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In particular I'm considering the Mono Extremes from Odyssey Audio and the D-200 monoblocks from Channel Islands Audio. Since I see that there are owners of those particular amps here I was wondering if I could get some input to aid in making that decision.I have to admit, I really like the compact size of the D 200s, but I recall discussing digital amps with Klaus, and not to put words in his mouth, it seemed as though he had a pretty negative view of them.Nevertheless, all insights are well-appreciated.
The CI amps are smooth and mellow and do not have the icy steelness of, say, NuForce. But they do not have the tone of Tripath either to my ear. Do you need 200W? Have you considered the RWA 70s if not?
Quote from: PaulFolbrecht on 8 Oct 2007, 02:38 amThe CI amps are smooth and mellow and do not have the icy steelness of, say, NuForce. But they do not have the tone of Tripath either to my ear. Do you need 200W? Have you considered the RWA 70s if not?Those new RWA monos look very nice. My speakers are rated at 4 ohms and 91db...would I be skating on thin ice there?
Quote from: Larkston Zinaspic on 8 Oct 2007, 02:10 amIn particular I'm considering the Mono Extremes from Odyssey Audio and the D-200 monoblocks from Channel Islands Audio. Since I see that there are owners of those particular amps here I was wondering if I could get some input to aid in making that decision.I have to admit, I really like the compact size of the D 200s, but I recall discussing digital amps with Klaus, and not to put words in his mouth, it seemed as though he had a pretty negative view of them.Nevertheless, all insights are well-appreciated.I've had a pair of Mono SE's for about 15 months, and they never cease to amaze me. Extremely fast, great imaging and presense. Built like an M-1 tank. The only thing I've heard that comes close is the big monos from Accuphase. The ones from Krell won't. I suspect that these amps will be the last I ever buy.gary
Amps should be sized to provide a commanding grip on speakers. This would translate into reaching 105 - 110 dB in your room (assuming you don't exceed the speaker's rating). 105 dB is peak for classical music (jazz would be less). 110 dB is average loudness at rock concerts. I recommend you play with a spl meter to learn how really loud these levels are. (Most audiophiles I've hung with average closer to 80 dB for critical listening.)With your rather efficient speakers, that equates to 14 - 19 dB of gain at 4 ohms, or 11 - 16 dB of gain at 8 ohms (where most amps are rated) at the specified 1 meter distance using a single speaker. That translates into 13 - 40 watts at 8 ohms.In general with two channels playing a 12 ft x 20 ft room, the room reflection (gain) and the limited distance you can sit away from the speakers the spl you'd measure corresponds roughly to the rated speaker efficiency. Smaller rooms would have a net gain, larger ones would have a net loss and so need more power. Heavily dampened rooms would see more of a loss.Additional power is useful as it avoids clipping the amp, which is the easiest way to destroy speakers but, unless you want to break leases and ruin your ears, the chance of running your system that loud is fairly remote. This is more of a concern for users of tiny digital amps with average or low efficiency speakers.I'd also be concerned with the 4 ohm speaker rating. Is that an average or minimum rating? Amps typically become unstable under low impedance loadings, however digital amps seem to thrive on low impedance loads.Not suprisingly, digital versus tube versus solid state opinions vary primarily by what the vendor sells or the owner is currently using. Listen for yourself.Also look into your source output sensitivity, your pre-amp input/output sensitivity, and the rated gain from your pre-amp when shopping for a power amp. It's a common problem to have way more signal coming into the amp than necessary (regardless of the amp's power rating). The result is limited usable range of your volume control. For instance I have a CDP with a typical 2.0 volt output, but the monoblocks have a rated input sensitivity (to provide full power) at 0.6 volt. The result is even with a passive (no gain) pre-amp I reach maximum volume at 10:00 on the volume control, so the volume can be somewhat hard to control. Having a pre-amp with gain would only make the situation worse.
Just ordered 2 Belles 150A Ref amps to run in mono. I'll know soon if I chose wisely.
Quote from: PaulFolbrecht on 8 Oct 2007, 02:38 amThe CI amps are smooth and mellow and do not have the icy steelness of, say, NuForce. But they do not have the tone of Tripath either to my ear. Do you need 200W? Have you considered the RWA 70s if not?I would just like to defend my shining amps in armor. The Nuforce do not have an icy steeliness to them imho! Maybe you hooked them up backwards or upside down... but they have a natural presentation, in between SS and Tube amps in sound.Mike
I've only used the Nuforce for my center channel speaker. In terms of what I thought sounded best, I like my current tube-based amp. After that, I liked biamping the center channel with two channels of a Bryston 9B (solid state). After that, I'd place the Nuforce. (And perhaps a single channel of the Bryston, which couldn't drive my RM30C.) The Nuforce was too clinical sounding for me and tended to amplify stuff I didn't want to hear. It also seemed cold. That's on a center channel; perhaps they're better as stereo amps (in fact, I'm selling my Nuforce, as soon as I can get around to doing so).
