What amp for MA 200 silver ?

Davo5080

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I have a Denon DRA 800H amp driving MA silver 200 speakers and after initially being happy with the sound I am now after 3 months feeling that the amp is letting the speakers down as in there's not a lot of depth or sound stage, the treble detail is quite good but didn't seem to reach the hi hat sound. The bass is also lacking, very wooly. Sounds like I have put a blanket over the speakers.
I know this sounds a little strange because when I first setup I think I convinced myself that they sounded good.
Any ideas what would be a better streaming amp or at least with Bluetooth below £ £600 ? , sorry on a tight budget.
By the way I did try the Rotel A11 tribute amp, and although on paper is a better amp than the Denon DRA 800h it didn't impress me at all, the sound was so unatural.
 
I take it you have tried adjusting the tone controls to get a better sound balance. Could it be your room acoustics or speaker placement causing the issue? Pulling the speakers out into the room a little can really help.
I have not heard the DRA 800 personally but it should sound pretty reasonable with the Monitor Audio's, Generally Yamaha, Marantz and Denon work very well with Monitor Audio speakers.
I have the more expensive Denon PMA1600NE and it is an excellent sounding amp like the cheaper PMA800NE and PMA600 but these are pure audio 2 ch amps, not network amps.

I have owned the silver 200's and they are certainly not lacking in treble detail, in fact with my old Cambridge CX60 they had a little too much detail, and they are definitely not wooly sounding with the bass.
I am a little surprised you didn't think the Rotel was any better, I have also heard the Rotel A11 which did sound rather good at lower volumes (very detailed and spacious) but it does sound a little too polite and not so good when the volume was turned up high, and maybe it's not the best match for the silver 200's. Amplifier/speaker synergy is very important but sometimes there are compromises, you may have to accept the treble sounds nice with a particular combination but the bass not so much and visa versa, after all the DHA 800 is compromised a little as it is trying to be all things at the same time, amp , streamer bluetooth etc and those things can affect sound quality compared to a pure 2c amp with no bells and whistles.

Is the problem the same for all sources, streaming CD, tuner, Turntable, I find my CD playback is much better than streaming and my Turntable better than all of them so could it be the streaming part of the amp to blame if that is your primary source.

You could try to get hold of an Arcam SA10, Arcam work very well with Monitor Audio speakers, it does not have steaming built in but you can add a bluetooth adaptor Like the excellent iFi zen blue or when funds allow get a dedicated network streamer like the bluesound Node, this combination should give the best quality sound with the 200's.
Manufacturer Refurbished - Arcam SA10 Integrated Amplifier.

..Or you could have a look at the Nad C338 which has BT, and chromecast so you can stream music, however the NAD might seem a little too neutral sounding with the Monitor Audios.
As usual it is always best to try to get a demo at the dealers, many do stock monitor Audio's which is quite handy.
 
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I have a Denon DRA 800H amp driving MA silver 200 speakers and after initially being happy with the sound I am now after 3 months feeling that the amp is letting the speakers down as in there's not a lot of depth or sound stage, the treble detail is quite good but didn't seem to reach the hi hat sound. The bass is also lacking, very wooly. Sounds like I have put a blanket over the speakers.
I know this sounds a little strange because when I first setup I think I convinced myself that they sounded good.
Any ideas what would be a better streaming amp or at least with Bluetooth below £ £600 ? , sorry on a tight budget.
By the way I did try the Rotel A11 tribute amp, and although on paper is a better amp than the Denon DRA 800h it didn't impress me at all, the sound was so unatural.
I know we talked on the other thread. I do think a significant part of the Denon DRA800H’s budget has gone on the streaming, HDMI switching ability, Airplay licence, etc. And I think it’s the power supply and current that’s lacking, which means it gives a sort of “straight bat” delivery that lacks a bit of get up and go, so timing, rhythmic ability and dynamics in particular suffer.

And the MA Silver 200’s are not too difficult too drive either compared to some speakers in that price range.

I could heartily recommend my Quad Vena II amp. I think it’s a superb all-rounder. It’s tonally spot on for my taste, but it has real oomph, dynamism and quite a meaty powerful sound. Its quoted power figure of 45wpc is very conservative indeed!

But it’s not a bare bones amplifier either: it comes with Bluetooth, USB (for direct connection to a computer), 2 optical inputs, 1 coaxial input, 2 RCA analogue inputs and a phono input for turntable connection.

I personally use my laptop as its main source running Tidal and YouTube music.

New it comes in a little over budget at £699 (for the grey finish. About £100 extra for the white or black case). I picked my white Vena II up on Ebay for £500. I would avoid the more expensive Quad Vena II Play though. It’s wifi streaming app is not the best from reviews I’ve read. And I’d also avoid the Vena mark I, because the mark 2 improved the power supply quite a bit. It’s worth the upgrade over the mark 1. But I can’t fault the vanilla Vena II.
 
I take it you have tried adjusting the tone controls to get a better sound balance. Could it be your room acoustics or speaker placement causing the issue? Pulling the speakers out into the room a little can really help.
I have not heard the DRA 800 personally but it should sound pretty reasonable with the Monitor Audio's, Generally Yamaha, Marantz and Denon work very well with Monitor Audio speakers.
I have the more expensive Denon PMA1600NE and it is an excellent sounding amp like the cheaper PMA800NE and PMA600 but these are pure audio 2 ch amps, not network amps.

I have owned the silver 200's and they are certainly not lacking in treble detail, in fact with my old Cambridge CX60 they had a little too much detail, and they are definitely not wooly sounding with the bass.
I am a little surprised you didn't think the Rotel was any better, I have also heard the Rotel A11 which did sound rather good at lower volumes (very detailed and spacious) but it does sound a little too polite and not so good when the volume was turned up high, and maybe it's not the best match for the silver 200's. Amplifier/speaker synergy is very important but sometimes there are compromises, you may have to accept the treble sounds nice with a particular combination but the bass not so much and visa versa, after all the DHA 800 is compromised a little as it is trying to be all things at the same time, amp , streamer bluetooth etc and those things can affect sound quality compared to a pure 2c amp with no bells and whistles.

Is the problem the same for all sources, streaming CD, tuner, Turntable, I find my CD playback is much better than streaming and my Turntable better than all of them so could it be the streaming part of the amp to blame if that is your primary source.

You could try to get hold of an Arcam SA10, Arcam work very well with Monitor Audio speakers, it does not have steaming built in but you can add a bluetooth adaptor Like the excellent iFi zen blue or when funds allow get a dedicated network streamer like the bluesound Node, this combination should give the best quality sound with the 200's.
Manufacturer Refurbished - Arcam SA10 Integrated Amplifier.

..Or you could have a look at the Nad C338 which has BT, and chromecast so you can stream music, however the NAD might seem a little too neutral sounding with the Monitor Audios.
As usual it is always best to try to get a demo at the dealers, many do stock monitor Audio's which is quite handy.
Thank you so much for your reply and knowledge. Although I have a bit of know how, you guys are experts compared to me so I really appreciate all your advice thank you. Based on what you have said is probably wise to go for a more pure amp and get a Bluetooth adapter. Thank you once again
 
I take it you have tried adjusting the tone controls to get a better sound balance. Could it be your room acoustics or speaker placement causing the issue? Pulling the speakers out into the room a little can really help.
I have not heard the DRA 800 personally but it should sound pretty reasonable with the Monitor Audio's, Generally Yamaha, Marantz and Denon work very well with Monitor Audio speakers.
I have the more expensive Denon PMA1600NE and it is an excellent sounding amp like the cheaper PMA800NE and PMA600 but these are pure audio 2 ch amps, not network amps.

I have owned the silver 200's and they are certainly not lacking in treble detail, in fact with my old Cambridge CX60 they had a little too much detail, and they are definitely not wooly sounding with the bass.
I am a little surprised you didn't think the Rotel was any better, I have also heard the Rotel A11 which did sound rather good at lower volumes (very detailed and spacious) but it does sound a little too polite and not so good when the volume was turned up high, and maybe it's not the best match for the silver 200's. Amplifier/speaker synergy is very important but
I know we talked on the other thread. I do think a significant part of the Denon DRA800H’s budget has gone on the streaming, HDMI switching ability, Airplay licence, etc. And I think it’s the power supply and current that’s lacking, which means it gives a sort of “straight bat” delivery that lacks a bit of get up and go, so timing, rhythmic ability and dynamics in particular suffer.

And the MA Silver 200’s are not too difficult too drive either compared to some speakers in that price range.

I could heartily recommend my Quad Vena II amp. I think it’s a superb all-rounder. It’s tonally spot on for my taste, but it has real oomph, dynamism and quite a meaty powerful sound. Its quoted power figure of 45wpc is very conservative indeed!

But it’s not a bare bones amplifier either: it comes with Bluetooth, USB (for direct connection to a computer), 2 optical inputs, 1 coaxial input, 2 RCA analogue inputs and a phono input for turntable connection.

I personally use my laptop as its main source running Tidal and YouTube music.

New it comes in a little over budget at £699 (for the grey finish. About £100 extra for the white or black case). I picked my white Vena II up on Ebay for £500. I would avoid the more expensive Quad Vena II Play though. It’s wifi streaming app is not the best from reviews I’ve read. And I’d also avoid the Vena mark I, because the mark 2 improved the power supply quite a bit. It’s worth the upgrade over the mark 1. But I can’t fault the vanilla Vena II.
Hi
sometimes there are compromises, you may have to accept the treble sounds nice with a particular combination but the bass not so much and visa versa, after all the DHA 800 is compromised a little as it is trying to be all things at the same time, amp , streamer bluetooth etc and those things can affect sound quality compared to a pure 2c amp with no bells and whistles.

Is the problem the same for all sources, streaming CD, tuner, Turntable, I find my CD playback is much better than streaming and my Turntable better than all of them so could it be the streaming part of the amp to blame if that is your primary source.

You could try to get hold of an Arcam SA10, Arcam work very well with Monitor Audio speakers, it does not have steaming built in but you can add a bluetooth adaptor Like the excellent iFi zen blue or when funds allow get a dedicated network streamer like the bluesound Node, this combination should give the best quality sound with the 200's.
Manufacturer Refurbished - Arcam SA10 Integrated Amplifier.

..Or you could have a look at the Nad C338 which has BT, and chromecast so you can stream music, however the NAD might seem a little too neutral sounding with the Monitor Audios.
As usual it is always best to try to get a demo at the dealers, many do stock monitor Audio's which is quite handy.
Thank you so much for your reply and knowledge. Although I have a bit of know how, you guys are experts compared to me so I really appreciate all your advice thank you. Based on what you have said is probably wise
I know we talked on the other thread. I do think a significant part of the Denon DRA800H’s budget has gone on the streaming, HDMI switching ability, Airplay licence, etc. And I think it’s the power supply and current that’s lacking, which means it gives a sort of “straight bat” delivery that lacks a bit of get up and go, so timing, rhythmic ability and dynamics in particular suffer.

And the MA Silver 200’s are not too difficult too drive either compared to some speakers in that price range.

I could heartily recommend my Quad Vena II amp. I think it’s a superb all-rounder. It’s tonally spot on for my taste, but it has real oomph, dynamism and quite a meaty powerful sound. Its quoted power figure of 45wpc is very conservative indeed!

But it’s not a bare bones amplifier either: it comes with Bluetooth, USB (for direct connection to a computer), 2 optical inputs, 1 coaxial input, 2 RCA analogue inputs and a phono input for turntable connection.

I personally use my laptop as its main source running Tidal and YouTube music.

New it comes in a little over budget at £699 (for the grey finish. About £100 extra for the white or black case). I picked my white Vena II up on Ebay for £500. I would avoid the more expensive Quad Vena II Play though. It’s wifi streaming app is not the best from reviews I’ve read. And I’d also avoid the Vena mark I, because the mark 2 improved the power supply quite a bit. It’s worth the upgrade over the mark 1. But I can’t fault the vanilla Vena II.

go for a more pure amp and get a Bluetooth adapter. Thank you once again
I know we talked on the other thread. I do think a significant part of the Denon DRA800H’s budget has gone on the streaming, HDMI switching ability, Airplay licence, etc. And I think it’s the power supply and current that’s lacking, which means it gives a sort of “straight bat” delivery that lacks a bit of get up and go, so timing, rhythmic ability and dynamics in particular suffer.

And the MA Silver 200’s are not too difficult too drive either compared to some speakers in that price range.

I could heartily recommend my Quad Vena II amp. I think it’s a superb all-rounder. It’s tonally spot on for my taste, but it has real oomph, dynamism and quite a meaty powerful sound. Its quoted power figure of 45wpc is very conservative indeed!

But it’s not a bare bones amplifier either: it comes with Bluetooth, USB (for direct connection to a computer), 2 optical inputs, 1 coaxial input, 2 RCA analogue inputs and a phono input for turntable connection.

I personally use my laptop as its main source running Tidal and YouTube music.

New it comes in a little over budget at £699 (for the grey finish. About £100 extra for the white or black case). I picked my white Vena II up on Ebay for £500. I would avoid the more expensive Quad Vena II Play though. It’s wifi streaming app is not the best from reviews I’ve read. And I’d also avoid the Vena mark I, because the mark 2 improved the power supply quite a bit. It’s worth the upgrade over the mark 1. But I can’t fault the vanilla Vena II.
Hi,
Yes i think you prompted me to look for another amp to be honest so just trying to get all the advice i can from all you guys who have way better knowledge than me. I'll definitely look into the Quad Vena 2. I'll let you know how I get on. Truly appreciate the time and effort you have given for a reply, thank you so much.
 
Totally forgot about the Quad Vena, it's a great little amp and should pair well with the Monitor Audio's.
 

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