demo them if possible as that is a lot of money to give over on somebody else's say so.

As for any improvement over the 2065 - yes. How much of an improvement depends on your expectations.

 

[bruny]

Hi Don
thanks for the reply. yeah I'm going to try to demo as many as I can, obviously won't get through all of them. as for music taste, wow there's a huge selection. mainly acoustic, electronic, jazz, female vocalists, some pop, and a little rock music. going to try for a while with RX-V2065 see how it sounds before I make a decision. was just looking for some guidance as to which amps would pair nicely with those speakers. as I hear they prefer a warm sounding amp, don't know which of the list is warm or bright. I've not long got back into listening to music seriously and trying to get a decent set up, as much as finances will allow. do you think some of those on list will be powerful enough only about 70-80 Wpc. I won't have them overly loud. read they liked a lot of power is this true. what would be the best way to connect a subwoofer to the system. could I leave it connected to the AVR or to the stereo amp.

 

[Don Dadda]

Warm/Bright....That will depended on who's listening to them, but from my experience, Marantz and Naim could be classed on the warm side. I have no idea about the others so hopefully, owners of those could chime in
MA speakers, for me, lean towards bright sounding and wouldn't want to pair them up with a bright sounding amp. There's a good chance it will become fatiguing after a while of listening but if you like it that way then great.

70wpc is plenty and don't see any of those amps having an issue driving your MA's though the creek may struggle if pushed beyond its capabilities but by then, you wouldn't or couldn't be in the same room for too long without ear protection unless you have a desire to have hearing problem .

Yes, do try the 2065 and see how that fairs. i would always encourage that first as it may save money if you are happy with it.
If you intend to have the sub for both stereo and AVR, look for one that high level inputs as well as a Low level input. Low level for AVR and high level for stereo amp. BK subwoofers are ones that have both and can be considered.
In saying that, when listening to music and though a sub can give deeper bass, the MA Silver 6 should be capable of providing enough low end grunt to suit the need without the help of a sub.

 

[Cribbster]

I would echo Don's comments. The MA speakers are bright and will suffer with a bright amp. Avoid pairing with something like Cyrus which are bright and the combination is very harsh on the ears. My personal experience is that Naim are not great. To that list you may also want to consider the new Audiolab 8300 amp. Not heard one yet but the initial story seems to be that it is a much improved sound over the old 8200. However, as is always the case, listen with your own ears as the most important thing is what it sounds like to you.

 

[bruny]

Cheers Don and Cribbster. definitely going to listen to as many as I can. thanks for the info that 70 WPC would be sufficient Don. I wasn't sure if that would be enough as the specs for the speakers are 60 - 150 watts RMS and I thought that 70 was to close to the bottom end of the spec. like I said earlier I won't be playing them to loud. not a bass head. If I can get my hands on the Audiolab 8300 I'll give it a listen Cribbster.

 

[bruny]

Silver 6 collected and set up,They sound pretty good with RX-V2065 so no hurry for a stereo amp. what settings are best. I have set them the fronts to small with a crossover of 100Hz does that sound about right. only got to hear with Arcam A29 as they had very little stock left. quite a few people must be getting amps for Christmas. sounded very nice with Arcam.