power amplifier

[dheerajin]

Hi Guys,

I am looking power amplifier for my speakers which are having 4 ohm impedance and sometimes they dip much below that. Right now my integrated amp is bi-wired for them but it is suggested by manufacturer that in case of bi-wiring impedance of the associated speakers should be 8 ohm. Even then amplifier has great slam and dynamic response, but to be sure to not to have any damage to the amplifier, i am willing to incorporate power amp with high current capability. There are two options for me either go for Class-D power amp or class-AB poweramp even mono blocks. Problem is only budget, which is 80K INR. Secondly in bi-wiring mode i got good results from my integrated amp, so is there any power amp with two speaker terminals available. If power amp is hi-current amp then single terminal would do so.

My existing chain is
SBOOSTER power supply-SOTM SMS 200- HOLO Spring DAC-YAMAHA AS2000-PSB SYNCHRONY Floorstandars

Please suggest suitable power amps as per your experience.

 

[mpw]

Dheeraj

U had the Twin Towers Amp right ?

Regards

 

[MaSh]

Have you considered using Car amps? They are all 4 ohms rated and can go down to 2 ohms. They are also bridgeable. If you have one handy, can try it out with a compatible power supply.

MaSh

Sent from my Redmi Note 3 using Tapatalk

 

[dheerajin]

Dheeraj

U had the Twin Towers Amp right ?

Regards

Twin Tower amp is good for use as a preamp, power amp section is not recommended for 4ohm loads as per manufacturer's recommendation.

As per review form http://www.audioreview.com
Pathos is a hybrid pure class "A" integrated amplifier but It's important to recognize that Pathos uses a patented proprietary circuit called Inpol. I will save the debate of the technical merits and limitations of the Inpol approach and instead focus on the outcome. Take note that Pathos only rates the TT at 2 x 35 watts into 8 ohms (keep in mind these are pure class "A" watts) but there is not rating for power into 4 ohms as most integrated amplifiers in the price range can deliver. There is a reason for that. The Pathos Inpol circuit doesn't like to drive speakers with low impedance curves. This is important to recognize as many speakers might be rated at 8ohms however the same speakers can have an impedance curve that drops below 4 ohms thus making them unsuitable for the TT. As a result it is critical to be aware of a speakers nominal impedance load as this figure is more important to the TT then simply a speaker's efficiency rating. I can't state this last point enough - you absolutely cannot make magic with a TT without well matched (read easily driven) speakers

Have you considered using Car amps? They are all 4 ohms rated and can go down to 2 ohms. They are also bridgeable. If you have one handy, can try it out with a compatible power supply.

MaSh

Sent from my Redmi Note 3 using Tapatalk

Car Amps are very coloured amps and definately they are powerful but not recommended for audiophile listening.

 

[marsilians]

My existing chain is
SBOOSTER power supply-SOTM SMS 200- HOLO Spring DAC-YAMAHA AS2000-PSB SYNCHRONY Floorstandars

Please suggest suitable power amps as per your experience.

Ah PSB synchrony speakers.....one of the nicer sounding ones IF pushed with lots of power. A min of 300+ watts in 4 ohms is required to do justice...also class AB would be preferable.

 

[Naturelover]

A class A power amp made and sold by a Kolkata FM. Worth checking.
http://www.hifivision.com/amplifiers/62594-my-new-class-amplifier-make-india.html

 

[asliarun]

A slightly unconventional suggestion. And by the way, I was in a similar situation as yours - my speakers were quite power hungry and would dip down to 3ohms. I ended up getting a Parasound 2125 amp but only because I was lucky to get a used model for a great price. I still recommend it as a really good high current amp. Or their newer models like 2250 v2.

But if I had to do it all over again, like you, do consider the Crown XLS series. Such as the Crown XLS 1500. This sounds like an unconventional suggestion as Crown makes pro audio amps, but people have been reporting extremely good things when using the XLS series for home audio and good quality stereo setups. See this huge thread for example.

And the best part is that Crown amps are readily available in India, and their price is phenomenal for the quality and wattage of amplification you are getting. 300W at 4ohms, 525W at 4ohms, 775W at 2ohms - those are just ridiculous numbers. And these are quality watts - at least based on what so many people have been reporting on that discussion thread - where they have been comparing it to other audiophile grade class AB power amps. Anyway, this is a fairly unconventional suggestion as opposed to a traditional Class AB recommendation (you could look at Emotiva for example), but I say this because perhaps if I was in your shoes again, I might give the Crown XLS series a try. Especially for the price.

 

[jai1611]

Check if Acoustic Portrait still make the 200w power amp they had in between. Not listed on their website but they may still be making them.

Would also consider the pro audio option recommended above. I've experimented with one in the past (see here: http://www.hifivision.com/my-audio-...nt-setup-lampizator-zypher-labs-dynaudio.html). The big issue with pro amps tends to be noisy fans from the active cooling. If you like the SQ of a pro amp, this can be worked around using a couple of quiet pc fans.

One thing to keep in mind with power amps is input impedance - particularly with a tube pre. Pro amps in particular tend to have a relatively low input impedance (10k-22k ohms) and may not work well if using a tube pre

 

[dheerajin]

Check if Acoustic Portrait still make the 200w power amp they had in between. Not listed on their website but they may still be making them.

Would also consider the pro audio option recommended above. I've experimented with one in the past (see here: http://www.hifivision.com/my-audio-...nt-setup-lampizator-zypher-labs-dynaudio.html). The big issue with pro amps tends to be noisy fans from the active cooling. If you like the SQ of a pro amp, this can be worked around using a couple of quiet pc fans.

One thing to keep in mind with power amps is input impedance - particularly with a tube pre. Pro amps in particular tend to have a relatively low input impedance (10k-22k ohms) and may not work well if using a tube pre

I would not be using Tube pre as pre of Yamaha AS2000 is good for my taste. I am sold on the Idea of using Crown amp, reading the thread provided by ASLIARUN Crown XLS- for the rest of us! and found good info on using that amp. Secondly if not able to find the amp to my taste, second hand valuation of this amp is very good in India.

 

[skdas]

I would not be using Tube pre as pre of Yamaha AS2000 is good for my taste. I am sold on the Idea of using Crown amp, reading the thread provided by ASLIARUN Crown XLS- for the rest of us! and found good info on using that amp. Secondly if not able to find the amp to my taste, second hand valuation of this amp is very good in India.

Dear dheeraj jee,

Will this power amplifier be in line with or improve your existing system performance wise?

 

[dheerajin]

Dear dheeraj jee,

Will this power amplifier be in line with or improve your existing system performance wise?

there are two aspects to this- primarily load on my existing amp to be removed
secondly giving proper power to speakers for impedance less than 4 ohms certainly going to improve the performance. Now it all depends on amplifier , whether it improves the qualitative performance or not. As per people's experience, they had good one and it is at par with HYPEX Ncore amps despite the price difference. So would like to give it a shot.

 

[jls001]

Do consider that the Crown will be expecting pro level input on XLRs and speaker terminal will most likely be speakon type. Modding your current speaker cables shouldn't be hard but the preamp is another story. Besides differential outputs at pro signal level, the preamp will also have to have low output impedance to match the low input impedance of the Crown.

 

[dheerajin]

Do consider that the Crown will be expecting pro level input on XLRs and speaker terminal will most likely be speakon type. Modding your current speaker cables shouldn't be hard but the preamp is another story. Besides differential outputs at pro signal level, the preamp will also have to have low output impedance to match the low input impedance of the Crown.

Hi Joshua,
SpeakOn already ordered. I have 3 pre amps to test but I would be using Pre-out from my Yamaha Integrated to the RCA inputs of crown. As per reviews in thread(Crown XLS- for the rest of us!) users did not find any impedance issues , lets see what happens in my case. I have IFI-ITUBE as a pre and it was a major hit pre-amp in that forum.

 

[asliarun]

I would not be using Tube pre as pre of Yamaha AS2000 is good for my taste. I am sold on the Idea of using Crown amp, reading the thread provided by ASLIARUN Crown XLS- for the rest of us! and found good info on using that amp. Secondly if not able to find the amp to my taste, second hand valuation of this amp is very good in India.

It would be great to read a review of your experience with the Crown amp! Especially since the AS-2000 you are using is no joke - I have heard such good things about it from multiple people! Curious - will you be using the AS-2000 as a preamp then? Does it have balanced preouts?

 

[dheerajin]

It would be great to read a review of your experience with the Crown amp! Especially since the AS-2000 you are using is no joke - I have heard such good things about it from multiple people! Curious - will you be using the AS-2000 as a preamp then? Does it have balanced preouts?

yes its a special amp..i would be using RCA out since it does not have balance pre out . Once i tried its pre-out to power in to one amp and tried different poweramp..but as a integrated it always excelled, so that time i got convinced that pre as well as power is better than any other power amp in that price range..so conclusion is, speaker needs more power.. and despite the fact that, my yamaha is more powerful and high current amp..speaker should match its capability..so now i am here

 

[himadri]

It will need a big budget high quality amp to top the yamaha.happy hunting.
Cheers

 

[jls001]

Hi Joshua,
SpeakOn already ordered. I have 3 pre amps to test but I would be using Pre-out from my Yamaha Integrated to the RCA inputs of crown. As per reviews in thread(Crown XLS- for the rest of us!) users did not find any impedance issues , lets see what happens in my case. I have IFI-ITUBE as a pre and it was a major hit pre-amp in that forum.

Aah, great!

You've obviously thought this through.

I'm hugely intrigued by the Crown

 

[prem]

Crown is a very good amp. Odyssey amps are also good and affordable and can easily handle 2 ohm impedance. Best would be JC1 monoblocs if you can get them used for about USD 3000

 

[dheerajin]

ah..what a sound..till now my synchrony's were under powered
They are singing now, realized their potential now

Crown XLS1502 is powering low and mid range of speaker, highs are served still by my Yamaha. Midrange is so much clean now and lustrous.

Recommended for people , who are having inefficient & low impedance speakers . Not recommended people with money

 

[keith_correa]

Crown XLS1502 is powering low and mid range of speaker, highs are served still by my Yamaha. Midrange is so much clean now and lustrous.

What if you get the amps to do the reverse? Which is better?