amp for paradigm studio 60

H

hsumix

Enthusiast
Looking at buying an amp for my system...not sure where to start. Does anyone have any thoughts or experience on what amp would go best w/ my Paradigm Studio 60?
 
ImcLoud

ImcLoud

Audioholic Ninja
Is this just for music, as in a single pair of 60's? Are you looking for an amplifier for your preamp or an all in one receiver? And what is your budget?


Them are mildly efficient speakers 90db {I think} , 8ohm, and can handle 200+ watts... so they are pretty easy to drive...

If you want just an amp, I would say the Emotiva UPA200, XPA200, and XPR200 are all good choices depending on budget...

also MARANTZ MM7025 STEREO POWER AMP **DEMO** at Music Direct is a good deal and would be nice paired with a MARANTZ NA7004 NETWORK ENABLED DAC at Music Direct and one of these bundles MARANTZ PM5004 & CD5004 BUNDLE at Music Direct would make an awesome 2 channel music system...
 
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hsumix

Enthusiast
Yes this would be mostly for music. I'm just running a 2.1 system right now. I would add this to my preamp...I have a Onkyo receiver already. As far as budget...hhhmmm...maybe $1000-$1500.
 
ImcLoud

ImcLoud

Audioholic Ninja
OK, so I think with that budget I would personally go with these mono blocks XPA-1L | Emotiva Audio | High-end audio components for audiophiles and videophiles, spanning 2-channel music systems, as well as 5.1 and 7.1 home theaters. Products include multichannel amplifiers, stereo amplifiers, and monoblock amplifiers, as well because I had a chance to play with them recently and I was amazed... plus I am an Emotiva guy... value for what you get is far beyond any other company out there..

Now if you dont care about the class A function {which I personally enjoyed} then 2 of these will be nice http://shop.emotiva.com/collections/amplifiers/products/xpa100

If you dont care about the separation and zero cross talk of the mono blocks, then this will serve you the most power per channel http://shop.emotiva.com/collections/amplifiers/products/xpa2 but you will have to wait for it and the 1l since they are sold out rite now...

If you want to spend considerably less and think 150 watts will be enough I love these mom blocks http://www.parts-express.com/pe/showdetl.cfm?partnumber=300-812&utm_source=google&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=pla you can get 2 for around $300 and they sound great... Actually an emotiva design, used to be called the bpa-1

other honorable mentions would be Outlaw 2200 mon blocks {$700 per pair}, I like the emos better and give a little more power...

http://www.sherbourn.com/collections/audiophile/products/pa2250
 
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H

hsumix

Enthusiast
ImcLoud, thank you very much for the feedback. Had not thought about going to a mono block at all. Really appreciate it! Will definitely research this.
 
Steve81

Steve81

Audioholics Five-0
If you dont care about the separation and zero cross talk of the mono blocks, then this will serve you the most power per channel XPA-2 | 300W x 2 | Emotiva Audio | High-end audio components for audiophiles and videophiles, spanning 2-channel music systems, as well as 5.1 and 7.1 home theaters. Products include multichannel amplifiers, stereo amplifiers, and monoblock amplifier but you will have to wait for it and the 1l since they are sold out rite now...
FWIW, the XPA-2 performed exceptionally well in AH's bench testing in terms of crosstalk (and pretty much everything else):
Emotiva XPA-2 Measurements and Analysis | Audioholics

The XPA-2 produced surprisingly excellent crosstalk measurements (>140dB at 1kHz) with only a gradual rise with increasing frequency because of capacitive coupling. This is the best crosstalk measurement I’ve ever measured in an amplifier and despite the XPA-2 having a singular centralized power supply, the channel to channel isolation was on par with the best monoblock amplifiers I’ve ever seen!
 
ImcLoud

ImcLoud

Audioholic Ninja
I dont think that unit has preouts, unless you are running on zone 2

If I had a pair of 60s and a $1500 budget for a nice musical system I would buy...

http://shop.emotiva.com/collections/processors/products/usp1
http://shop.emotiva.com/collections/amplifiers/products/xpa200
and
https://www.svsound.com/subwoofers/sealed-box/sb12-nsd#.UctcdfmUQ9g

that would be a decent sounding 2.1 system with your 60s for music and be around $1500

I know you said you had a sub, which one do you own already... what do you use for a source, Ipod, cd player, tuner?
 
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Cos

Cos

Audioholic Samurai
Which version of the Studio 60s do you have (1-5) I had a set of the Studio 60v3 and was driving them with a PVA 7 120w amp and that had plenty of juice to spare for my room size.

You don't need a lot of juice to drive those speakers, so you have a lot of options. Any decent receiver: Marantz / Denon / Yamaha will be able to drive those just fine. I drive my Paradigm setup with 125w Parasound Amps in about a 19x16 room just fine and have 0 complaints.

If you want separates, look at the Parasound Halo A23. Its a nice little 2 channel amp which you can usually find for around 500-700 on audiogon.
 
H

hsumix

Enthusiast
ImcLoud: I don't use zone 2 on my receiver. My sub is the Hsu VTF-3 MK-3. My music comes from my Mac mini (apple lossless) and if I have an acutal cd then i run it thru my cheap blu-ray player...i know it's not the best but all i have for now.
 
H

hsumix

Enthusiast
Thanks Cos! I have v5 of the stuido 60. I'll check into that Parasound.
 
S

sharkman

Full Audioholic
I have 2 different pairs of Paradigms and a 3rd pair that I sold off, though neither are the pair you have. Paradigm can tend to be somewhat brighter/open sounding and the sound qualities of some solid state designs do not match up well with them. Anthem, Paradigm's sister amp company, does not have this somewhat harsh SS sound, neither does Parasound, I own the Halo A21. I had an Emotiva amp but had to sell it for this reason. Just one person's experience though.
 
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hsumix

Enthusiast
ImcLoud: I have no idea. To be honest I'm somewhat of a rookie when it comes to this stuff. I've just started researching all this so I'm learning as I go.
 
H

hsumix

Enthusiast
Thanks sharkman. Good to hear of your experience. I like the brightness of Paragdigm so I think I could enjoy 'anthem' very easily.
 
Cos

Cos

Audioholic Samurai
I thought he was looking to upgrade his current receiver, if you have the 608, then you can't expand. I hear a lot of people say that the paradigms sound bright, I don't hear it, and is there measurement data to support this?
 
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ImcLoud

ImcLoud

Audioholic Ninja
So this is a moot point here, that receiver will not take an external amplifier, so start there. New receiver with preouts, refer back to my post with the preamp, or if this is going to be upgraded for movies and tv, go with a new avr, like the pioneer 1222K thats on sale for $499... then you may like how much power they give you..

The paradigm can sound brite, but a friend of mine has a pair powered with a tube amp, sounds awesome, like a totally different speaker...
 

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