Good matching amp for Dynaudio Focus 110

[smitty78]

After auditioning various speakers, I have decided to add some Dynaudio Focus 110 bookshelves along with the 200C center channel to my setup. The demo amplifier that was used was a Plinius 9200 integrated. It was a very good combination but a bit pricey for an integrated unit, IMO. I would rather have a 3 or 5 channel seperate for when I decide to add the Focus 220s later on. This way I can use the 110s for surround duty. I haven't had the chance to audition the Dyns with anything other than the Plinius, so my question is what amplifiers pair well with the Dyns? I am looking for a fairly linear sounding amp, leaning slightly towards the warm side..if anything. I wouldn't mind extra headroom, as the Focus 110/220s are quite demanding. I would like to keep it under $2500. I would even consider buying used on audiogon/ebay. Thanks in advance.

 

[cfrizz]

Wow nice setup! My next set of towers will be the Focus 220's. Look on Audiogon for Sunfire, Rotel, B & K amps. those are 4ohm speakers so make sure you get at least 200wpc to make sure they have plenty of headroom.

What veneer did you get for the speakers? I love their Rosewood.

 

[Davemcc]

I've been running my Focus 140's with a Rotel RMB-1075 with no issues. It's plenty loud enough without introducing audible distortion. I'm quite happy with it although I sometimes wish I had more power (purely for ego's sake). The Rotel RMB-1095 falls well under your budget and is quite the powerhouse.

 

[Chicagorep]

I went by the Dynaudio booth at this past Cedia and noticed they were using Parasound Halo amps to drive some over their speakers. I don't know if there is a better endorement than that.

 

[smitty78]

those are 4ohm speakers so make sure you get at least 200wpc to make sure they have plenty of headroom.

What veneer did you get for the speakers? I love their Rosewood.

I was thinking the same thing, about 200 wpc should be fine. It may seem like overkill at first but should make the 220s really shine. So far I haven't purchased them. I just finally narrowed it down to these speakers recently after auditioning many speakers for months. I will most likely go for the maple finish. They should look nice with our decor.

I've been running my Focus 140's with a Rotel RMB-1075 with no issues. It's plenty loud enough without introducing audible distortion. I'm quite happy with it although I sometimes wish I had more power (purely for ego's sake). The Rotel RMB-1095 falls well under your budget and is quite the powerhouse.

That's funny because I've been watching the Rotel 1075/95 on Ebay and Audiogon these last few days. They look like solid amps for a reasonable price. How would you describe the sonic characteristics of the Rotel with the Dyns?

I went by the Dynaudio booth at this past Cedia and noticed they were using Parasound Halo amps to drive some over their speakers. I don't know if there is a better endorement than that.

The Halos are at the upper end of my budget even used (at least the A51 model, I beleive it is) but may be worth looking into if I can find a better price than I've seen so far. I hear good things about the Halo series.



It's a shame that I don't have the opportunity to hear any of these power amps with the Dyns before I buy. I have quite a long drive just to hear real speakers around here. The silver lining of this cloud is most of the better amps hold thier value good and I could always play the swap game if I'm not satisfied. At least I finally found the right set of speakers. The Dalis (Ikon and Mentor series) gave them a run for the money but in the end, the Focus series sold me on thier musical and punchy yet linear sound without the coloration you hear in similar style speakers of this quality. The way each instrument seperated from one another and gave an accurate, life-like sound was an amazing experience. I didn't bother to listen to the Contour series, they were out of my budget and I'm not sure I even want to hear them. lol

 

[Socialcircle]

Ati 1506

I have Dynaudio Contour 1.3MKIIs and a Dynaudio Contour Center that is being driven by an ATI 1506 with the channels bridged. Then I currently have my receiver driving my 2 rears.

My plan is to find a used Parasound Halo 21 and let it drive me 2 fronts and then let my ATI drive my center and rears. And I will upgrade to a pre/pro.

The ATI bridged drives the Dyns very well. And ATIs can be found at very reasonable prices on Audiogon from time to time.

 

[smitty78]

The ATI bridged drives the Dyns very well. And ATIs can be found at very reasonable prices on Audiogon from time to time.

Thanks for chiming in. I'm glad to find some owners of Dyns. There's a Dyn thread over at another board that I never bothered to join. Very little info on what folks are pairing with thier speakers.

If you guys don't mind, could you all be a bit more descriptive on how your brand of choice sounds. Not simply "bright" or "warm". I know each amp has thier own signature sound. I'm not trying to be a d*ck or anything... just trying to get some insight and inspiration here. I know it can be difficult to desribe sound sometimes. I just don't have the opportunity to pair them myself before making the plunge.

I considered Emotiva at one point before I decided on the dyns, now it just seems like I would be wasting money on a "bang for your buck" kind of amp. I'm not saying they are bad amps or anything. As far as I know many folks are happy with them. I can't say I ever heard of anyone pairing them with some dyns, though I'm sure someone, somewhere has tried. They are very popular around these boards. I went through alot of auditioning and saving up the money before I decided on these particular speakers, so I want to do them justice with the right amplification, that's all. Next up will probably a nice pre/pro if my Pio Elite hinders the sound quality.

 

[Davemcc]

I have not used any other amps with my Dyne's. I had an opportunity to run a McIntosh amp and the Rotel with my previous speakers, although not back to back in proper double blind fashion. I would describe both amps as transparent as I believe amps should be. I will grant that maybe my ears are not as sensitive as others' but as a matter of principle, I don't think that the amp should be where you are looking to make sonic changes.

 

[Socialcircle]

I have never used any other separate amp, so I can't really tell you how the ATI compares to any other amp. I can tell it blows away the amps used in my Denon 4800 receiver when I bridged the channels on the ATI. With the ATI in bridged mode, the sound jumps out into the room and it is much more dynamic and much fuller. I would think the X series from Emotiva would be a nice amp for the Dynaudios. And Emotiva has a 30 day return policy if you don't like the sound.

 

[Chicagorep]

I have Dynaudio Contour 1.3MKIIs and a Dynaudio Contour Center that is being driven by an ATI 1506 with the channels bridged. Then I currently have my receiver driving my 2 rears.

My plan is to find a used Parasound Halo 21 and let it drive me 2 fronts and then let my ATI drive my center and rears. And I will upgrade to a pre/pro.

The ATI bridged drives the Dyns very well. And ATIs can be found at very reasonable prices on Audiogon from time to time.

Contact your local Parasound dealer and tell him to let you know when Parasound has a B stock A21 in stock. It's 25% off and you still get the full Parasound warranty.

 

[zipzipz]

Ati At1506

It looks like you know your ATI. Do you have any idea what a fair price to list a used AT1506 would be, and where the best place to do so? With it being as heavy as it is, obviously I would like to sell it locally, but would love to hear your ideas.

I have never used any other separate amp, so I can't really tell you how the ATI compares to any other amp. I can tell it blows away the amps used in my Denon 4800 receiver when I bridged the channels on the ATI. With the ATI in bridged mode, the sound jumps out into the room and it is much more dynamic and much fuller. I would think the X series from Emotiva would be a nice amp for the Dynaudios. And Emotiva has a 30 day return policy if you don't like the sound.

 

[Socialcircle]

Audiogon

You can find them used on Audiogon from time to time. I saw an ATI 1506 listed a month or so ago and they were asking $800 for it.

If you purchased an ATI amp with an even # of channels, then the channels can be bridged. If the ATI has an odd # of channels, then they can not be bridged. Bridging the channels to make it a 3 channel amp instead of a 6 really, really added to the sound and dynamics of my center and two front speakers.

 

[jinjuku]

I considered Emotiva at one point before I decided on the dyns, now it just seems like I would be wasting money on a "bang for your buck" kind of amp. I'm not saying they are bad amps or anything. As far as I know many folks are happy with them. I can't say I ever heard of anyone pairing them with some dyns, though I'm sure someone, somewhere has tried. They are very popular around these boards. I went through alot of auditioning and saving up the money before I decided on these particular speakers, so I want to do them justice with the right amplification, that's all. Next up will probably a nice pre/pro if my Pio Elite hinders the sound quality.

I have a Parasound HCA 1000a in my stereo setup. While it's a nice amp I haven't heard a night and day difference between that, our bench amp (a NAD 272) and my Behringer A500 (picked up for kicks and giggles).

I believe you would be fine with the Emotiva. I have had the XPA3 , the NAD and a Crown DC300A all compared at the same time. Only the 300A was a bit lacking at the top end (it was made in 1977). Again no big difference.

 

[davidtwotrees]

For the most part, here at Audioholics, the party line is that if everything is running correctly, modern, solid state amplification operates to specifications beyond the range of human hearing. If you are objective about it, you will not hear a difference in amps. Many here talk of headroom, but even that term covers a tiny percentage of your listening experience. Put on a blindfold and no human can hear a difference between properly operating amplifiers. The same holds true for cables. Buy an amp for dependability, pride of ownership, aesthetics, or ease of use. But adjectives like warm, rich, and chocolatey are subjective terms that have voodoo like qualities....imho.
I just sold a Parasound HCA2003 that was running some large towers and center. It was well designed and looked sharp sitting between the silver lacquer towers. But then I hooked up an Onkyo receiver and honestly couldn't hear a difference.........jm2c.

 

[Socialcircle]

Dynaudios are 4 ohm speakers

I would indeed advise you to get a sperate power amp to drive the 4 ohm Dynaudio speakers. But you do need to get as much power driving them as possible to get them to be dynamic and full sounding. With some speakers I agree a receiver will generally drive them just fine. However, with my Dyns I can tell you for sure that the ATI 1506 in bridged mode really makes these speakers special. In bridged mode and into 4 ohms, it has over 300 watts of power driving the speaker. My Denon receiver is rated at just over 100 watts per channel. I will say in non-bridged mode, the ATI amp make just a little difference over the receiver. But once I bridged the channels, thus giving me a lot of power, the Dynaudios really sounded full and dynamic. With the Denon receiver and with the ATI in non bridged mode, my speakers sounded more flat and less lively. It is a dramatic difference.