The $3K all in exercize.

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Personally' date=' I'm leaning towards their [i']new[/i] HD-AMP1 :

 

I don't recall seeing a class D amp that doubles into 4 ohms (from 8) any where near this price range. Perhaps the 8 ohm rating is conservative.

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Actually, at not a lot more ($1499), there's a Class D amp that starts out at 8 ohms with considerably more power (200W), doubles into 4 ohms, then 600W into 2 ohms, and will work with speaker impedance of 1 ohm, so it can drive difficult loads. That's the James Romeyn Hypex NCore NC400 stereo amp build I chose for my amp for purposes of this exercise. That's part of what choosing the ELACs for speakers allows you to do with a $3K budget.

 

mayhem's absolutely right, no magic behind the ELACs, just good solid engineering at a price point where that type of engineering and parts quality isn't usually seen.

 

Very good to know. Chris Walker published some specs on that new Uni-Fi range over at AVS forums. They are 85db efficient at a nominal rating of 4 ohms. I wonder how much they dip below 4 ohms? I remember watching a video on you tube and Andrew J said that the B6's I own don't dip much below 4 ohms (they have a nominal rating of 6 ohm). So with the new line, it occurs to me that an owner will have to pay attention to the quality of the amp he powers them with because as I understand it, many (most?) cheap amplification (such as your typical Best Buy AV receiver, etc.) does not play well with speakers that go below 4 ohms.

 

I have an Emotiva a-100 (50w into 8) powering my B6's, and they play very loud without falling apart, so the Emotiva line might be a touch underrated or simply able to handle less than 8 ohm speakers well. I have a entry level Marantz AV unit that is 50w (surely class D but I actually have not looked it up) that can not drive the B6's as well as the Emotiva amp...

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Wilhelm,

 

I hope you don't feel offend with me asking this, but you seem only concern in posting about marantz and quoting their material...are you really just a marantz fanboy or do you have any other relationship with the brand?

 

How is this even relevant to this thread?

 

 

 

He is trying to speak to my question about that particular Marantz unit doubling into a 4 ohm load I believe. I appreciate the effort, but you guys are right in that it is a tangent of sorts though the Elac's Uni-Fi's were mentioned and at 4 ohm's nominal the amp selection would be a bit more complicated than your much more common 8 ohm nominal speaker...

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11 minutes ago, GUTB said:

This is pretty challenging so let me take a shot at it. Only new, and I’ll make it planar to appeal to less experienced audiophiles on a tight budget:

 

Speakers: http://www.magnepan.com/model_MG_7 ($1400)

Amp: https://www.china-hifi-audio.com/en/lite-audio-dac-phono-stage-mm-mc-c-41/lite-audio-a680-power-amplifier-balanced-xlr-class-ab-250w-x2-p-1323?zenid=58eada801fd5755ad814487c0eaf085f ($640)

Pre: https://www.china-hifi-audio.com/en/lite-audio-dac-phono-stage-mm-mc-c-41/lite-audio-ls7b-tube-preamp-marantz-7-circuit-valves-pre-amplifier-with-remote-p-1514?zenid=58eada801fd5755ad814487c0eaf085f ($320)

DAC: https://www.china-hifi-audio.com/en/xiangsheng-valve-amplifier-dac-c-36/xiangsheng-da-05b-asynchronous-usb-dac-dsd-xmos-xu208-ak4495-24bit-384khz-32-192-p-1352?zenid=58eada801fd5755ad814487c0eaf085f ($230)

Source: https://www.aliexpress.com/store/product/R-027-MX-1A-MX-1-Android-Lossless-Music-Player-HIFI-DSD-Digital-Turntable-Decoding-4/1070003_32862865398.html?spm=2114.12010612.0.0.1b871dcco1etGr ($360)

 

After shipping price will likely be a little over $3k. This is a very challenging all-in target price which resulted in a heavy reliance on Chinese components with enough legitimate linear power to grip the Magnepans with authority without resorting to class D junk. A (hopefully) nice Marantz 7 copy for a pre to provide that eloquence and harmonic fullness that may be missing from that large class A/B. The DAC is a crapshoot, selected because of its price and topology (real power supply, real output stage). I wish there was budget left over for a DDC between the streamer and DAC. I wish there was budget for a loom of quality cables. I wish there was budget for power supply.

 

The key to this system are the Magnepans and a serious no-nonsense class A/B + tubed pre.

 

Chi-Fi is not High End.

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4 minutes ago, GUTB said:

 

When you find western electronics for that price + performance level call me. This is a very challenging budget and compromises must be made.

 

What's next, you going to be recommending Blue Jean cables and plugging it all end to a standard wall socket?  Have you lost your High End mind?