Amp for 4311b speakers

[majick47]

My brother has a pair of 4311b speakers and he is presently powering them with a Carver 150 watt amp that has been acting up in one channel with static etc. At this point he is ready to give up on the Carver. I found two amps that I thought might work well with his 4311b speakers. First one is the Yamaha MX-1000u (260 watt/8ohm class a/ab). The second amp is a Threshold 400a Stasis amp (100 watt/8ohm class a). Are these two amps decent match and which of the two would you choose?

[jblnut]

They are both great amps and I don't think you can go wrong either way. If he wants more power the Yamaha is the obvious choice. If he wants a more "high end" amp (where you are definitely paying for the name) then the Threshold is the way to go. I use both Carver and Yamaha gear with my JBL's.

jblnut

[majick47]

Appreciate the reply re the two amps for a two channel system. I'm sure their are other great amps that would be a good match, MACs and Crown for example. I'm running my L200b speakers with a Yamaha MX-2000 (130 watt/8ohm/class A) that fills my (26Lx19Wx12H) listening room with clean sound with tons of headroom to spare. Have to agree the older Yamaha amps give excellent performane at a very reasonable price.

[majick47]

JBLNUT we decided to purchase the Yamaha MX-1000u amp (260watt/8ohm class a/ab). Will update later as to sound of 4311b with this powerhouse amp.

[jblnut]

JBLNUT we decided to purchase the Yamaha MX-1000u amp (260watt/8ohm class a/ab). Will update later as to sound of 4311b with this powerhouse amp.
I think you'll be very happy with it. The question now is what preamp are you going with ?

jblnut

[Steve Gonzales]

I agree with this choice, those big Yamaha's are TOTALLY underated and offer so much for the money, hell, a third of the money. I use M80's and love the C70 Yamaha pre, It does not have the variable loudness that the other top vintage pre's do . I do not like the VL feature in my set-up, it never sounded quite right. Also, although the MX-1000 is a good amp too, the "u" version is MUCH better and there IS a big difference!. Good luck and I will watch your posts on this matter to see what your results are.

[majick47]

My brother has a matching "vintage" Carver preamp, believe it's a C4, and I doubt it will equal the performance of the Yamaha amp. I'd be inclined to suggest he purchase the matching Yamaha CX-1000U preamp. This preamp is almost identical except for color (black versus silver) to my Yamaha CX-2000 preamp. I think he would be getting a lot of preamp for the money and not be paying partly for a name. Again I would be interested to hear any suggestions re a preamp.

[jblnut]

My brother has a matching "vintage" Carver preamp, believe it's a C4, and I doubt it will equal the performance of the Yamaha amp.
Some of the older Carver stuff is very good, although the C4 is perhaps not the best of his preamps. The later C4000t and vacuum tube C19 are the real standouts, but even the modest C1 is a decent preamp. I started there and eventually got into Luxman vintage gear, but I still miss certain things about it. I always wanted to get and compare a Yamaha pre but still haven't. I'd love to hear what you think about it.

Search the archives - there's a fairly recent thread about low-mid priced pre's in there....

jblnut

[majick47]

Steve I read up quite a bit re the Yamaha amps and all of them are rated very highly by many owners who could afford much more expensive brands. Performance/quality/features is way beyond their price point IMO. By a fluke of luck I was able to purchase a complete set of Yamaha 2000 components, two(2) MX-2000 amps/CX-2000 preamp/TX-2000 tuner/CDX-2020 cd player. The 1000U series amps, preamps, tuner and cd player come very, very close if not almost identical in performance to my 2000 series for considerably less money. Have to admit I payed the premium price for the 2000 series "looks".

[bongchieuxua]

I use Luxman L309x. The sound is very good. Future, i will upgrate to Lux 540 or 570.
Lets try with the voice of Susan Wong.

[robertbartsch]

I have a pair of these and love them. So far, I've run them on Adcom, Crown power amps and a Denon integrated amp w/ 120 wpc. I prefer the Denon; very smooth, mid and top is crystal clear, bass is well defined and convincing.

These units can really shine with a good amp and input source.