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$500 amplifiers to test and review?

oivavoi

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How about the discontinued CTS series from Crown? (class AB up until CTS 1200, while CTS 2000 and 3000 are some class D-ish design). The multichannel ones (4200 and 8200) seem to have even better specs than the twochannel ones. Lots of cheap ones to be found on ebay. Need fan swap though. https://www.crownaudio.com/en/products/cts-4200

Do those specs qualify as high fidelity?
 

restorer-john

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Crown gear has always been bullet-proof in construction. They have to have pretty conservative specs, because the professional field will push them very hard for year after year.

PA/Sound reinforcement gear traditionally had higher noise floors, poorer bandwidth (deliberate) and overall higher levels of THD/IMD. Where they excelled, was limitless power and huge powers into inductive/capacitive and low impedance loads without destruction.

They are kind of like the Hummers of the audio world. Big, strong and reliable. High performance, speed and agility, not so much.
 

oivavoi

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Thanks, @restorer-john . Here's the specs for the CTS 4200 btw. Is this significantly worse than hifi amps?

F65E828F-3BB3-48B4-8EC2-64B8AC668DE9.jpeg

7C4B4481-B647-4F37-A787-6B15860A51B7.jpeg
 

oivavoi

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Btw, one more question for you, @restorer-john , since you seem to know a lot about older amps! If I was set to buy a second hand AB amp. Are there any particular models you would recommend, that have excellent performance and which can be found for good prices online?
 

restorer-john

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If I was set to buy a second hand AB amp. Are there any particular models you would recommend, that have excellent performance and which can be found for good prices online?

Honestly, there are many, may hundreds if not thousands of very good vintage Class AB amplifiers.

I could give you a list of ones I personally like, test well and perform well, but as with anything 2nd had and vintage, there may be minor or major things to do to the unit to keep or return it to spec.

If you are not electronically inclined and want a plug and play classic amplifier, I would consider gear from the late very 80s-early 90s where phenomenal bang for your buck can still be had on the secondary market.

1970s silver faced gear is overpriced, under performing and needs considerably more work on the whole.

Send me a PM and I can give you a list to look up and research for yourself.
 

svart-hvitt

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You are right, here is Crowns email answer to my question :



Hi Steve,

Our Crown amps have a great sound, but wouldn’t be classified as high fidelity like our Mark Levinson amplifiers.
High Fidelity amps usually lie within a much higher cost range.
This isn’t to say that you wouldn’t like the Crown amplifiers.
Maybe check with some local dealers to see if you can hear what one sounds like before you buy it.

Best Regards,
Tony Smith

Technical Support Engineer
Harman Professional Solutions

Wow! What an answer! And as @FrantzM said, exactly what you’d expect.

What were the odds, really, for a Harman employee to tell a customer his cheap product can compete with his expensive product.

(No, I didn’t forget the question mark above).
 

ash

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@amirm, you should consider measuring the amps from garage 1217?, the project polaris looks really interesting, at under $300 it's a "tube sounding" solid state amp with lots of power and setup options
 
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amirm

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@amirm, you should consider measuring the amps from garage 1217?, the project polaris looks really interesting, at under $300 it's a "tube sounding" solid state amp with lots of power and setup options
Hi there. In this thread we have been discussing amplifiers for speakers. Looks like they only make headphone amps?
 

trl

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noobie1 said:
What about this one?

https://www.amazon.com/NuForce-STA200-160-watt-Power-Amplifier-Swiss-design/dp/B01552AKCU
That's a good candidate. I wish it was an integrated amp so that we could use DACs without volume control but I will put this on my potentials.
Got some technical stuff here about: http://music-electronics-forum.com/showthread.php?t=44309 and also its internal schematic http://music-electronics-forum.com/...b49774aa51971&attachmentid=43435&d=1493734948, hope it helps.

BTW, I'm testing BANG from Burson these days, this is "yet another gainclone" with LM3886TF (the plastic chips). Not much power, but given its CD-ROM size I find it interesting for gamers or desk-space-savers. Also, this is an extremely low-noise amplifier having a DC-output of 1-2mV only, so I was listening to FOSTEX T50RP-mk3 without issues; hence, this would be my most powerful "headamp" from my home for the moment. :)
 

envydd

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Also there is a NuPrime STA-6 which is supposed to be a neutral amp with a little bit of warmth.
 

tranq

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Id be particularly interested in emotiva A100 as it has a HP out taken directly from the speaker output. Two bypassable resistors in the HP signal path. Sounds very interesting. Cheap too, especially when I have eyes on a Vidar Saga combo or cambridge audio cxa60
 
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amirm

amirm

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Modulus-86 would be awesome to review.
Tom really knows what he is doing. Alas, that unit says it is out of production:

"
MOD86_R2p1_Assembled.jpg

Modulus-86 – Rev. 2.1

65 W composite chip amplifier achieving 0.000061 % THD.
This product is currently out of stock and unavailable."
 
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Sorry I think he is up to the 2.3 version, which looks to be in stock. I have the 2.1 in my main system it powers my GR Research Super Vs. Amazing amp for the price.
 
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amirm

amirm

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I wish he provided a kit of parts. Ordering them all for one build will be a lot of hassle. He would create a create at Mouser/Digikey also and have people order it that way. Did you source your components yourself?
 
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@amirm -- I actually bought my assembled from a builder locally. It was too nice of a build to pass up and not worth me going through the effort of building one myself. There is an active thread on DIY Audio, which has information about the build. Looks like a "Bill-of-materials includes a Mouser Electronics Project Link as well as Digikey part numbers." So that comes with the purchase of the board. The builder of mine did a top-notch job sourcing a case and outfitting it with premium parts.
 

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restorer-john

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The builder of mine did a top-notch job sourcing a case and outfitting it with premium parts.

Sure looks like he did a great job- rear panel engraving and painted lettering. I wonder why he didn't do anything on the front panel?

Show us a show of the interior build just for fun. :)
 
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