There are always fairy stories and snake oil to sold wherever you turn, Class A is it sir come right this way...
If you want very high SPL or to have the headroom to not clip any peak you might play then a flea powered amp will not do.
It then becomes a choice, once you get beyond a handful of watts Class A amps turn into very nice space heaters that you might appreciate in the winter.
High bias Class A/B is a good compromise as they can operate in Class A up until their bias point which might well keep the first few watts as Class A then transition out for peaks or when you turn the volume up.
Even a high bias A/B amp needs a lot of heatsinking which gets expensive and bulky. Look at the chassis requirements for some of the Pass designs to see what will be needed.
If you want very high SPL or to have the headroom to not clip any peak you might play then a flea powered amp will not do.
It then becomes a choice, once you get beyond a handful of watts Class A amps turn into very nice space heaters that you might appreciate in the winter.
High bias Class A/B is a good compromise as they can operate in Class A up until their bias point which might well keep the first few watts as Class A then transition out for peaks or when you turn the volume up.
Even a high bias A/B amp needs a lot of heatsinking which gets expensive and bulky. Look at the chassis requirements for some of the Pass designs to see what will be needed.
I don't know which low wattage amp you're looking at, but very low wattage amp usually means SE with high H2 distortion, I guess.
Have you ever considered to try Hypex nCore?
I own several different class A amps here, but I would highly recommend nCore as a reference amp.
If the speakers sound bad with Hypex, it's not the amp, it's the speakers.
Have you ever considered to try Hypex nCore?
I own several different class A amps here, but I would highly recommend nCore as a reference amp.
If the speakers sound bad with Hypex, it's not the amp, it's the speakers.
There is an article here where Bruno describes an issue with Hysteresis distortion with the UcD and Ncore amps.
Purifi Audio Unveils Investigation About Hysteresis Distortion | audioXpress
Supposedly the extra loop gain in the Purifi amps fixed it. I experienced the same issue described above with UcD amps and I have spoken with a number of other owners of UcD and nCore amps that have experienced the same. Ultimately it spoiled what was otherwise really good amplifiers.
Tom Christiansen's MOD686 would have my vote. It is very low noise, ultra low distortion, high power and sounds great. It's not cheap but still reasonable value in comparison to anything commercial that measures in the same league.
Well, I'm probably not very picky when it comes to class-D , and I honestly can't hear any issue with nCore.
Anyway, I just recommended nCore as a reference amp. I do not consider it is the best sounding amp, but I consider it to be one of the best reference amp to start testing / building speakers and another class-A amp. I paid only $500 for 250W+125W stereo pairs, and it is a ridiculously low price for what they do. I would not choose a class A as a reference amp because every class A amp sounds / behaves too different each other while a class-A amp would be the best sounding amp at the end of the journey.
, and I honestly can't hear any issue with nCore. Anyway, I just recommended nCore as a reference amp. I do not consider it is the best sounding amp, but I consider it to be one of the best reference amp to start testing / building speakers and another class-A amp. I paid only $500 for 250W+125W stereo pairs, and it is a ridiculously low price for what they do. I would not choose a class A as a reference amp because every class A amp sounds / behaves too different each other while a class-A amp would be the best sounding amp at the end of the journey.
you bet, hope i helped.
We all have our ideas on how to improve our audio, and i don't want to take away from those who feel amps are one of them. I spent many years in that camp, and can still acknowledge, with all things being equal, an amp can sometimes make a slight improvement.
For me now, any improvement from a particular amp is simply too low in marginal value to make me chase after it. Feels like fishing for minnows. Usually drawing a curtain in the room has mattered considerably more to the sound
Anyway, i'm quite happy with prosound amps...whatever the class, A/B, A/BH.. D....
QSC stuff works for me, but that said, if i had a ton of spare dough, i'd get either Linea Research or Powersoft or similar.
Just to have better gear....not really expecting any significantly better sound.
For sure...Ive started a document of quotables, from this thread, a long time ago. Yourself,, Fluid and lots more appear there, more than once. The noise floor on my crown cts has not given me issues in my voicing tests. Some personal matters and work haulted most things since may but, I ordered my speakon connecting gear and solder a few days ago. I can't believe I don't have a stand for mu horns. I bought these damn jbl stands not knowing jbls 2" is more like 1-15/16ths or what ever it may be. Now the personal matters have move out the way, maybe Ill jump on a 3d printer so I can print some kind of horn stand and Docali and Don K's HvDiff.
Im glad Fluid caught my typo. I was referring to class a. My crowns class-I may fit the bill then. I was trying to avoid the double conversion between my focusrite and the crown dsp but...maybe that idea is snake oil too...
Im glad Fluid caught my typo. I was referring to class a. My crowns class-I may fit the bill then. I was trying to avoid the double conversion between my focusrite and the crown dsp but...maybe that idea is snake oil too...
Aeria compact of the brand Audio Systeme Dynamqiue. This speaker is in the form of a column of almost a meter high, two-way type. The bass register is provided by two identical speakers, 20 cm in diameter. These Davis brand transducers have a membrane made from cellulose and graphite. They enclose the medium-high horn, which is a small marvel of cabinetmaking. This flag is indeed made by turning a thick piece of mahogany and equipped with a brand engine R.C.F. Its weight and rigidity let us hope for a color-free sound, which we will have the opportunity to check while listening
Same here.
However, I do think that tube amps + compression drivers go very well together.
While I don't like the fragility, low output, tube rolling, etc., from comparison A/B and tube amps with horns, I (like everyone else in attendance) preferred the tube amps.
This is especially true for horn loudspeakers with passive crossovers, Avantgarde and JBLs in the above examples. It is much easier to correct some anomalies in the response with DSP though.
Funny you mention that, about tube amps sounding better with CDs.
I've been contemplating what makes for a smoother VHF using CDs..things like tubes, like phono cartridges, like HOM foam, like less-can-be- more DSP correction...and such.
Seems to me, they all provide a bit of a smoothing, or perhaps better said averaging function....maybe reducing frequency resolution...dunno...just spitballing...
+1
What is their expected weight? I sweat that almost as much as how they will sound. Lol
Although that said, we all know weight helps any sub sound better.
Indeed! There's a certain synergy of complementary impedance's, so over the decades, almost every time folks have asked me what to drive two way partial horn systems it's Class A SS for up to < ~500 Hz and and if tube driven, then PP as SET can make the bass unnaturally 'syrupy'/'lush' for lack of a better description, which was fine back when recordings were -24 dB/40 Hz since it enhanced vocals, but real bass, not so much.
For the rest, matching impedance SET or at least tubes with variable damping tone controls, all passive XOs down to ~ 250 Hz.
