[gregmav]

Has Frank ever considered offering monoblock power amps, and how long of a length of unbalanced (RCA terminated) interconnect cable can be run between a pre amp and power amp, meaning is there a point where a balanced interconnect might be a better choice?

[Big Red Machine]

Generally 50 feet or more.

[Art_Chicago]

Generally 50 feet or more.

[gregmav]

When I asked about Frank offering monoblock power amplifiers, I meant to say solid state.

[gregmav]

When I asked about Frank offering monoblock power amplifiers, I meant to say solid state.

I just did some research on Frank's site.  Would I be able to actually have monoblock amplifiers by utilizing (for example) 2 440H power amplifiers hooked up to a Insight Hybrid Stereo Phase Inverter Bridge?  If I read the info correctly wouldn't this also increase output power of the amps?  I would assume the bridge could be hooked up to the Insight EC preamp.

[Big Red Machine]

Why is that funny?

[gregmav]

Why is that funny?

Big Red.  I agree.  I was just asking a simple question.   

[Lefty052347]

With solid state amps, adding a bridge will give you up to 3x's the power with AVA amps.  This is due in part to the robust power supplies and large power transformers Frank puts into to all his amplifiers.  Last year we bridged two Ultra Double 550's to drive the Salk HT4 prototypes at AK Fest.  That amounted to 1000 watts a side and was very impressive.

Regards,
Dean

[Tone Depth]

AVA has a new phase inverter bridge, using dual output mute circuits, that can actually be built into an Insight EC preamp, so the bridge no longer has to be a separate unit.  This was mentioned in the announcement for the new AVASTAR preamp.  Frank has previously stated that bridging a solid state power amplifier roughly triples the output power in a monoblock configuration.  The current AVA website is in the process of being updated.

I just did some research on Frank's site.  Would I be able to actually have monoblock amplifiers by utilizing (for example) 2 440H power amplifiers hooked up to a Insight Hybrid Stereo Phase Inverter Bridge?  If I read the info correctly wouldn't this also increase output power of the amps?  I would assume the bridge could be hooked up to the Insight EC preamp.

[charmerci]

Why is that funny?

Who has a room where you need 50 feet or more of interconnects????

[Big Red Machine]

Who has a room where you need 50 feet or more of interconnects????

It's not a question of someone's room, it's first a question of how long of an antenna someone might have.  And yes, it would be a rare case that anyone would need such a long cable.  But in pro use balanced cables make sense.

[charmerci]

.

[Wayner]

There is plenty of current drive to make such a distance possible, for what ever reason. I would suggest using a cable that is very shielded, to prevent it from becoming an antenna.

Wayner 

[Big Red Machine]

BRM,

The question was about the "interconnect cable can be run between a pre amp and power amp" length.

Dude, do you think I'm stupid?  I know what the question is.  I run 20 foot single ended IC's between source and amps myself.  No preamp.  Rule of thumb has been for years that when you start getting very long runs of ANY IC then you should watch for noise and perhaps use a balanced cable.  THAT was his question in the first post.  Your long run of SE IC may act like an antenna and pick up noise along the way.

[Wayner]

I had a home where the hifi cabinet was built into the wall and no room for the amps and had the same problem. A great question, remember that not all homes are built the same and there certainly can be some unique situations, requiring unique solutions.

Personally, I'd purchase some Bluejeans cables with only 12pf capacitance per foot. Still, that's 600pf per 50 foot length, getting kind of high.

There have been reports of folks going the other way and running long speaker wire lengths with problems. Speaker cable is normally unshielded and that length will like to act as an antenna, perhaps picking up noise from local radio stations or other RF.

Here is how to turn your stereo amplifier into a mono-block with Frank's Ultra                Hybrid Stereo Phase Inverter Bridge:

 

Wayner 

[avahifi]

In general, keep the interconnect cables between the preamp and the power amp as short as practical.

If you must use long interconnects, make sure they have a full braid shield and are as low a capacitance per foot as possible.

In general, amplifiers are load driving devices and the speaker wires are a negligible load in comparison to the speakers themselves (as long as the speaker wires are not woven designs that trade off inductance for high capacitance.  Avoid those as they will change the sound and possibly damage your equipment.

Preamplifiers in general do not have anywhere near the load driving capability as a power amp, and a long interconnect cable can roll off highs, pick up lots of noise, and generate a capacitive load the preamp cannot drive without distortion.

Use common sense about this, not "audiophlake sense". 

Regarding monoblock amplifiers, this essentially doubles the amplifier price with usually no musical value increase in proportion.  All AVA amplifier can be run as bridged mono amplifiers at more than 3 times normal single channel power.  The circuits to do this are now available as an option built into our new AvaStar preamplifier.

Best regards,

Frank