300w Pure class A Monoblock search!

[antcollinet]

Fair point!

I have a lot to learn!

But I did find this bad boy which you may appreciate (£16,500.00 a piece though)….

Diablo 300 - The Gryphon

Nearly 10 years ago, the Gryphon Diablo brought newfound credibility and respectability to the humble integrated amplifier. Previously the object of widespread scorn from audiophiles, the full potential of the integrated amplifier was finally realised in the Gryphon Diablo, so far ahead of its...

gryphon-audio.dk

And is class A/B

 

[ahofer]

Dare we ask why?

 

[LTig]

Absolutely no chance.

If you could find one (which I doubt) you'd be looking at (probably multiple) 10Ks

Yep. The budget won't buy you the heat sinks for one channel.

 

[MaxBuck]

Hi

Never posted before. But I am in the search for a set of pure class a Monoblocks with a wattage output of 300w into 8ohms….. I cannot seem to find a useful site to help my search filters!

Does anyone know of any that don’t cost the earth?

Budgetary speaking in the region of £1500 each.

Hopefully you guys can help me find my endgame amps!!

Thanks
Lew

Great idea. While you're looking, let me know if you come across a fairly new, low-mileage Aston-Martin. My budget is $20,000. PM me if you find one.

 

[Lew3vans]

thanks for the advice

Great idea. While you're looking, let me know if you come across a fairly new, low-mileage Aston-Martin. My budget is $20,000. PM me if you find one.

 

[Lew3vans]

Can I just say thanks to those who have actually offered advice!

I don’t have the knowledge I’m sure a lot of you have around the science behind hifi.

But also shame to those who have offered nothing but snide remarks. I thought this was a place for advice and growing knowledge, not for juvenile classroom mockery.

 

[voodooless]

I thought this was a place for advice and growing knowledge, not for juvenile classroom mockery.

Well, it’s a bit of both really. If you get these kind of remarks it usually means there is something lacking in your logic or way of thinking.. let’s explore:

Before I was looking at the Emotiva A1 - which I guess is a bit of a trade off as a class AB

What trade-off is that according to you?

The simple truth of the matter is that amplifier class is a irrelevant spec. Relevant are the thing that you can actually measure, and most important of these are frequency response, noise, distortion, IMD, load dependance among possibly a few other things. These determine the performance of an amp. Also reality is that most Class A designs are not best in class (pun intended) in these metrics. and another reality is that actual audible differences between amps are very small to non-existent anyway, so no point throwing too much money at them. Same goes for monoblocks. They do not really offer any benefits other than looking cool. Or if you need only one, they may make sense, but 300W of class A for a sub would be even bigger madness

If you need a lot of power, class D amps are a good choice, models with Hypex or Purify modules generally have excellent performance, and do not cost an arm and a leg. Check out some of the amplifier reviews on ASR. You can learn a lot.

So give us a bit more to work with here? What’s the context? What are you actually trying to solve here?

TLDR: don’t be classist

 

[CDMC]

Dare we ask why?

This. It appears the OP is asking for something without knowing what he/she/they is asking for or why.

 

[CDMC]

Can I just say thanks to those who have actually offered advice!

I don’t have the knowledge I’m sure a lot of you have around the science behind hifi.

But also shame to those who have offered nothing but snide remarks. I thought this was a place for advice and growing knowledge, not for juvenile classroom mockery.

You asked a question for which there is no answer. There is no such thing as a true Class A amp with 300 watts into 8 ohms at any price. Why do you think you want a product that does not exist?

 

[Dismayed]

Hi

Never posted before. But I am in the search for a set of pure class a Monoblocks with a wattage output of 300w into 8ohms….. I cannot seem to find a useful site to help my search filters!

Does anyone know of any that don’t cost the earth?

Budgetary speaking in the region of £1500 each.

Hopefully you guys can help me find my endgame amps!!

Thanks
Lew

What are you driving that requires 300 WPC?

 

[Yasuo]

Why class A?

 

[dlaloum]

a 300W class A amp may need to dissipate 3kw of heat...

The power supply for that alone, is easily going to blow your budget... let alone the casework/heatsinks required, or the amp circuits...

The only way you will find something of that sort at somewhere near the order of magnitude of budget you are hoping for, is by ordering direct from China.... and given the size and weight of such a beast, the shipping alone is likely to be close to US$500.

But out of China, you might find something within 2 or 3 times what your budget is that meets your criteria.

From Europe or North America, you would be looking at around 10x your budget.

Used amps are a possibility - but anything that is Class A at 300W is likely to be one of the big (read expensive) brands - and they maintain their value quite reasonably... but might be around the same price as something new out of China.

 

[Keith_W]

There is no such thing as a 300W Class A amplifier that sells for UKP1500. You might be able to get a 300W Class A/B amplifier for that much money, but definitely not Class A. If you want 300W Class A, that means a giant amplifier with huge heatsinks with massive power consumption. These things exist, but they are far from cheap. You would be looking something like this Krell FPB-300 amplifier which you can optimistically get second hand for about UKP4000 (and even then, it has to go to Class AB to get 300W):

All other new amplifiers which put out that much power in Class A are easily 10x your budget.

You will have to give up one of your requirements, either 300W, or Class A, or UKP1500. Then it would be possible to help you choose an amplifier.

 

[dlaloum]

There are various designs that are Quasi Class A - ie: they provide class A to a certain level of output (usually enough for all normal listening to be in A) - before switching over to AB...

With my innefficient 86db/Wm speakers, my normal listening happens at below 1W with peaks typically going no further than 5W, and 16W under absolutely extreme situations.... (even though I feed them with a 440W Class D beast...)

Other designs use a high quality Class A low power amp, followed by a supporting amp which can be class B, AB or D.... eg: the Quad Current dumping amps, Threshold Stasis, Nakamichi, and current Benchmark AHB1 - end result is very high sound quality, but with the efficiency of the supporting "muscle" as B/AB/D.

Lots of other examples out there - lots of high quality amps can be found - but you definitely will need to compromise on one of your criteria!

 

[muslhead]

Can I just say thanks to those who have actually offered advice!

I don’t have the knowledge I’m sure a lot of you have around the science behind hifi.

But also shame to those who have offered nothing but snide remarks. I thought this was a place for advice and growing knowledge, not for juvenile classroom mockery.

There is always a bit of both. Like most things in life, you get both sides ... whether you want it or not.
Like a bad side dish, dont let them ruin your main course.

 

[notsodeadlizard]

Hi

Never posted before. But I am in the search for a set of pure class a Monoblocks with a wattage output of 300w into 8ohms….. I cannot seem to find a useful site to help my search filters!

Does anyone know of any that don’t cost the earth?

Budgetary speaking in the region of £1500 each.

Hopefully you guys can help me find my endgame amps!!

Thanks
Lew

May I ask why you need 300 watts of power from a class A amplifier?

 

[Astoneroad]

May I ask why you need 300 watts of power from a class A amplifier?

Courtesy of AI (Bing) image creator when you ask for a sunny side up egg on a stereo amp... lol.

 

[Lew3vans]

Well, it’s a bit of both really. If you get these kind of remarks it usually means there is something lacking in your logic or way of thinking.. let’s explore:

What trade-off is that according to you?

The simple truth of the matter is that amplifier class is a irrelevant spec. Relevant are the thing that you can actually measure, and most important of these are frequency response, noise, distortion, IMD, load dependance among possibly a few other things. These determine the performance of an amp. Also reality is that most Class A designs are not best in class (pun intended) in these metrics. and another reality is that actual audible differences between amps are very small to non-existent anyway, so no point throwing too much money at them. Same goes for monoblocks. They do not really offer any benefits other than looking cool. Or if you need only one, they may make sense, but 300W of class A for a sub would be even bigger madness

If you need a lot of power, class D amps are a good choice, models with Hypex or Purify modules generally have excellent performance, and do not cost an arm and a leg. Check out some of the amplifier reviews on ASR. You can learn a lot.

So give us a bit more to work with here? What’s the context? What are you actually trying to solve here?

TLDR: don’t be classist

Thank you for the concise reply.

The reason i was aiming towards class A is that i have read a lot of information about them being the 'purest sounding' amps that tend not to colour the source with any magic. This would be the easy starting point as i want the amp to sound as natural to the recording as possible. I mean, that's the goal right?

So are we saying that the difference between classes in inaudible?

The reason for the 300 watts, is to drive some RF-7 floor standers I have my eye on.

So if the power requirements of the speaker exceed the capabilities of the budget or the power, or the seaker class vs heat production. Then i need to look at something else in terms of amp class to better suit my budget/speaker requirements.

Thanks again!

 

[fpitas]

Class A by its nature has no crossover distortion. Once upon a time that made it the go-to for very sensitive speakers (like horns). Early class A/B amps often had enough crossover distortion to be audible at times. Class D also has no crossover distortion, and it offers excellent efficiency, unlike class A.

 

[Matias]

Pass Labs XS300 for 85k a pair and 1000W idle dissipation looks like a great option! lol

XS300 - Pass Labs

The Xs series monoblock power amplifiers represent the reference-quality, state-of-art amplifiers from Pass Laboratories. Through years of “spare no effort” endeavor, they represent the true pinnacle of music reproduction. The Xs 300 delivers 300 watts, employs separate power supply and …...

www.passlabs.com

https://www.passlabs.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/Xs-amp_om.pdf