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Who are the competitors for good class A amplifiers?


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Looks like the Aegir won't be a keeper. Its a nice sound, full, well balanced. But with Magnepan 1.7's massed violins are just plain irritating no matter what I do.

I have been able to trigger protect when playing louder than normal so I can see where even with a Pass XA25 I'd run into similar bottlenecks with random fff passages and sounds.

 

 

Regards,

Dave

 

Audio system

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Might I suggest a little bigger amp and class A/B would work - I have heard the 1.7's pushed by an Anthem Stereo Amplifier. I might try that way.

Current:  Daphile on an AMD A10-9500 with 16 GB RAM

DAC - TEAC UD-501 DAC 

Pre-amp - Rotel RC-1590

Amplification - Benchmark AHB2 amplifier

Speakers - Revel M126Be with 2 REL 7/ti subwoofers

Cables - Tara Labs RSC Reference and Blue Jean Cable Balanced Interconnects

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10 hours ago, davide256 said:

Looks like the Aegir won't be a keeper. Its a nice sound, full, well balanced. But with Magnepan 1.7's massed violins are just plain irritating no matter what I do.

I have been able to trigger protect when playing louder than normal so I can see where even with a Pass XA25 I'd run into similar bottlenecks with random fff passages and sounds.

 

 

Maggies have been run with the Bryston 7 series amps for a reason. They can drive them effortlessly and can run a 2 ohm load without breaking a sweat. The Kappa 9's I had were amp destroyers and the 7BSST never missed a beat.

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The audio dealer, where i heard the Anthem/Maggie combo was in Omaha, NE. The room was 12' x 12' that system was in. One of the nicest Maggie sounds I have heard (besides a 5:2 all Maggie/McIntosh system at one Axpona.

Current:  Daphile on an AMD A10-9500 with 16 GB RAM

DAC - TEAC UD-501 DAC 

Pre-amp - Rotel RC-1590

Amplification - Benchmark AHB2 amplifier

Speakers - Revel M126Be with 2 REL 7/ti subwoofers

Cables - Tara Labs RSC Reference and Blue Jean Cable Balanced Interconnects

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On 2/6/2022 at 4:51 AM, davide256 said:

Looks like the Aegir won't be a keeper. Its a nice sound, full, well balanced. But with Magnepan 1.7's massed violins are just plain irritating no matter what I do.

I have been able to trigger protect when playing louder than normal so I can see where even with a Pass XA25 I'd run into similar bottlenecks with random fff passages and sounds.

 

 

If you're open to using the XA25 then I guess the field should be open for other class AB designs as well? Since the XA25 outputs quite a bit of power in class B according to the measurements in Stereophile.

FWIW, I use an integrated McIntosh @ 200 wpc with my 1.6QR SE's. Works great. Also tried a Quad 520 @ 150 wpc/4 ohm when the Mc was in for service that worked great as well.

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A quote from JA's measurements section of the Stereophile review of the XA25:

 

https://www.stereophile.com/content/pass-laboratories-xa25-power-amplifier-measurements

 

"the distortion did rise at higher frequencies, especially into lower impedance's. This graph suggests that the XA25 not be used with loudspeakers with an impedance that drops below 4 ohms in the treble."

 

XA30.8 would give you all you need or Used XA30.5....I owned an XA30.5 for a few months driving my Magico S3's and while I knew it would not be enough power I was more using them as a baseline on how big i needed to go within the Pass lineup. I was very impressed with how well they drove the total Pig's that the MKI Magico's S'3 are. I'm quite certain that they are worse than the Maggie's are in that department.

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1 hour ago, cjf said:

A quote from JA's measurements section of the Stereophile review of the XA25:

 

https://www.stereophile.com/content/pass-laboratories-xa25-power-amplifier-measurements

 

"the distortion did rise at higher frequencies, especially into lower impedance's. This graph suggests that the XA25 not be used with loudspeakers with an impedance that drops below 4 ohms in the treble."

 

XA30.8 would give you all you need or Used XA30.5....I owned an XA30.5 for a few months driving my Magico S3's and while I knew it would not be enough power I was more using them as a baseline on how big i needed to go within the Pass lineup. I was very impressed with how well they drove the total Pig's that the MKI Magico's S'3 are. I'm quite certain that they are worse than the Maggie's are in that department.

I do believe 1.7's drop to 2 ohms at 10khz.

Regards,

Dave

 

Audio system

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3 hours ago, davide256 said:

I do believe 1.7's drop to 2 ohms at 10khz.

So does my ML Odyssey, and I’m using very good Hypex NC1200 modules. 
If you are able to test some very good class D, you may be convinced this is the way to go. 
 

I’m using Theta Prometheus. You may find some reasonable ATI that’s as good as those. Same factory and owners.

 

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On 1/17/2022 at 5:21 AM, davide256 said:

Starting to delve into an area I really haven't paid attention to. While I don't need a ton of power in a 12x12 room,  Magnepans  behave best with

pristine amplification that behaves well with low speaker impedance and that I don't have. I'm familiar with Pass, their smallest amp the

XA25 is class A and sounds like a good fit but before I spend $5K I'm wondering who the competitors are. No interest at this point in class AB or D amps

Research this amp: http://sanderssoundsystems.com/products/amplifiers/magtech-amp

Really makes Maggies shine.

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6 hours ago, jventer said:

Research this amp: http://sanderssoundsystems.com/products/amplifiers/magtech-amp

Really makes Maggies shine.

Don't really have any issues making the 1.7's shine regardless of what amp I use; the problem is all prior amps used proved to step on  ease and delicacy in the output quality of the MZ2 as I improved source quality. The MC modded Hafler I have runs about 100 watts + per channel and volume never goes past 9 on

the pre dial so more wattage isn't the need, just better performance in the actual used range.

 

Leaning at this point towards the AVA DVA M225 mono blocks, according to AVA they put out ~10 watts class A, before transitioning to class B for 225/300 watts and at ~$4k with active XLR adaptor would be in my price comfort zone; seeing several posts from folks who like them compared to Pass amps they have owned.

Regards,

Dave

 

Audio system

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One thing I've learned the hard way in this hobby is to never again buy an amplifier that does not have a full set of test bench measurements available for viewing somewhere on the web; ideally by a trusted source other than the creator of the amp itself.

 

This is especially true if you have a pair of speakers that are more difficult to drive than usual. Panel speakers and others with similar load behaviors (Like the S3 mkI I currently own) at higher freqs can be a real bastard to tame for many Amps, especially Class D amps.. IME.

 

Below are just observations FWIW:

 

The AVA is not a Class D amp of course but the mention in one review of its use of Zobel networks somewhere in its design. These are often used to deal with high freq misbehavior. This would bring me pause if I were a potential buyer, especially given the speaker it would be paired with.

 

Its also a very small (physically) amplifier for its rated power output and there are no Specs at all on the product page. The question here then becomes, how much abuse can they take and how hot will they get. Just another thing that would bring me pause if I were a potential buyer.

 

In any case, if you get them hopefully none of the above observations will materialize into reality for you and they end up being great.

 

Best of luck in your search

 

 

 

 

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  • 2 weeks later...
  • 1 month later...

This one? Sorry not new but it is a real great sounding amp. Pioneer M-22

 

image.thumb.jpeg.86c6d5bd4b03ad4b4a7da6684cfa31bb.jpeg

 

I am looking forward to the OP's post on how they sound with Pictures.

Current:  Daphile on an AMD A10-9500 with 16 GB RAM

DAC - TEAC UD-501 DAC 

Pre-amp - Rotel RC-1590

Amplification - Benchmark AHB2 amplifier

Speakers - Revel M126Be with 2 REL 7/ti subwoofers

Cables - Tara Labs RSC Reference and Blue Jean Cable Balanced Interconnects

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  • 2 months later...

Ref OP's original question... which are the favorite names for Class A solid states now?

Pass Labs is often in the list, but they run real hot. Luxman, Accuphase, Plinius, Krell?

 

What happened to Krell after D'Agostino left them? There was some revival about 5 years ago, but there's a dearth of reviews on Krell  products. Are they even in the audiophile list now?

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WiFi > Sonore opticalRendu > USB >Holo Audio May >

Luxman C-900u > Luxman M-900u > Focal Sopra 2💙💛

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Try get the right j-fet's (specc'ed as in the schematic) and build a Le Monstre (design by Jean Hiraga), it was my first DIY project...beware watch out, you can spotweld with the PSU....I imagine it's 7 Amps in class A are enough and it should be able to cope with 2 Ohms,

Best transistor amp Iever heard, switched to tubes long ago but still..

 

I can recommend the Saliny active rectifier which I reckon will work a treat in that circuit.

 

ISP, glass to Fritz!box 5530, another Fritz!box 5530 for audio only in bridged mode on LPS, cat8.1, Zyxel switch on LPS, Finisar <1475BTL>Solarflare X2522-25G, external wifi AP, AMD 9 16 core, passive cooling ,Aorus Master x570, LPSU with Taiko ATX, 8Gb Apacer RAM, femto SSD on LPS, Pink Faun I2S ultra OCXO on akiko LPS, home grown RJ45 I2S cable, Metrum Adagio DAC3, RCA 70-A and Miyaima Zero for mono, G2 PL519 tube amps. 

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  • 4 weeks later...

I'm surprised no one has mentioned Coda. Those that have compared generally prefer the lower cost Coda to Pass. The folks at Coda worked with Nelson Pass during the Threshold days.

 

Their Continuum No 8 in v1 mode is class A up to 18W and then switches to class AB up to 150W. Meter-less versions occasionally show up used at the top of your budget.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Having a blast with my Luxman L-590AXII. 30 watts class A. Gets warm, but sounds great. This is an integrated amp. Maybe not what you are looking for. 
 

Best Class A experience I’ve had: 

Gryphon Audio 100w Class A stereo amp. Not sure which model. Beautiful. 

Roon > dCS Bartok > Parasound JC 2BP > Parasound JC 5 > Wilson Yvette


Technics SL-1200G & Bluesound Node > Luxman L-590axII > OJAS Bookshelf w/ Tweeter Horn Mod

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