Rotel and Paradigm? (1 Viewer)

[Martin Rendall]

Thanks for the feedback. An update on my purchasing situation. The wife has up'ed my spending allowance, in an interesting way. Valid options are:
1. used Bryston 4B-ST (if I can find one, of course). The wife feels the warrantee is very important, for any kind of cash outlay on this magnitude. How am I to argue, if I could end up with a Bryston?
2. demo MCA-5 at a dealership (if it's still around). Assuming the warrantee is ok. Don't see why it shouldn't be.
3. Got a decent price quoted on an Rotel RB-1080. At least, I think it's decent. More research needed...
4. Any other ideas?
Called around a bit for old MCA-2 and MCA-3 stock, as Wayne suggested, but it looks like I've missed that opportunity.
The old RB-990BX is still available, and substantially cheaper than the other options. But how long it remains an option, is hard to know.
Regarding Parasound: there seems to be a definite lack of dealers around here, and the prices seem to indeed be higher here. Given that Parasound won't transfer the warrantee, I doubt I could convince the wife on a used 2205A or 1500A. I emailed Parasound some time ago to get a list of dealers in the area, which was completely ignored. Frankly, the extra markup, lack of communication, and warrantee considerations leave a bit of a bad taste...
What do do?!?
Martin.

 

[Wayne_T]

Martin, I mentioned that I have the MCA-3 for my center and surrounds. I didn't mention that I power my Studio 60 mains with a Bryston 4B-ST. I didn't suggest it before because you weren't looking at that price range. The Bryston is a wonderful amp. The new SST model is out, so you should be able to get a deal on a new ST if you can find one. Mine was a dealer demo.
BTW Kennedy HiFi in Markham sells Parasound.


Wayne

 

[Martin Rendall]

Wayne,

I talked to Kennedy HiFi, and the fellow said that they don't like selling Parasound, and are trying to cut down. I don't know if it's true, or sales talk, though.

Thanks for the thoughts on the Bryston.

Martin.

 

[Kevin. W]

Martin,

If your interested I can put you intouch with someone selling a Rotel 985 MKII(5x100w). He says it was bought new 6/01, never used because he never bought a 5c pre for it. He's in Toronto and asking $750.

Kevin

 

[Martin Rendall]

Thanks to all who made suggestions. I ended up pulling the trigger on a used Bryston 4BST, at a price considerably better than the local dealers were willing to go on demo stock.

Kevin,

Thanks for thinking of me. I'll need to get a 3 or 5 channel amp to complement the 4B one day, but that day is distant. Or my wife might, er, freak.

All,

I am now considering bi-amping my center with my Yamaha RX-V1000 receiver's mains (as Wayne briefly did). At the very least, I'm going to move the center channel to one of the main amps, under the assumption that the amp for the mains is perhaps slightly better. If I don't bi-amp, then I'll have the option to finally hook up my 6'th (ES/EX) speaker, which could be kinda nifty. Decisions, decisions...

What kind of interconnects do I need to buy? I assume that the quality doesn't need to exceed, say, my CD player's interconnects, assuming the weakest link in the chain theory. Or is there a different type of interconnect, intended only for connecting between a pre/pro and an amp?

Also, if I do choose to bi-amp, I'll need an interconnect which splits the signal, right? Is this a common enough cable to find? I don't recall ever seeing one before.

Regards,
Martin.

 

[Wayne_T]

Congratulations Martin! I'm sure you'll love the Bryston.
You'll get all kinds of opinions on the interconnects. I'm not a believer in high-end cables - as long as they are well built and have solid connectors you should be fine. I got mine at Radio Shack.
Yes, you'll need a splitter cable if you are going to biamp. These should be easy to find. Lots of people use them to connect to both inputs on subs with two connectors. Radio Shack probably sells one. If not, I got mine at Kromer a couple of years ago.
Congrats and enjoy the Bryston!

 

[PaulXH]

I have the Studio 100's and I use the Anthem MCA 50 & 20. These are Anthem's new Amps. I like them alot. I had a Rotel 1080 and sold it. I went with the Anthems because I will be upgrading to the AVM20 as soon as they release it. Right now I am using the Rotel RSP-1066.

 

[Joe e h]

Paul

The AVM20 is already out. Are you waiting for the upgrade?
Joe

 

[PaulXH]

Yep, I want it new with all the new stamps on it. I'm funny that way.

 

[PaulWY]

Wayne_T,

You say you and a friend purchased an Anthem MCA 3 for $795 Canadian in June? Was that the Series II version? Is there any reason why you got it for so cheap?

I ask because I purchased a floor model MCA 2 Series II in May for $900 here in Alberta. I asked if the MCA 2/3/5 amps were being discontinued and replaced by the 20/30/50's. He said he had no knowledge of that happening. I'd just like to know whether my particular dealer wasn't being totally forthcoming with information and pricing. If that's the case I won't be returning when it's time to upgrade.

 

[PaulXH]

I paid $800 for my MCA-20 in June.

 

[Wayne_T]

PaulWY,
It was a Series 1 MCA-3, new and in an unopened box. They had two left. My neighbor bought the last one the following day.
Your dealer wasn't dishonest. The Series 2 are still on the Anthem website and are still available. I know they go for quite a bit more. The price you paid was probably reasonable.

Wayne

 

[Yogi]

Keep us posted on how you like the Bryston with your Paradigms. I would like to know if the setup is bright/warm.

 

[Martin Rendall]

Yogi,
I don't have any experience with warmer amps, such as Rotel, so I don't know if I can really answer your question. But since it's all just opinion, I will anyway!
I will say that many believe Bryston to be very transparent, which implies that the rest of your system will influence whether you get a warm or bright sound. Personally, I'm extremely happy with the amp. It has improved my channel separation, reproduces higher frequencies more truly, bass is tighter, and more subjectively, my soundstage is much better.
I think the Bryston/Paradigm combo is excellent for HT, but perhaps a little bright for 2 channel CD (due to the Paradigms - not the amp). I plan to "tame" my sound a bit by adding a 2 channel tube preamp for CD only.
Personally, I wanted a transparent amp as opposed to one which colours the sound... it seems more flexible that way.
Martin.

 

[Yogi]

Thats exactly what I want in my system, i.e., a transparent amp. I wanted to improve my 2 channel performance and looked at Rotel, Parasound and B&K. I can say the B&K sounded the warmest and sweetest but as I wanted a transparent amp I went with a Proceed BPA2 (125W@8/250W@4). There has been no looking back after that. I liked it even better than the darker sounding Krell. I would say that transperency is the best attribute of an amp.
Enjoy the new toys