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Cheapest, reasonably good 2x300w amp in Europe?

delta76

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Hello,

I am looking for an amp to power my Focal Aria 948s. I will be using Denon x4700h and I guess it's OK-ish for a while (as long as I don't play loud which is perfectly fine for me), but I should be upgrading to an amp as soon as I can. I have my eyes on audiophonics hypex ncore ones, but wonder if there are better alternatives out there. I am in Europe so US makers are unfortunately off the list.

My priority is cost, then power. I can wait for a good deal :)

thanks
 
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delta76

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What about the audiophonics purifi models? ... or did you mean cheaper?


JSmith
Either better, same price, or same perf cheaper. It seems the purifi models are significantly more expensive and out of my budget, for this year at least
 

Grotti

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Don't know if you would consider second hand and if you would consider a power amplifier based on UcD 400 at all: some Elac DPA-2 are available at ebay Kleinanzeigen in Germany starting at 700 Euro (asking price, real pice could be slightly lower)....

Own one and like it despite of the fact, that it probably measures a little less good than the mentioned alternatives...

Cheers!
 

Willem

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VintageFlanker

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Have they been on sale ever? ;)
Never. And knowing Audiophonics, that ain't gonna happen anytime soon. Still a bargain all the same.;)
That one. Really hard to beat.

My only concern would be the preamp needed. NC502MP works under 2.35Vrms sensitivity. Not sure your Denon may get any close to that, especially when using others powered channels in the same time (I remember it to clip at about 1.4Vrms in that case).
 

DVDdoug

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A "Pro" power amp will usually give you the most watts-per-dollar (or per-Euro). (That's a U.S. link but it gives you a good idea of what's available.) Usually the sound quality is fine, but they often have a cooling fan that generates acoustic noise.
 

Willem

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That was one of the attractions of the Yamaha amps: they had a variable speed fan that never came on in domestic use - unless you have a party to annoy the whole neighbourhood.
Now that this series of Yamaha Pxx00s power amplifiers has been discontinued, it would be interesting to hear of alternatives, including the new class D pro power amps from Yamaha. The Pxx00s series enjoyed balanced inputs, Neutrik speaker connections, a variable high pass filter, and of course its own volume controls.
 
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Overseas

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Roksan is good on watts.
What size is the room? You know you do not need that many watts but a quality amp that delivers good current.
I would recommend an Yamaha AS1000 or 2000,I bet it will be very fine.
 

sergeauckland

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Behringer A800? Under £200 here.


S.
 
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delta76

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Roksan is good on watts.
What size is the room? You know you do not need that many watts but a quality amp that delivers good current.
I would recommend an Yamaha AS1000 or 2000,I bet it will be very fine.
I want it to be more future proofing. I will unlikely listen to max volume but we plan to move before the end of 2023 (bear the economy outlook), and I really like to buy once :)
Behringer A800? Under £200 here.


S.
Neat, looks solid and can be bought from amazon
Roksan is good on watts.
What size is the room? You know you do not need that many watts but a quality amp that delivers good current.
I would recommend an Yamaha AS1000 or 2000,I bet it will be very fine.
I looked it up and as1000 even used is way beyond my budget. I might try to get one if perf justifies the price but will need some researching first
 
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delta76

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Or look at pro audio gear. Some years ago I bought a now discontinued 2x250 watt Yamaha P2500s power amp for just 300 euros. It measures well, and is as robust as you would expect. See here for measurements of its 2x350 watt bigger sister: https://www.homecinema-fr.com/forum...mpli-yamaha-p3500s-mise-a-jour-t30056383.html At the time that p3500s went for I think 350 euros.
Just found p7000s for less than 250 euros. If it is legit (not a scam), I think I am settled
 

Overseas

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What you need is an amp that measures well as power vs distortion.
With sensitive speakers like Focal, probably you will never get to use 20 watts.
 
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delta76

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What you need is an amp that measures well as power vs distortion.
With sensitive speakers like Focal, probably you will never get to use 20 watts.
I hope that is a typo because 948 is rated max 350w. I certainly won't get anywhere near that but I think 100w is quite possible.
but I know next to nothing about speaker sensitivity :)
 

Overseas

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I am also an amateur, but as I said, power alone is like 20% of the equation. Go read about wattage, power and speaker sensitivity.

Aria 948 is rated 92.5 dB, meaning you need 1 W to produce 92.5 dB at 1 m distance from the speaker. That is very very loud volume. After this first watt, you need immense power increases to produce modest volume increases.
More important is amp internal construction to guarantee power comes without distortion.
 
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delta76

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Wait. The actual sensitivity of 948 is measured about 88.5dB or so. So with 10w I can drive it to 98.5dB, and if i am 3m away from it it will 88.5dB again. Your post makes sense now. Unless someone with better knowledge correct me, I wonder why I need more than a good receiver...
 

Overseas

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I found specs 92.5 dB ( 2.83V @ 1 m ) for 948.
Anyway, you got the idea. Distortion is the key to look for. And 95% of gear does not post distortion correctly. Just have a look at Yamaha AS1200 for ex. how they post THD measurements, not many brands post like that.
That is why everybody jumps on ASR to see Amir measurements for gear.
 
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