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$500 amplifiers to test and review?

norsemen

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Hey Amir, would you consider to measure Audio GD C2 amplifier? It is a mid tier amp and i heard good things about it. Another amplifier would be Pathos Aurium since it is at Wall of Fame on Innerfidelity.
 

gr-e

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Would be interesting to see a comparison of the three versions of Lepai amp that are currently sold:
Kinter K2020A+ (with the old Tripath chip), Lepai LP-2020TI (TI TPA3118) and the Lepai/Lepy LP-2020A (Yamaha YDA138)
Also, can't wait for the AD18 review!
 
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amirm

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Would be interesting to see a comparison of the three versions of Lepai amp that are currently sold:
Kinter K2020A+ (with the old Tripath chip), Lepai LP-2020TI (TI TPA3118) and the Lepai/Lepy LP-2020A (Yamaha YDA138)
Man, those look cheesy :). Which one you want me to get to test?
 

gr-e

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Man, those look cheesy :). Which one you want me to get to test?
Yeah, they do. But it's a good choice for a garage amp because of low price and convenient mounting points.
I thought you could compare all three, but looks like the Tripath version, which made this amp so popular, is no longer sold.
I'd go with the Lepy LP-2020A then. It's cheaper, has better reviews and is not as empty inside as the LP-2020TI.
 

another_brian_lee

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I'd love to see some measurements of Audioengine's N22 desktop amp ($199). They've been on the market for almost a decade; I've had one on my desktop for two years...I don't think I've ever seen an actual, measured review of their performance.
 
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amirm

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Yeah, they do. But it's a good choice for a garage amp because of low price and convenient mounting points.
I thought you could compare all three, but looks like the Tripath version, which made this amp so popular, is no longer sold.
I'd go with the Lepy LP-2020A then. It's cheaper, has better reviews and is not as empty inside as the LP-2020TI.
OK, I bought it from Amazon....
 
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amirm

amirm

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I'd love to see some measurements of Audioengine's N22 desktop amp ($199). They've been on the market for almost a decade; I've had one on my desktop for two years...I don't think I've ever seen an actual, measured review of their performance.
It says it only has 22 watts/channel. Seems like a lot of money ($199) in this day and age for that.
 

Jimmy

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Honestly I don't see the point (outside of curiosity) of buying cheap chinese power amplifiers (be it class D or AB), when you can buy a modern Pioneer/Onkyo/Yamaha unit with decent specs and proper input selection among other features for a little more. For example Pioneer A10 which is class AB is often on sale for about 100 euros (including taxes).

Class D is surely the future because of its efficiency, but good ones still don't come cheap. If a lot of power is not required class AB is the way to go in the lower priced units, be it new or vintage (at least from my experience).
 
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amirm

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For example Pioneer A10 which is class AB is often on sale for about 100 euros (including taxes).
Amazing how much it has in it for that little money:

 

Johnb

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Amir, I had noticed that amp myself in the last few weeks. Funny, they advertize EL transformer, and picture looks like torroidal.
 

Johnb

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I think I figured it out. Only A10 sold in states, but they have higher models, I think A20 and A30. And I think A40 and above are D-Class. Same youtube people have video with the other transformer, so maybe mis-labelled video.
 

prighello

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I think I figured it out. Only A10 sold in states, but they have higher models, I think A20 and A30. And I think A40 and above are D-Class. Same youtube people have video with the other transformer, so maybe mis-labelled video.

That doesn't sound right.

The A-20 was sold in the US, I had one, it had an EI transformer and was class AB. The international models had class d in the higher level models like you mentioned. This line up was designed before Onkyo got involved; now there is some overlap between the two companies as one would expect. I'd expect to see some phasing out of the old line and badge engineering of future models between Onkyo and Pioneer going forward.
 

Jimmy

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I don't know the reason (import taxes, price discrimination, low demand), but all these japanese integrated amps are easier to find and cheaper in europe. The A20 is just an A10 with remote control.

Receivers are much cheaper and more powerful (Pioneer SX-10), but amplification wise I don't know if they are comparable.
 

another_brian_lee

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It says it only has 22 watts/channel. Seems like a lot of money ($199) in this day and age for that.

For near-field or small room listening, they're perfect! :)

That, and I've always wondered what HammerSandwich basically alluded to...did they trade maximum power output for fidelity at that price point? Or are they just selling some overpriced circuit in a nice case?
 

vert

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Honestly I don't see the point (outside of curiosity) of buying cheap chinese power amplifiers (be it class D or AB), when you can buy a modern Pioneer/Onkyo/Yamaha unit with decent specs and proper input selection among other features for a little more. For example Pioneer A10 which is class AB is often on sale for about 100 euros (including taxes).

Class D is surely the future because of its efficiency, but good ones still don't come cheap. If a lot of power is not required class AB is the way to go in the lower priced units, be it new or vintage (at least from my experience).
There's the Onkyo r-n855 and a small Yamaha (forgot the reference), about $500 and $200 respectively which I'd buy over any non-tested "new brand" Chinese device if I needed them. Hopefully mainstream brands will persist with class D, and the "new brands" will up their game.
The Onkyo :
 
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