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March Audio P452 Purifi Based Stereo Power Amplifier

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Aldo

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t's ordered for me ! :D
I look forward to receiving it and to share with you my feelings when I take it in my hand and listen to it for the first time ... ;)
 
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March Audio

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MA: What case temperatures are you getting with your P452 units when stress testing after assembly?

[Yes first post - hopefully this isn't too cheeky for a newbie :p]
No problem.

The Purifi modules are more efficient than the Hypex and run cooler. Temp will be about 30 deg C after a long soak
 

soundman414

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Have you received yours yet or still waiting for delivery?
If you have it, what are your initial thoughts?

It's supposedly going to be here within the next 7 days. But I'll post when I have things set up and got some hours on the system.
 

sky176

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I've ordered P452 on 23th Nov. I would when would March Audio normally ship it?? A week? I misunderstood that (DHL 5 days) and believed I would have it 5 days after I place my order hmm...
 
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March Audio

March Audio

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I've ordered P452 on 23th Nov. I would when would March Audio normally ship it?? A week? I misunderstood that (DHL 5 days) and believed I would have it 5 days after I place my order hmm...
Hi @sky176

You may have missed the message on the ordering page which states that there is a 1 to 2 week lead time at the moment due to unpredictable delays in component supply due to covid.

We have been working hard and have nearly cleared a backlog (we build in customer order) that was created due to this.

Thank you for your patience in these challenging times.

If you require further information please contact me directly with your order number.
 

soundman414

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After having spent some time with the amp, two things really jump out at me. The first being how quiet it is; you can stick your ear right up to the tweeter and hear nothing, and I tried this on AMT tweeters, aluminum dome tweeters and silk dome tweeters. The second thing is the transient speed, they handle complex music cleanly and keeps things from feeling blurred together.

Overall I'm very happy with the amp!
 

Phorize

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Trigger alert: the following message approaches the experience of a happy owner of a new p452 using subjective axioms.

P452safely received and running well. I’m using it with an rme adi 2 dac and harbeth p3esr speakers. As measurements of the purifi modules would suggest, over my 70 watt class a/b the bass is much better defined and better presented and the clarity and separation of instruments is notably better. It’s natural sounding and effortless across the whole frequency range without a hint of the things that audiophiles (wrongly) accuse class d of. The fit and finish easily does justice to the state of the art amplification inside and the slight cost premium over the purifi products offered by other smaller manufacturers is well worth it; the p452 is finished as a luxury professional product without any of the ‘diy’ feel that is common with comparable purifi amplifiers. To re-emphasise this point, I think the quality of the p452 should be judged alongside the likes of NAD etc, rather Nord etc and it does very well indeed. It’s an amplifier for grown ups.

Well done Alan!
 

Aldo

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I have also just received my P452 ! DHL did a great job today!!

I have to admit that I expect a lot from it in terms of its musical quality.
My expectations have been far exceeded.

First of all the finish of the product which is exemplary and has nothing to envy to the historical "high fidelity". Its sobriety is equal to its refinement.

But what about the music? What is a "class D" worth, so much decried elsewhere...
Well I'll start with a quote from someone who had a good ear !
"Music is not in the notes but in the silence." W.A.Mozart
The rests are so deep, the note attacks are so dynamic, the timbres are so right across the spectrum that I rediscover almost all my favourite recordings !
Compared to my last amp, I had the impression that my loudspeakers had been moved 2m further away, while being more precise in the position of each instrument/voice/loudspeaker ... as for the sound micro details, I didn't think I would lose so many before !

I honestly don't know what more can I expect from my Harbeth SHL5+?! I have gained so much in all areas that I don't want to invest in a DSP corrector anymore !

I don't know how the other amplifiers sound with Purifi ... but this P452 is a bomb !
Alan, you can be proud of your products ! thank you for us !
 

stren

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Any plans for a multi channel amp? Maybe 3 purifi modules for LCR and 2 hypex 252 in one chassis? Or failing that a P453 instead?
 
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March Audio

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Any plans for a multi channel amp? Maybe 3 purifi modules for LCR and 2 hypex 252 in one chassis? Or failing that a P453 instead?
I have certainly considered it but so far demand/interest has been limited. Customers that want 3 channels have been happy to use say a P122/P252 bridged for centre and P252/P502 for left right. Or if they want Purifi a P451 for centre and P452 for left right.

They all have 12 volt trigger so can be powered on off by the AVR so it's no inconvenience.
 
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March Audio

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Trigger alert: the following message approaches the experience of a happy owner of a new p452 using subjective axioms.

P452safely received and running well. I’m using it with an rme adi 2 dac and harbeth p3esr speakers. As measurements of the purifi modules would suggest, over my 70 watt class a/b the bass is much better defined and better presented and the clarity and separation of instruments is notably better. It’s natural sounding and effortless across the whole frequency range without a hint of the things that audiophiles (wrongly) accuse class d of. The fit and finish easily does justice to the state of the art amplification inside and the slight cost premium over the purifi products offered by other smaller manufacturers is well worth it; the p452 is finished as a luxury professional product without any of the ‘diy’ feel that is common with comparable purifi amplifiers. To re-emphasise this point, I think the quality of the p452 should be judged alongside the likes of NAD etc, rather Nord etc and it does very well indeed. It’s an amplifier for grown ups.

Well done Alan!

I have also just received my P452 ! DHL did a great job today!!

I have to admit that I expect a lot from it in terms of its musical quality.
My expectations have been far exceeded.

First of all the finish of the product which is exemplary and has nothing to envy to the historical "high fidelity". Its sobriety is equal to its refinement.

But what about the music? What is a "class D" worth, so much decried elsewhere...
Well I'll start with a quote from someone who had a good ear !
"Music is not in the notes but in the silence." W.A.Mozart
The rests are so deep, the note attacks are so dynamic, the timbres are so right across the spectrum that I rediscover almost all my favourite recordings !
Compared to my last amp, I had the impression that my loudspeakers had been moved 2m further away, while being more precise in the position of each instrument/voice/loudspeaker ... as for the sound micro details, I didn't think I would lose so many before !

I honestly don't know what more can I expect from my Harbeth SHL5+?! I have gained so much in all areas that I don't want to invest in a DSP corrector anymore !

I don't know how the other amplifiers sound with Purifi ... but this P452 is a bomb !
Alan, you can be proud of your products ! thank you for us !


Thanks for the great feedback guys.

Have a fantastic Christmas

Alan
 

Matt_Photo

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Happy New Year everyone, let's hope this year's kinder!
Some great reviews Alan, I think it's time I stop reading and buy one. To get one in the UK Is it best to buy direct from you or through Purite Audio?
 

Phorize

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@March Audio what is the best thing to do to purchase in the UK?

You have a choice, contact Keith and see if he has stock, or order direct from March. I predict that both roads lead to Rome.
 

mikeburns

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Well finally connected up my minidsp SHD to my brand new March Audio p452. Streaming flac from a raspberry pi 4 to my Monitor Audio Silver 8 speakers, it is hard to think of much that could be improved. I will be adding a sub later on but boy, this is a killer setup. The p452 is more quiet than any of my previous amps and blows my old Class D Audio SDS470c away in terms of low noise. It is dead silent. Its so weird, even at high volumes there is just absolutely no amp noise. Do not even know if the amp is turned on, the music just suddenly appears out of the speakers. I could go on about how it sounds but it doesn't really sound at all. It just plays music really well with low distortion, which is exactly what I want. I think this is probably my end game amp. Cannot see me ever wanting to move on from here, unless it dies, at which point I will look for the latest Class D technology, which will no doubt have move on into ever increasing low levels of distortion and high levels of power.

Thanks Alan and Team Bruno, killer amp at an impressive price point. Highly recommended.

PS One minor issue, I seem to struggle to reliably turn the amp on and off with the piezo switch. Will need to work on the correct amount of time and pressure to get it to work every time. Took me a few depresses to get it to turn on. This is minor though and likely just me.
 

Phorize

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Well finally connected up my minidsp SHD to my brand new March Audio p452. Streaming flac from a raspberry pi 4 to my Monitor Audio Silver 8 speakers, it is hard to think of much that could be improved. I will be adding a sub later on but boy, this is a killer setup. The p452 is more quiet than any of my previous amps and blows my old Class D Audio SDS470c away in terms of low noise. It is dead silent. Its so weird, even at high volumes there is just absolutely no amp noise. Do not even know if the amp is turned on, the music just suddenly appears out of the speakers. I could go on about how it sounds but it doesn't really sound at all. It just plays music really well with low distortion, which is exactly what I want. I think this is probably my end game amp. Cannot see me ever wanting to move on from here, unless it dies, at which point I will look for the latest Class D technology, which will no doubt have move on into ever increasing low levels of distortion and high levels of power.

Thanks Alan and Team Bruno, killer amp at an impressive price point. Highly recommended.

PS One minor issue, I seem to struggle to reliably turn the amp on and off with the piezo switch. Will need to work on the correct amount of time and pressure to get it to work every time. Took me a few depresses to get it to turn on. This is minor though and likely just me.
The switch did take a bit of getting used to for me too.
 
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