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$500 amplifiers to test and review?

Keltere

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I think they make very good stuff, but not sure there aren’t other good options out there too (eg Hypex). Haven’t researched it in enough depth though...

It would be great if Amirm could measure some of those all in one module, it will be great for DIY users too.
By what i know they don't need any external power supply or any sort of implementation so except bad connections or no case grounding it should make no noticeable difference in measurements for each manufacturer.
 
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FrantzM

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As an aside for $500, there are a lot of used Pro amps available on eBay. I recently grabbed (for $200) a Crown CTS8200 (8 channels @ 200 watts continuous, all channel driven) easily bridged to provide >400 watts/ch for 4 channels!! @ 0.1% THD...
 

eugenius

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If a fan turns on, but you never hear it, did it ever really turn on?

If your wife cheats on you, but you never find out, did she really cheat on you? :)

At the same time, I like to arrive at a recommended speaker to go with these much cheaper amps. I think a smaller desktop speakers may be a better match for them??? I am thinking like my pro monitors but they are powered.

The Kef Q150 are available for under 300$ this Black Friday. They’re also rather good!

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0728GJWD9/

9907A2F2-851F-484A-BBB5-B50A03E0C85B.jpeg
 
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Jazzmajor

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What Emotiva says about the amps. Apparently fans were needed to pass FTC power testing, and reports from users are they nearly never turn on.

Hi kids,
The BasX amplifiers are derived from the XPA circuit topology. They are signifigantly improved from the previous Ultra Series amplifiers. Noise, THD, and overall build quality are improved. All PCB's are now double sided FR-4 material.


I think the BasX amplifiers are great! I'm really proud of them, and at their price points, they have no real competition. BTW, the output stage is a fully complementary, discrete darlington design and uses the same high speed, high current ON Semiconductor power devices as the XPA Series. The cooling fans RAREY operate. They are there primarily to pass CE and FTC heat soak preconditioning tests. They are also handy if the amps are mounted in an area without proper ventilation. During normal operation, you will not normally see them turn on.

Happy listening,
Big Dan



Dan Laufman
President
Emotiva Audio Corporation
Are they Class A/B?
 

vert

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This :
https://www.eu.onkyo.com/en/products/r-n855-133058.html
The Onkyo R-N855.
It got a few excellent review, is said to sound great. Class D, apparently, with a DAC. It seems to be, in fact, Onkyo's version of a "full digital" amp.
Just over $500 in my country. Nice compact format, nice build. Not sure if the USB ports accept anything else than USB sticks, that would be a negative.
Looks almost ideal to me, though !
 

Svperstar

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The Gilmore Lite was my first "real" amp back in 2005. I just picked up the newly released Gilmore Lite Mk2. I would love to see it measured.
 

dwkdnvr

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I'm using an Emotiva BasX A-100 to drive Kef Q150's in a desktop system. Very happy with the combo, particularly considering the ~$525 system cost (625 including the Behringer 0204). If I can figure out a stopgap, I'll definitely consider sending it to Amir for testing.
 

Rollingsound514

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I'm looking for a power amp to run a pair of kef q300s, currently have an old NAD C320BEE and I don't think it's quite cutting it at 50 watts per channel...
 
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I'm using an Emotiva BasX A-100 to drive Kef Q150's in a desktop system. Very happy with the combo, particularly considering the ~$525 system cost (625 including the Behringer 0204). If I can figure out a stopgap, I'll definitely consider sending it to Amir for testing.

A few other Emotiva amps under $500 include the A-150 and A-300, which are class A/B stereo power amps, and the upcoming PA-1, which is a Class D monoblock power amp. I am most interested in the PA-1, as it uses an ICEPower amp module. I do wish they would make a stereo version, though (dual-mono would be fine).

It would be very interesting to see how the PA-1 (or a similar ICEPower or Hypex based class D amp) measures.
 

andreasmaaan

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A few other Emotiva amps under $500 include the A-150 and A-300, which are class A/B stereo power amps, and the upcoming PA-1, which is a Class D monoblock power amp. I am most interested in the PA-1, as it uses an ICEPower amp module. I do wish they would make a stereo version, though (dual-mono would be fine).

It would be very interesting to see how the PA-1 (or a similar ICEPower or Hypex based class D amp) measures.

SMSL also makes a couple of (stereo) ICEpower based amps for around $500, perhaps check their website out? You’d be paying for an inbuilt DAC too though IIRC.
 
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SMSL also makes a couple of (stereo) ICEpower based amps for around $500, perhaps check their website out? You’d be paying for an inbuilt DAC too though IIRC.

The ICEPower-based SMSL amps (the A6 and A8) look nice, and it would be interesting to see how they measure, but they don't seem to be very good values, at least in terms of power output per unit price; the A6 is $450 USD for 50 watts per channel into 4 Ohms and the A8 is $600 USD for 125 watts per channel into 4 ohms. The Emotiva PA-1 is a better value, though of course my value criteria is biased towards power rather than features. Also, my particular use case requires a power amp, not an integrated amp.

One other interesting note: I saw on March Audio's website (https://www.marchaudio.net.au/) that they are soon going to offer Hypex-based stereo power amplifiers in the 120, 250 and 500 WPC range. I'm guessing these will use Hypex's NCore MP series of amp modules (NC122MP, NC252MP and NC502MP respectively).

I believe the owner of March Audio is a major contributor to ASR; disregarding the $500 price threshold of this forum topic, it would be really cool to see Amir test the March Audio P122, P252 or P502 amp.
 
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sound63

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Hi Amir, in November you told us that someone sent to you a Crown XLS1502 amp to measure.
I'm interested in purchasing one, but until your response I'll be calm. Would you be so kind to let us know about this activity.
My best regards
 
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amirm

amirm

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Hi Amir, in November you told us that someone sent to you a Crown XLS1502 amp to measure.
I'm interested in purchasing one, but until your response I'll be calm. Would you be so kind to let us know about this activity.
My best regards
Hi there. It is one of a number of amplifiers which have arrived for testing. Given the size, weight and expense of shipping them back and forth, I say we should not try to add more to the equation. :)

I am going on a short holiday trip in a few days but after that, I hope to get into testing them.
 

sound63

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Hi there. It is one of a number of amplifiers which have arrived for testing. Given the size, weight and expense of shipping them back and forth, I say we should not try to add more to the equation. :)

I am going on a short holiday trip in a few days but after that, I hope to get into testing them.
Hi Amir, very kind as usual. Have a nice holiday. Thanks Alberto
 
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