What kind of amp do you like?

[Chas]

Widget, first world problems using a JC1 for woofers? Geez, I thought I was bad using a Bryston 4BSST2 for subs...

[tripwr1964]

i just bought a First Watt J2 to power my 846A horns. currently building a ACA, may use that for horns and move the J2 to woofers... should work nicely.

[rusty jefferson]

I recently bought a Parasound A21+...

..The power is effortless with 160 watts a side on tap...

That model is 300 watts per channel @ 8ohms. I recently picked up an A 21(sans "+" that's 250 per channel) for running the woofers in a furure 3 way active project.

[Paul001]

Classe A

[Robh3606]

Ones that sound good driving the speakers and don't get strained if I choose to cut loose and things get a little loud. The class isn't that important to me. As long as the loads they are working into is compatible to the overall amp design things should be fine. So pay attention to minimum impedances and phase in your speakers response plots as the combination can make life difficult for the amplifiers.

Rob

[Doctor_Electron]

As far as technologies, topologies, and power output ranges go, I think there are great and not so great amplifiers of every type.

I've had many highly regarded amps, and I can tell you two that sounded best to me.

Sansui AU-7700 Integrated Amp Very clean and detailed, early to mid 1970's, about 50 W/ch*. Sansui knew what they were doing.

Alesis Matica 500 Power Amp 125 W/ch* , 80 V/usec I think this high a slew rate tributes to the sonic excellence of this one.

*Rated power outputs at 8 ohms nominal load impedance

Evaluations when listening with JBL 4410 and JBL 4412 monitors.

[Paul001]

Class A solid state ..... the warmth of tubes without the distortion .

Rich

:applaudire:

[Ian Mackenzie]

Historically high powered class AB power amps don’t work as well at low power levels. Lots of power transistors turning on/off with relatively low class A bias.

Bi amping with a transparent electronic crossover using a smaller high quality amplifier on the horn or midrange overcomes this limitation.

[Heliac]

Wich kind of amp i like depends on wich speaker i want to use it with.

For example i had a Pioneer M-22, a small class A amp. Not so impressive with JBL 250ti...but with AR3a with its impedance drop this amp is great.

A Pioneer SX-1980 sounds fantastic with 250ti..but not with AR3a:s...but both are great amps in my opinion.

[gerard]

Hello ,I am currently using a Nuprime STA9 for bi amp ( medium , high medium and high ) on my 250 XPL .Very happy with it better than some tube amp i Used .Nb: Works best with a tube Preamp .Gerard

[DerekTheGreat]

With my limited budget, I've tried many that were within those constraints; Carver, Adcom, Marantz, Yamaha and then Crown. I am hands down a Crown fan now. I am convinced there is no better value for your money than a PS or Studio Reference amplifier. If you want the tightest, most authoritative bass you've ever heard, Studio Reference. Crown K series amps come in behind a Studio Reference, and PS amps nipping on the heels of a K series. I don't recommend a K series for anything other than subwoofer duty, but a PS is great all-around. They've got a really sweet midrange & high presentation. And if you need more juice, all of those Crowns can be bridged.

[hjames]

I recently swapped out my Carver TFM-25 for an Acurus A200 (both in the 200+w/ch range). I have an Acurus RL11 (remote control) Preamp, and when the matched power amp became available,
I immediately offered to buy it, knowing the seller well and trusting him. The Acurus has a near silent noise floor and is a great improvement with tracks on my local server as well as streaming
audio via Qobuz, a WiiM Pro Streamer and a Topping D30 DAC ...

[short_circutz2]

Warmth equates to the 2nd harmonic distortion in the context of THD.

Class A power amps have inherently low 3rd harmonic distortion. SE class A amps exhibit tendency towards warm sound in the absence of 3rd harmonic distortion.

SS SE amps like the Pass Aleph where like that. They are very nice but not on trend in terms of contemporary hifi listening.

In contrast the Pass X series cancelled out the 2nd harmonic distortion.

Pass then added a small amount of SE bias up to a few watts in the X.5 series.
I have one of those the X250.5.

I don’t mind tubes in preamps. They can add. A certain emotional feeling. Again it’s the 2nd harmonic distortion.

A bit of 2nd harmonic goes a long way with metal diaphragms.

That is why I detest most solid state guitar amplifiers, other than the better modelling ones. Don't get me wrong, theres some tube instrument amps sound terrible as well...my old 100w Garnet Deputy 2 combo amp comes to mind...but I'll take my pre-CBS Fender Bassman blackface head over most anything solid state for playing guitar thru.