Amp for bi-amp: P101, or various version of LM3875?

[afriend]

Hi,

I am going for bi-amp system for multi-purpose AV system. The active crossoever is ~ 330 Hz. I still cannot decide which amp should I go for:

A). ESP - P101 ( Low version, ` 60-100W per ch) x 4 ch
B). LM3875 - Brian kits ( 25W, classic gainclone) for Mid-high
LM3875 - Brian kits ( 50W, Carlos's snuberized ) for Low

Any comment? Thanks.

PS: another question for my friend who having a tube pre-amp. Any one ever compared the LM3875/3886 chipamp and ESP's P101 (100W version) ?

[Dimitar Kyuchuk]

If I were you I wouldn't use a chip amp - I would prefer a transistor amp especially if it is mosfet design (although P101 is not my favourite one)

[Greg Erskine]

hi afriend,

I've been playing with a bi-amp BriantGT LM3875 amp. These kits fit very nicely in a 2U rack with plently of room for you to add a high cap PSU if you want.

Initial impressions are favourable but I haven't really done extensive AB tests. Time will tell.

I think any of your options will work nicely, or you could spend the next 5 years working out the absolute "best" solution. You could also include your existing amps into the equation.

Like Dimitar, I do have a personal preference for discrete amps, but the chipamps are very compact, cheap and convenient and they sound pretty good.

Playing = using passive crossovers (although my test speakers don't have xovers on the mids.)

regards