I am hopefully shipping a FHL kit, made for Fostex FF85WK drivers, to Cyprus early next week (just waiting for payment). The buyer is asking me for a recommendation for an amplifier to go with them. I mentioned the Amp Camp kit, but don't know if he is looking for a DIY or commercial product. I also don't know his budget.
So my question, broadly, is how does one choose an amp to go with a particular set of speakers, or drivers. I understand that driver efficiency has a lot to do with it but surely there are other factors, namely budget. Can anyone enlighten me??? Thanks in advance!!
P.S. Yes, Cyprus. The island in the Mediterranean off the coast of Lebanon. Please keep your fingers crossed for me on this one!
So my question, broadly, is how does one choose an amp to go with a particular set of speakers, or drivers. I understand that driver efficiency has a lot to do with it but surely there are other factors, namely budget. Can anyone enlighten me??? Thanks in advance!!
P.S. Yes, Cyprus. The island in the Mediterranean off the coast of Lebanon. Please keep your fingers crossed for me on this one!
Hi Bob there’s quite a few amps out there that are reasonable along with the amp camp amp . At around $ 600 there’s the audio nirvana EL 84 integrated amp, the dynamo st35 which I built during covid , not that it has gone away , needs a preamp, a kit. The Decware UFO Super Zen amp at 1000., and the Bob Latino st70 kit, and the Bottlehead S.E.X. 3.0, an excellent kit for speakers and headphones 550, and the plethora of used on eBay and other websites !!!!
Let me begin by saying that I consider the speakers and room acoustics to have the biggest impact on the audio we hear. DACs, amplifiers, cables, etc have problems that are orders of magnitude smaller.
Here's an investigation with a reasonable sample size: Matrix HiFi --> Blind testing high end full equipments
Amplifiers etc do still have problems, of course, and the really badly-designed ones will sound as such. There's also the matter of keeping the amp out of clipping etc. Suffice to say, in my (and others' experience), good amplifiers being operated in their linear range will sound very very similar.
Based on that, my choice of amplifier comes down to two things:
1 - How well would it integrate with the rest of my system?
2 - Does it have enough power?
3 - Is it easy to use?
For the first point, I'll look at the input selection (I recently changed amplifiers because my input needs had changed quite dramatically), speaker switching (driving the speakers in the kitchen is a bonus), and make sure that it'll look at home next to the rest of the gear.
Next, I'll look at sustained and burst power outputs. Most of the time, I'll be playing music at 60-70dB, so (even with my mid-80s-at-1w speakers) not a lot of power is needed. Occasionally, though, I like to crank up some classic rock, dubstep or whatever and enjoy the tactile experience of the music, which usually kicks in north of 100dB. By deploying my nice PA amplifiers (Powersoft T602), I found the peak voltage I needed to get the levels I wanted, and did the maths to arrive at about 150w/ch.
Some consideration should be given to the thermal limits of the drivers themselves, and whether opting for a large amplifier is sensible: while the Behringer A500 in the link above apparently puts up a good case for itself, it would destroy those Fostex units without breaking a sweat. The speakers I use are considerably more sturdy, and can put up with the sort of (ab)use I subject them to on occasion.
Finally, an amplifier must be easy to use. For me, this is make-or-break. I can forgive having to go 3dB into clipping, or using a couple of adapters or converters to get the inputs to work. Getting the music to play must be as straightforward as possible.
A couple of years ago, I had a tri-amped DSP-based system which sounded amazing. Because I had to perform a special routine to get the thing to work (boot processor, boot amps, unmute processor outputs, etc), it was used maybe once per week. Maybe. Most of the time, I put up with playing music out of my laptop's built-in speakers.
These days, I use a decent ("mid-range", because I liked the additional features over the budget models) commercial amplifier which comes with a nice remote control, handles all of my input sources, and is user-friendly enough for my partner to play music while I'm out of the house.
When I'm home, there's music on 6-10 hours a day.
There's no point in having a HiFi system that never gets used.
Chris
Here's an investigation with a reasonable sample size: Matrix HiFi --> Blind testing high end full equipments
Amplifiers etc do still have problems, of course, and the really badly-designed ones will sound as such. There's also the matter of keeping the amp out of clipping etc. Suffice to say, in my (and others' experience), good amplifiers being operated in their linear range will sound very very similar.
Based on that, my choice of amplifier comes down to two things:
1 - How well would it integrate with the rest of my system?
2 - Does it have enough power?
3 - Is it easy to use?
For the first point, I'll look at the input selection (I recently changed amplifiers because my input needs had changed quite dramatically), speaker switching (driving the speakers in the kitchen is a bonus), and make sure that it'll look at home next to the rest of the gear.
Next, I'll look at sustained and burst power outputs. Most of the time, I'll be playing music at 60-70dB, so (even with my mid-80s-at-1w speakers) not a lot of power is needed. Occasionally, though, I like to crank up some classic rock, dubstep or whatever and enjoy the tactile experience of the music, which usually kicks in north of 100dB. By deploying my nice PA amplifiers (Powersoft T602), I found the peak voltage I needed to get the levels I wanted, and did the maths to arrive at about 150w/ch.
Some consideration should be given to the thermal limits of the drivers themselves, and whether opting for a large amplifier is sensible: while the Behringer A500 in the link above apparently puts up a good case for itself, it would destroy those Fostex units without breaking a sweat. The speakers I use are considerably more sturdy, and can put up with the sort of (ab)use I subject them to on occasion.
Finally, an amplifier must be easy to use. For me, this is make-or-break. I can forgive having to go 3dB into clipping, or using a couple of adapters or converters to get the inputs to work. Getting the music to play must be as straightforward as possible.
A couple of years ago, I had a tri-amped DSP-based system which sounded amazing. Because I had to perform a special routine to get the thing to work (boot processor, boot amps, unmute processor outputs, etc), it was used maybe once per week. Maybe. Most of the time, I put up with playing music out of my laptop's built-in speakers.
These days, I use a decent ("mid-range", because I liked the additional features over the budget models) commercial amplifier which comes with a nice remote control, handles all of my input sources, and is user-friendly enough for my partner to play music while I'm out of the house.
When I'm home, there's music on 6-10 hours a day.
There's no point in having a HiFi system that never gets used.
Chris
Just another Chris with some thoughts on the matter.
This is a subject that could easily devolve into polemics, and debates about subjectivity/objectivity. I’m of the opinion that there is not yet any audio component that is perfect, and our calculus for thresholds of compromise will vary as much as our individual situation and experience.
I’d opine that absent knowledge of the “client’s” circumstances / budget / needs, etc it’d be a fools errand to make specific suggestions - particularly the recommendation for a DIY kit.
That said, and being more than casually familiar with the loudspeakers in question and many of the types of amps mentioned by kevner, I’d offer the opinion that a power level of 10-15 watts minimum would be as good a starting point to consider as any.
But there are many more factors than power, class or topology.
This is a subject that could easily devolve into polemics, and debates about subjectivity/objectivity. I’m of the opinion that there is not yet any audio component that is perfect, and our calculus for thresholds of compromise will vary as much as our individual situation and experience.
I’d opine that absent knowledge of the “client’s” circumstances / budget / needs, etc it’d be a fools errand to make specific suggestions - particularly the recommendation for a DIY kit.
That said, and being more than casually familiar with the loudspeakers in question and many of the types of amps mentioned by kevner, I’d offer the opinion that a power level of 10-15 watts minimum would be as good a starting point to consider as any.
But there are many more factors than power, class or topology.
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