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Old 07-19-2013, 01:27 PM
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carver0267 carver0267 is offline
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Default Sunfire (carver) amps

Does any knpw anything about these amps? Are they any good? Is it in the same ballpark as rotel or parasound or is it a higher end amp like bryston.
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Old 07-19-2013, 01:58 PM
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GaryProtein GaryProtein is offline
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My SO has the Sunfire solid state amp and Sunfire tube preamp driving Thiel speakers.

I would classify it as a much higher end component than Rotel. I am not familiar with Parasound.
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Old 07-19-2013, 02:44 PM
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I owned a Carver TFM-35 amp that was used to drive the speakers in my whole house set-up a few years back. When I had a new cabinet built I decided to move the amp and everything else into the enclosure where I was concerned that the carver might generate a bit too much heat. I replaced the unit with a Rotel Class D unit. Unfortunately the Rotel couldn't handle the loads placed by the quality switcher for the whole house setup and some of the speakers could't get the power they required. I finally tired of this a couple of months ago and traded the Rotel for a Krell S-300i. Yes this puppy generates a lot of heat at idle but it drives the speakers just like the Carver did.

Bottom line, try a good Carver over the Rotel (at least their Class D)
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Old 07-20-2013, 12:18 AM
BlueFox BlueFox is offline
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I am using a Sunfire TGA-5400 amp in my HT/surround sound system. While I have no idea as to how it compares to those other amps, I do know I have no complaints for either movies or music.
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Old 07-20-2013, 02:26 AM
mulveling mulveling is offline
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I had both a Sunfire Signature II 600 and a Parasound A21 at one time. The Parasound crushed the Sunfire in sound quality; it wasn't even close. A PS Audio HCA-2 also clobbered the Sunfire, and the A21 clobbered it. These gaps weren't close. And I prefer tube amps to the A21 (though the A21 is a very nice unit at its price-point). Based on that experience, I would never consider another Carver product.

Last edited by mulveling; 07-20-2013 at 02:34 AM.
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Old 07-20-2013, 12:21 PM
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I had heard pros and cons. I run b anw with rotels now. I am looking up upgrade my prepro and amp quality. Any suggestion on a step up. Honestly bryston and mac are prob out of my price range at rhis time.
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Old 07-20-2013, 01:26 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by carver0267 View Post
I had heard pros and cons. I run b anw with rotels now. I am looking up upgrade my prepro and amp quality. Any suggestion on a step up. Honestly bryston and mac are prob out of my price range at rhis time.
I would suggest that you give a listen to some Classe Audio electronics. They are a well established company that is part of the B&W family, so their gear tends to have some real synergy with their speakers. They are generally demonstrated together at most audio shows. If their new pricing is out of your range many of their models regularly become available used as current users decide to upgrade.

Last edited by audio bill; 07-20-2013 at 06:05 PM.
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Old 07-20-2013, 04:27 PM
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Thanks for the advice...I will check out classe
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Old 07-20-2013, 05:02 PM
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I bought used Classe Pro & Amp to power my HT system - 805ds. Worked out great and I preferred them over the Rotel.
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Old 07-22-2013, 07:33 PM
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I just purchased 2 bryston 370s for the cdm 1nt fronts and a bryston 2b for the matching cdm cnt. I will let everone know how it turns out when they arrive...
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