Price Paid:  $900.00 from INTERNET

Summary:
I listen to movies about 95% of the time. I am looking for an amp that can drive my speakers( 7 M&K S-5000 THX) to reference levels without harshness, be extremely clean with no audible distortion, and have all the detail the movie intended for you to hear. This means the dialogue is very easy to hear, even 20 feet away. I started out with M&K s-100b's and ada cinema reference and PTM-6150. Loved them but then the upgrade bug. I have been through over 17 different amps and 11 preamps with 8 different speakers within a 2 year period while building my theater. This includes klipsch, axiom, powered studio monitors, maganepan, and other M&K's. The preamps include Mcintosh, Krell, 2 Lexicon, 5 ADA, 2 Meridian and other lower cost. Amps include 4 ada, 3 pro audio, 2 cinepro, odyssey, earthquake, mcintosh, krell, adcom, sherbourn, monarchy audio, and the gemstone. I have tried all sorts of combinations and here is what my conclusions are: The Preamp will have a bigger impact than the amp but the amps all have a different sound signature and varies greatly with speakers. I have come back to M&K (their best) and ada. I think the meridian is the best processor by far. The Gemstone is a fantastic amp especially for the price. The ada PTM-1260 in bridged mode is much better than the 6150 and very comparable to the gemstone. The ADA has much more power and dynamics. The Gemstone has better low level detail. The gemstone cost $2799 brand new and the ADA cost close to $6000. But Can be had for almost nothing on the internet. ADA does not have a big name out there but are awesome amps for theater. After hearing so much gear I will say this, The ada is worth the money and used is the best gear you can buy.

Strengths:
In bridged mode POWER, dynamics, detail

Weaknesses:
Fan noise, but it can be put in a rack without worrying about over heating and in a theater any projector will be louder.

Similar Products Used:
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