Amp for Revel m106/m105

[sethr]

Hi, I'm looking into ditching my powered monitors (KRK v6 s4) for a revel bookshelf setup for near/mid field 2.0 listening. With the following in mind, which amp/receiver would be a good match? I'm going to be listening at moderate levels in an 18'x12' room. I'd like to leave open the option of adding a sub, so I think that rules out the Yamaha WXA-50 (limited sub crossover options), and I wouldn't mind being able to add a streaming setup later either with a WXC-50 or a Chromecast. For the time being, I'm planning on running my Apogee Duet interface into it and I believe it has a decent DAC, so if there's an decent amp with a poor DAC that I can bypass that would be ok (Klipsch Powergate? doesn't seem to be available as cheaply as it used to be). My budget is $500 or less. I'd prefer a low profile amp/receiver but happy with a "tank" if necessary (room correction would be nice...).

 

[CDMC]

$399 and is a pramp/tuner/dac/amp, or what we used to call a receiver.

https://emotiva.com/collections/amps/products/ta-100

 

[sethr]

Thanks! I'm very interested in the emotiva amps, but slightly wary because of amirs a-500 review (mains noise, varying quality of channels) I wonder if 50 watts at 8 ohms is good enough for the revels (87 db sensitivity, recommended power 50-150). since the wxa-50 only outputs 50 @ 8 ohms I'm worried about it being underpowered as well. Maybe I needn't worry because I'll be listening at modest volume levels.

If I get a sub with speaker input jacks somewhere down the line that would liberate me from needing an amp with a sub out...

 

[Cahudson42]

there's an decent amp with a poor DAC t

Or no DAC?
Yamaha RS202 $149
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01EMQI2CU/

For an alternate DAC and PEQ for speaker optimization/room correction add a Qudelix 5k for $110 to feed it

Or for $279 with sub out, and basic room correction:
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07BNXXJKB/

Hard to beat for the $$...

Just as an aside, the Harmon Infinity 3-way bi-ampable small R253 towers are back on sale for $180 each:
https://www.harmanaudio.com/loudspeakers/REFERENCE+253.html

With these you could use 4 of the amps in the $279 Yamaha to drive them, and the PEQ functionality of a Qudelix to tweak their fr and room response..

 

[Panelhead]

There are amplifiers with single ended sub out. Tracks main output levels.
Never bought into using high level output to drive a sub. Thought is colorations from main amplifier will color the sub to match. Horseshit.
The main amplifier should have no “coloration”. Plus the subwoofer frequency range is colored by room and subwoofer non-linearities order of magnitude more than by amplifier “sound”.

 

[sethr]

Those Infinity towers look great. Unfortunately I need something for mid/nearfield listening in a modestly sized room, but if I had the space I would try out a bunch of Harman-group towers. I'm pretty tempted by the WXA-50 and the Emotiva at this point although getting a classic Denon or Yamaha amp (the $279 model above or a Yamaha A-S501 for a bit more) is also an option.

 

[sethr]

After having to tweak my budget, I think I'm going to go with the Revel M16s and the Yamaha WXA-50. Does the WXA-50 have enough power for the M16s? thanks!

 

[theyellowspecial]

"Enough" is relative, but you can get clipping at modest levels during transients with low powered amplifiers. I'd rather have more power in an amp that measures slightly worse than less power in an amp that measures slightly better, especially with inefficient bookshelves.

 

[iulianm]

Bumping up this thread: what amp did you end up for Revel M106? I have a PS Audio Sprout100 which has 50 watts per channel at 8 ohm and Revel specifies 50-150 recommended amp power.
They get plenty loud with the Sprout but I'm curious if I can do any better with a modest upgrade from the Sprout.

 

[sethr]

I ended up getting the wxa-50, which has been fine for low volume use. If you need more than 82 db in a small space (and don't need all of the integrated streaming features) I'm not sure I'd recommend it. I wouldn't mind a little more power, however...

 

[iulianm]

I'm looking now at:

• Rotel A14 MKII (no measurement by ASR) and is ~$1.5k
• Schiit Vidar + Saga S Pre-Amp combo ~$1.2k

The main reason for Rotel is that I would be inclined to get a CD player from them as well and with Schiit.... I already have a DAC and phono preamp.

My two main reasons of looking to replace the Sprout100 are:

• it sends a loud thunk to the subwoofers every-time that I power it off and I hate that (what I am trying to do is to stop the music, let the subs go on stand-by and then switch off the Sprout).
• not enough inputs to use the external DAC and phono preamp and I have to switch cables

 

[kezo]

I read this thread when looking for the right amplifier for my m106's and noticed that no one here had actually even tried the m106. Even though it's nice to at least respond I don't get why people who haven't even heard them bother to comment.


After a lot of research I ended up buying an audiolab 6000a, and man, after some throughout listening, this is breathtaking. It plays every note with ease, no matter how many instruments, while the actual sound is truly amazing.
Completely fills the room.
I would say it sounds very realistic, and often makes you feel like you're really there.

I haven't tried many amplifiers, but after so much research for every component except the subwoofer (bowers & wilkins asw600), I'm totally satisfied with this setup for quite a while and if I would upgrade then I would probably do the subwoofer.
I got the subwoofer from my parents and while it does the job great, there might a better match out there. But as I mentioned, I'm totally satisfied.
I bet an SVS pb12-nsd would be a nice match.
If I would upgrade amp then it would be to the 7000a or 8000a.

I used a NAD t744 before (100w/ch 4ohm) and surprisingly, the 6000a plays even louder at lower volumes. Although the room is not that big (5x6, low ceiling), I would suggest this to anyone around/below medium room.
Important to note that my subwoofer has it's own 150w power supply, and I drive the speakers by:
amplifier pre-out -> subwoofer line in -> subwoofer line out -> amplifier power -> silver cables to speakers. Subwoofer low-pass filter set to 60hz. Will get a high-pass filter as well.

I have tried all filters on my 6000a and in my opinion the phase filter fits these speakers best. Most seem to prefer slow filter with other speakers but that was a bit too much treble and removed some of the warmth - still my opinion.

Hope this helped

 

[Doodski]

Welcome to ASR @kezo. Good to hear you like your gear.