Digital Amp Comparison 2007

PaulHilgeman · « **Reply #60 on:** 1 Mar 2007, 07:22 pm »

Hey Danny,

About that crate. I built it on a whim and made a few mistakes. I was trying to account for any possible collapse in overall foam dimensions, but found that there would have been better ways to construct the crate after the fact and after compressing that foam for 2 weeks and watching it return to proper dimension.

Before you send it back, let me know and I will send some additional packing material that should make your job a bit easier.

That said, with the dimensions being a bit tight, the top and bottom foam probably squeeze the unit in so tight that there is almost no way that it could shift and touch one of the walls of the crate.

Anyways, just let me know a few days before you are going to send it back, and I will probably just mail you a new crate and have you send it off to a client for review.

Have a great day guys.

BTW Danny, I assume everything was A-OK with it?

Are you going to keep the amps plugged in and powered up prior to the event? Will all amplifiers be plugged in when the auditioning is taking place for a single amplifier? These are things that need to be considered.... Probably the best thing IMO would be to place all of the 'staged' amps off of an Isolation transformer to keep them powered on and alive, then plug the amplifier that is in use directly into the wall. This will keep the supples of the staged amps separated in a way from the amp that is being auditioned.

-Paul Hilgeman

maxwalrath · « **Reply #61 on:** 1 Mar 2007, 11:30 pm »

Quote from: Danny on 1 Mar 2007, 04:53 pm

Quote
Audiosector Patek will be there

Great! Are you sending that out to us? Do you have shipping info?

I'm a terrible procrastinator.....when I saw the amp only thing wasn't until the 14th I got lazy. It will be shipped tomorrow.

Danny Richie · « **Reply #62 on:** 2 Mar 2007, 02:52 am »

Hey Paul,

It arrived fine. There wasn't much foam between it and the walls. It might get a rough ride that way. I'd look into thick layers of a closed cell poly foam or something.

It played fine too. It sounded a bit fresh out of the box so I am guessing it was a new unit.

I handing it off to Stereo Mojo reviewer Chris Henderson for him to put some burn in time on it. He has had it since the day after it arrived. After burning it in he will also do a review.

Last year we kept the amp playing and the one on stand-by plugged in and on. I think we also shorted the inputs on the amp left in idle. if I remember correctly Stan warren provided the RCA input plugs. I think I have some now as well but they have 100k ohm resistors on them so they may not help as much as the ones that Stan sent.

Quote

It will be shipped tomorrow.

Thanks,

That amp looks really interesting.

PaulHilgeman · « **Reply #63 on:** 2 Mar 2007, 04:29 am »

Yeah, I had to whip it up before I left on vacation for a week. It is pretty well burnt in, but will sound better after at least being plugged in for a few hours, preferably playing. Also, with temp changes and vibrations experienced during travel it has been my experience that sometimes the first hour can be a bit funky, but settle in very quickly. Any play time before the event is appreciated and getting the thing turned on at least an hour before the judging begins would be appreciated by probably myself and almost all others.

I was curious as to how you had these things plugged in since certain amps will affect others depending on the noise that they create on the AC line, or conversely how well they clean up the AC line. If amp X generates 100Khz switching noise on the AC line, the amp that is at-bat it while amp X is on deck could possibly suffer. If amp Y has some AC line filtering, and is located with a low resistance connection to the AC input of the amp that is at-bat, the amp in question could receive an undue sonic benefit due to the filtering provided by amp Y.

I was wondering what is being done about this particular situation...

Thanks guys! Happy listening.

arthurs · « **Reply #64 on:** 2 Mar 2007, 04:48 am »

Paul, my plan is the amp in play will be run directly into the wall (dedicated circuit) while the on deck amps can be kept running on my BPT on another dedicated circuit.

Danny Richie · « **Reply #65 on:** 2 Mar 2007, 01:48 pm »

Hey we just took delivery of something from Cary Audio yesterday...

Thanks Cary Audio!

arthurs · « **Reply #66 on:** 2 Mar 2007, 02:07 pm »

Danny, can I get a count on integrated amps versus non? At least the number we expect. I may want to do amps on 3/10 and integrateds on 3/17.

Danny Richie · « **Reply #67 on:** 2 Mar 2007, 03:59 pm »

We actually might get a couple of more power amps showing up if we keep the dates.

We have several that can go either way too. They can be used as a stand alone with no pre-amp (as an integrated), or as an amp.

These include Trends Audio, Super T-amp, and modified T-amp. We might can shuffle a couple of these around a little bit to both groups.

Pure integrated designs, we have:

The NuForce IA7 or at least we did have one. As soon as I hooked it up it died. I even had everything hooked up when I turned in on just like the manual said. According to the manual there are about half a dozen ways to blow it up if you are not carful. Some fuses to protect it would have been nice. Anyway... Stan is looking into getting us another one, and maybe some power amps from them as well.

We have May Audio.

We have MLG Audio coming.

We have the Onkyo receiver.

I am still working on a Panasonic receiver.

We might have one more that I am also checking on.

A receiver shoot out or pairing might be interesting too.

Pure power amps we have:

Lyngdorf, Nomad Audio, Dodd Audio, Audiosector Patek

We are maybe on some NuForce mono-blocks.

We can also use in this group:

Trends Audio, Super T-amp, One modified T-amp

We could also have a shoot off between the little amps by themselves (Audiosector Patek, Trends Audio, Super T-amp, modified T-amp). All of those are built around the Tripath chips that do only 10 watts into 8 ohms.

PaulHilgeman · « **Reply #68 on:** 2 Mar 2007, 04:11 pm »

Quote from: arthurs on 2 Mar 2007, 04:48 am

Paul, my plan is the amp in play will be run directly into the wall (dedicated circuit) while the on deck amps can be kept running on my BPT on another dedicated circuit.

Good, thats what I wanted to hear, and is probably the best way to test these things as long as it is a requirement to keep them plugged in before testing. I cant imagine that any of the manufacturers of any of these amps would want their amp not to be fired up at all before listening, and I am sure the judges don't want to wait for 2 hours etc. on each amp for things to start to sound better/different.

-Paul

Danny Richie · « **Reply #69 on:** 2 Mar 2007, 04:21 pm »

We agree.

JDarby - Stereomojo.com · « **Reply #70 on:** 2 Mar 2007, 09:52 pm »

Can someone supply me with the specs of the Patek so I can publish them on the along with the other amps as part of the promo for the shootout, please?

I'm about to publish it now, but I can edit it as soon as I get the specs.

Please email via the website.

Thanks!

James Darby
Publisher - Stereomojo.com

Danny Richie · « **Reply #71 on:** 2 Mar 2007, 10:06 pm »

Hey, the guys from Flying Mole just contacted me and would like to participate as well.

Awesum0001 · « **Reply #72 on:** 2 Mar 2007, 10:15 pm »

Thank you Danny for the invite! Thank you Lou Bruno for your assistance also!
Can you please give me the exact date of the testing so that I will be able to send products to you before that date? We look forward to the challenge.

Sincerely,

Peter
Flying Mole Electronics

Danny Richie · « **Reply #73 on:** 2 Mar 2007, 10:26 pm »

Hey guys, Gary just posted some info and pics on his new digital amp in the market place.

http://www.audiocircle.com/index.php?topic=37868.msg339603;topicseen#new

Peter, I am really glad you decided to participate. Feel free to share any information about what you will be sending over to us.

maxwalrath · « **Reply #74 on:** 3 Mar 2007, 04:31 pm »

Quote from: JDarby - Stereomojo.com on 2 Mar 2007, 09:52 pm

Can someone supply me with the specs of the Patek so I can publish them on the along with the other amps as part of the promo for the shootout, please?

I'm about to publish it now, but I can edit it as soon as I get the specs.

Please email via the website.

Thanks!

James Darby
Publisher - Stereomojo.com

Hey James, I sent them to your outside email account.

Danny, the amp is shipped and you have tracking numbers. Please note that the Patek is a 50 watter, not a 10 watter. I don't think it's built around the chip you mentioned. ....actually I don't know much of anything about it except it's a "chip amp" and it sounded better than the amp it replaced in an A/B.

Danny Richie · « **Reply #75 on:** 3 Mar 2007, 05:44 pm »

Quote

Please note that the Patek is a 50 watter, not a 10 watter.

Ah, sorry about the. It is now noted.

JDarby - Stereomojo.com · « **Reply #76 on:** 3 Mar 2007, 05:54 pm »

The Great Digital Amp Shootout 2007 promo is now published at Stereomojo.com.

Take a look at it here:http://www.stereomojo.com/AMPSHOOTOUT_000.htm#shootout

If you have any comments or notice any problems or additions needed, please let me know via the site contact.

This is going to be incredible!

JD

Zero · « **Reply #77 on:** 3 Mar 2007, 06:42 pm »

JD,

Did you receive my PM's?

maxwalrath · « **Reply #78 on:** 3 Mar 2007, 06:43 pm »

...or my email w/ patek info?

PaulHilgeman · « **Reply #79 on:** 3 Mar 2007, 11:45 pm »

I don't really care either way, but why is the AudioSector Patek being included in this comparison?

Have a good one,
Paul