B&K or Sherbourn or Sim Audio (1 Viewer)

[Paul D. K.]

Buying B&K Ref. 50. Have B&W Nautilus 803's (fronts), 804's (rears) and HTM1 (center). Planned to buy B&K Ref. 200.1 mono-blocks for all speakers. Someone suggested today that I look at the Sherbourn 7/2100 or Sim Audio Titan.

Cost is an issue but I only want to do this once. Which of the three potential solutions will make the music and movies come alive at low volume (wife doesn't like "loud" anything)? I also like detail in all forms of listening.

Any other feedback about the three options would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,

 

[Roger Kaufmann]

I have a reference 50, HMT1 and at the moment Matrix 805's mated to a Earthquake Cinenova 5 channel. If you haven't heard of it I would recommend it, spec for spec it's very difficult to beat. On the off chance your are interested here is a link to a review:

http://www.earthquakesound.com/clint_walker.htm

There is another review on Earthquakes site and it get similar reviews.

Cheers,

 

[Scott_N]

Well the Sim Audio Titan is a great amp and is a little closer to neutral than B&K. I think at low levels the Sim Audio would provide better detail but at high volumes the B&K's would be smoother with those B&W speakers IMO.

 

[Brandon Blair]

In my opinion Sim Audio without a doubt. If the Titan turns out to be a little pricey for you, Sim Audio has a less expensive newer multi-channel amp out. I think it is called the Aurora. You can check it out on their website, which I think is www.simaudio.com.

 

[Dan Driscoll]

I have a Sherbourn amp (5/1500A) and love it. But I've never demo'd it against the B&K or Sim. I have demo'd it against the Rotel RMB-1098 and Parasound HCA-2205 and felt the Sherbourn sounded better in my system.

 

[Jason.Soko]

Simaudio without a doubt. They are some amazing (and costly) amps. I love mine

 

[Paul D. K.]

Scott N. -

What is "high volume" in your opinion? My wife thinks -24 on my B&K AVR307 is too loud.

I haven't been able to find much info on the titan - not even on Sim Audio's web-site (unless I'm missing something). Has the titan been discontinued?

Is there a sound quality benefit of having mono-blocks vs. a five channel amplifier?

Thanks,

 

[Mark C.]

No doubt Sim makes great stuff. I was wandering around our local Sim dealer's showroom recently, admiring the W-5 two-channel amp. It was a closeout. One of the long-time salesmen told me the store was ending its long affiliation with Sim Audio. When I inquired why, he said, "They're not very nice people.''
Hmmmm.

 

[Scott_N]

Paul

High volume to me would be reference level which would be from -5 to 0. The Titan is a ultra high current amp that weighs in at 150lbs so for HT at moderate levels I don't see the value in monoblocks. Playing music with monoblocks might give you better channel seperation but you would really have to do a serious auditon between the two setups to tell that. You might also think about the Sim Audio Aurora it would have plenty of power at moderate volume levels and at 97lbs in 7-channel form it's not exactly a lightweight. A Theta Dreadnaught would also be a good choice. At this price range it's hard to go wrong.