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About a year ago, I upgraded from a 10 year-old Lexicon MC-1 to the CCT-SSP and the sonic differences were astounding for both movies and cd listening. The biggest difference I have ever experienced in upgrading a single component in my system. I have Martin Logan Odessey towers in the front, ML Aerius in the rear, ML Center, PBS sub and Legacy studios hanging from the ceiling for the side surrounds. The 25' by 30' theater room (and much of the house) rocked!!! This was powered by my 10 year old, 300 wpc Earthquake 5 channel amp, which ran front, center and rears and an Outlaw 770 that I used on the side speakers. My Earthquake amp blew out a few weeks ago. It's at a repair shop that originally thought they could fix it, but is now concerned because they are having trouble finding parts. In the meantime, I've been running all the speakers from the 7-channel Outlaw 770, and it is just not the same. I'm looking for suggestions on an amp to replace the Earthquake. I play my music through a Cambridge Audio 840C cd player, watch movies on a Denon 3800BDCI (may switch to the new OPPO soon) and use a Magnum Dynolab FT104 FM tuner. At this point, I've been considering the Anthem Statement P5, Outlaw 7900 and Parasound Halo A51. My budget is about $6,000, but I would prefer to pay much less if I can and still meet to or exceed the sonic performance of the Earthquake. Of course, complicating matters is the fact that I want superior sound quality for my movies as well as my music. I’m intrigued by the Outlaw 7900 because of its massive power - 300 wpc - and friendly price point $3500. I keep hearing it is made by ATI and is basically the exact same amp as a Lexicon that sells for twice the price. My concern is that I’m not happy with baby brother, the 770. Will it be up to the task? The Anthem P5 sounds like a classic, but that’s part of the problem. I have some concerns about pouring that much money into technology that is what 8 or 9 years old now. Same issue with the Parasound. I am also very intrigued with the Sunfire TGA-7401, which is a Class-D technology that offers a crazy 400 wpc. The questions here is whether Class D amps are finally reaching the performance levels of the class A-Bs, and whether Sunfire has addressed the build-quality issues that plagued them many years ago. So my question here is whether any Classe owners have real-life experience with any of these amps? What are the pros and cons? Are there other amps that I should be considering based on your experiences with Classe pre amps? Does the mid-to-hi end community feel the time is right to start seriously considering the Class-D amps, like the Sunfire? Please let me know your thoughts.
