John Tompkins -- what amps have you owned leading up to your dream amp?

[Ricky]

Inquiring minds would like to know all the 15-20 amps (brand and model) that you have bought and sold leading up to the dream amp for you. Please start the list; then I can probably help you remember some

[JohnT]

Ricky, is this your way of getting me to fill out my profile ...I am an admitted amp slut and have just gotten married to my permenent amp and this time for good (please dont tell my wife there is somebody else)..ok
CARVER 1.5t
CARVER 4.0t
CARVER753thx
CARVER 806
H/K 2.1
H/K PA5800
CITATION 7.1
CHIRO C-300
CHIRO C-500
PARASOUND 855
PARASOUND 2205
PARASOUND 1201
NHT SW3AMP
FOSGATE4125
ROTEL 985
ROTEL993
McCormacK dna1
SHERWOOD AM9080
and finally the LEXICON 212 (BRYSTON 3BST) and have a LEXICON 312 coming tommorow. With most of these amps the differences were fairly minor in comparision except the Bryston. It is my dream amp and the difference was day/night, I knew after about 20 seconds I had found my dream amp. I just cant believe what Im hearing( after all the amp changes I wasnt expecting much) but the bryston to my ears is freakin incredible...(did somebody switch all my cds for sacds? )....every aspect of my sound improved dramatically, bass, imaging, clearity, resolution, sweetness, womens vocals, cymbals.

I had let the fact that is was 120 watts stop me from buying it for years (along with the occasional review that said it was edgy/bright)..thats the farthest thing from the truth, Its clear/transparent and not warm but certainly not bright imo. I will update my profile to show other audio gear that has fallen by the wayside.

[Lex]

:E That's a lot of hardware! Nice end selections.

Lex




Cable Guy DVD Collection

[Ricky]

Profile? What profile I just wanted to give the Guide an exclusive on the ultimate amp slut on these forums :LOL:

btw, you forgot the Sherborne 200x5. I'm sure there are more!

[Kevin_McC]

I believe you forgot the HK 2400's too.

[JohnT]

Yea, thats two more amps that I forgot to put on the list, I cant think of any others at the moment, I didnt realize it was that many untill I started listing them....No wonder my wife thinks Im a wacho and she doesnt believe me when I told her these were permenant, she just said "pulease, save your breath and quit lying" :roll:

I bet there have been allmost as many recievers/pre-pros too. Its all Ricky and Kevins fault as they are bad influences :P

[Kevin_McC]

You also had a Pro amp about a year ago, I can't remember the manufacturer though?

[JohnT]

Yea, your right it was the samson s-1000, plus I remembered I also had the carver 500thx 2 channel amp for a little while. Holy smokes, whats that like 25 amps or so, geez ops:

[Ricky]

25? That's all? I think we're still missing some Anyway, please take a look at my profile and create yours in the same format (ie, one item per row, maybe do it in MS Word first)....it'd be great to see someone else's with 2-3 times as many rows as me :P

[Kevin_McC]

John,
If you start today you maybe able to complete your list by this weekend. :P

[dsmith]

John, I have gone through some of the same:

H/K PA5800 (still have but not using)
H/K 2.1 Signature
Citation 7.l
Chiro C-500
Bryston 4BST (all Brystons are supposed to sound the same, and I suspect they do)

Others:

Carver 705
Marsh Sound Designs A200s
H/K 1.5 Signature

My amp odyssey ended with the Innersound ESL.

dsmith

[JohnT]

Dsmith,

Yea, considering all the amps out there, our lists are close. I take it the bryston didnt do it for you ? Did you hear a major difference between the Bryston and the rest ? (even if you didnt like it) as it seems the Bryston has its own sound imo.

[Kevin_McC]

Well, I got to hear the new Lexicon/Bryston John picked up today. John was kind enough to stop by on his way home from work today and let me try it in my system.

Based on the majority of posts I've read I always thought Bryston would be bright in my system, now after trying it I didn't feel it added any brightness or harshness. The first thing that came to mind was a tonal change versus the HK amps I'm using. I would describe it as having a quieter background with harder hitting bass.

I'm pretty sure John's going to be very pleased with 5 channels of Lexicon/Bryston on the NHT's. This time I actually believe these amps will make it past the six month window I always give john for his gear. :LOL:

I'm eager to get over to his place and demo the system. I was there a month ago and every thing is different except for his TV and speakers. h:

[dsmith]

John,

For a long time I thought Bryston would be the perfect amp, and it does impress with its highly detailed presentation. High quality recordings especially were extremely well reproduced; but lesser recordings sometimes sounded a little strident. But I also found that listener fatigue set in way too soon with the Bryston amp, and I sometimes experienced a little aural irritation, though nothing major like with the Citation 7.1. The Bryston also created a loud ground loop hum unless the ground lift switch was engaged.

When I switched back to the Chiro amp the music was a little less detailed, but smoother and warmer, and very easy on the ears. I felt a little frustrated because I wanted more detail and neutrality than the Chiro provided, yet with the smoothness and easy-on-the ears sound I need for my rather sensitive ears. The Innersound gives me that in spades. It is absolutely a fabulous amp, and no electrical noise, hum, pops or other irritations. Plus it runs cool and idles at about 3 watts! The Innersound approaches the Bryston in detail while presenting the music with, to my ears, even greater clarity and neutrality. The Bryston often seemed to strip away some of the music's harmonics, and I always sensed that I was listening to an electronic reproduction of the music. Not so with the Innersound; it just amazes me over and over with its ability to create the greatest illusion of musical reality. I just get lost in the music and the speakers, amps, and everthing else just disappear. For me, that's what its all about.

But, in the end we all hear differently, and no doubt some will prefer the Bryston, or Parasound, or Krell, or whatever.

Don Smith