Class A/AB amplifier recommendations

[LD644]

The whole point of this hobby or passion is to strive for high fidelity in music reproduction. Adding outdated technology that measurably cannot keep up with later, better, even more reliable technology is weird. To say it politely.

No the point of the hobby is to enjoy my music. I have a schiit syn I will up the presence dial so the singer sounds like they are serenading me. If I want tubey sounding guitar and they recorded it on solid state well then I'm gonna change it. A welded diff won't make your car faster. It will actually make you quite a bit slower, but I'm gonna get to work with more smiles. No a welded diff isn't appropriate for every setting but sometimes it's fun. I have objectively made my car worse and I'm more happy. (That's a hypothetical Im more of a track guy)

 

[JiiPee]

Have a look at IOTAVX PA40.

 

[ZolaIII]

@LD644 how about you get Yamaha and emulate really good peace of tube equipment fateful when you want (on a PC or Mac as VTS)?

PTEq-X by Ignite Amps - Tube EQ Plugin VST VST3 Audio Unit

PTEq-X is a digital emulation of 3 famous vintage passive program equalizers. It has been developed to have all the characteristics of the o...

www.kvraudio.com

And there you go, much better than today vogue design ones or searching for good tubes and replacing them.
This is ELC in ISO 226 2003 form:

Having it directly on amp means a lot and increasingly hard to find (as it whose standard thing in the past). Again you're speakers will compress and fall apart when you crunk it up (SPL). Only way to change that is crossing them (XO 120 Hz ) with sub's In 2.2 setup but it's complicated to get there so perhaps consider getting one's that can go loud without doing so.

 

[LD644]

Have a look at IOTAVX PA40.

If I wasn't in the USA that would be perfect. It breaks the budget and I can't find a used one on eBay.

 

[ZolaIII]

If I wasn't in the USA that would be perfect.

If you want PA AMP take a look at Dynacord L1300FD (or rest of same line if you want more power and for PAQ+FIR). Those are for PA speakers so you would have to make costume cable your self to use it.

 

[LD644]

@LD644 how about you get Yamaha and emulate really good peace of tube equipment fateful when you want (on a PC or Mac as VTS)?

PTEq-X by Ignite Amps - Tube EQ Plugin VST VST3 Audio Unit

PTEq-X is a digital emulation of 3 famous vintage passive program equalizers. It has been developed to have all the characteristics of the o...

www.kvraudio.com

And there you go, much better than today vogue design ones or searching for good tubes and replacing them.
This is ELC in ISO 226 2003 form:
View attachment 453232
Having it directly on amp means a lot and increasingly hard to find (as it whose standard thing in the past). Again you're speakers will compress and fall apart when you crunk it up (SPL). Only way to change that is crossing them (XO 120 Hz ) with sub's In 2.2 setup but it's complicated to get there so perhaps consider getting one's that can go loud without doing so.

Good to know. I wasn't gonna get tubes for speakers though it does have to many cons for the price. But an otl tube amp for headphones wasn't all that expensive used. And it looks really cool.

 

[LD644]

If you want PA AMP take a look at Dynacord L1300FD (or rest of same line if you want more power and for PAQ+FIR). Those are for PA speakers so you would have to make costume cable your self to use it.

WOW that thing has a lot of power I'm not sure if any issues would arise with making my own cable that appears to be balanced into the speaker. I have come to the conclusion that I can sell my dac and get a used R-N800A or a vidar 2f. Does anyone object. I know they are slightly different but everything is powered off my pc so I can manually make any adjustments but the 800 does make it easier and might be more versatile in future use.

 

[ZolaIII]

If you can push, push towards R-N 1000A for better YPAO and Automatic (vs old fashioned manual) equal loudness compensation (YPAO Auto Loudness). If not R-N 800A will do fine.

 

[ZolaIII]

Good to know. I wasn't gonna get tubes for speakers though it does have to many cons for the price. But an otl tube amp for headphones wasn't all that expensive used. And it looks really cool.

It's free, made with love and from actual great design (they still make replicas of those in physical form semi costumised for actual speakers and with hefty price). You have 4 Ge tubes to choose for or you don't have to use one at all. Has a bandwidth adjustment which is also becoming hard to find yet useful (to adjust radiation patern to distance). It's pasive no amplification, only cuple mV from tube increase and so whose physical original and back in 60's so it doesn't add much distortion and you can obviously control that by choosing one of 4 available one's. Just try it out.

 

[LD644]

It's free, made with love and from actual great design (they still make replicas of those in physical form semi costumised for actual speakers and with hefty price). You have 4 Ge tubes to choose for or you don't have to use one at all. Has a bandwidth adjustment which is also becoming hard to find yet useful (to adjust radiation patern to distance). It's pasive no amplification, only cuple mV from tube increase and so whose physical original and back in 60's so it doesn't add much distortion and you can obviously control that by choosing one of 4 available one's. Just try it out.

Oh sorry I wasn't clear on that. I wasn't planning on buying tubes for speakers. I appreciate the link so I can simulate them tho. I will try it out. I hope it gives that vintage effect I'm sometimes looking for.

 

[LD644]

If you can push, push towards R-N 1000A for better YPAO and Automatic (vs old fashioned manual) equal loudness compensation (YPAO Auto Loudness). If not R-N 800A will do fine.

I won't really mind the manual loudness compensation but how much better is the ypao. The power is somewhat compelling and I will have a bit of headroom after selling the dac.

 

[Old_School_Brad]

I won't really mind the manual loudness compensation but how much better is the ypao. The power is somewhat compelling and I will have a bit of headroom after selling the dac.

Both the 800 and the 1000 will have plenty of power for your speakers.

 

[ZolaIII]

I won't really mind the manual loudness compensation but how much better is the ypao. The power is somewhat compelling and I will have a bit of headroom after selling the dac.

It's hopefully a bit better regarding both it's performance and negative impact it had on SINAD on earlier models such as R-N803 (as it's newer socket from their much more recent AVR's). Power is the almost the same 130~140W 8 Ohms and about 200 4 Ohms on all so far mentioned Yamahas by me. It's not all that much about power anyhow as 2xW=+3 dB. It's better to chose little more sensitive than average speakers than chase amplifier that can pump more W. Old speakers used rather high sensitive but less rigid cones (less mass but less linearity also and wants very clean amplifier) but didn't need much power.
As you are in US and young you might like to fiddle with Topping B200 monoblocks (and still buy spare power supplies at start). Those beat pretty much and any A class amplifier but aren't exactly good pair with your speakers or any other (bridged output) that deep under 4 Ohms. It's like sensitive IEM's amplifier but for such speakers and enough power to do any mid sensitive one's.
Did you even considered active studio monitors for your budget and a little bigger one's (8" to keep it simple)? It can be kept on A-B class (quality/longevity) and performance with more extension and SPL? Yamahas HS8 or if you could chase down JBL LSR2328P or higher end Makis... or choose to go totally opposite way and spend the money entirely on speakers and drive them with what ever you drive KEF's now. You can get Wharfedale Linton's or perhaps Super Linton's or chase wild fresh discounts on discontinued one's like some Revels for instance.
Edit: it all also all very dependant on if you have room for it.

 

[jmillar]

Thank you. I already own a dac and want a stand alone amplifier. If i didn't one of the Yamaha amps would do.

The AS701has about 10$ worth of DAC. Use your DAC and plug it into the AUX inputs.

 

[mike70]

The whole point of this hobby or passion is to strive for high fidelity in music reproduction. Adding outdated technology that measurably cannot keep up with later, better, even more reliable technology is weird. To say it politely.

I think not everyone's goal is the higher fidelity ... some people only want "what they like".
And it's ok.

What's "wrong"? Thinking that tube amplifiers are "better" in a high fidelity point of view is plainly wrong. But, if you have an informed decision and you like tubes ... why we need to push our own decisions to others? Saying it politely

I personally hate tubes, but that doesn't mean other people cannot like it (in the "right" way, as a personal preference ... not as the "audiophile" result). Tolerance, empathy ... stuff that we need to practice more.

No objective wrong concepts, but subjective preferences ... as wide as life.

 

[DSJR]

I have some 40 year old Quad 606 power amps - the family was updated to 707, then 909 then the more current "named" versions...

The core "current dumping" design has remained the same since Peter Walker first designed it, and refurbished ones are available especially if you are in the UK. (harder to find in the USA).

More than enough power for pretty much any domestic environment, and unconditional stability under any speaker load - means it will work OK regardless of the speaker impedance/phase.... yes it will drive a 1 ohm speaker (!!!)
They are current constrained by their power supplies, but I have never heard them run out of puff, even driving my 1.6 ohm Gallo's.
A lovely, slightly eclectic, vintage design, that holds its own even with current generation amps.

I gather the input was tweaked in the transition from 405 series to the 306 and 606, placing the input op-amp now in the feedback loop rather than the signal itself.

The first demo 606mk1 we had, needed a couple of hours to lose a little 'grain' up top, repeatable and everyone heard it, not just myself. Later samples and all from mk2 onwards came on song immediately powered up (Quad did detailed tweaks to the boards every so often, so don't dismiss the subjective comment out of hand). The 707 had now recommended Speakon connectors, which I didn't like (negative Aspergic vibe as they're 'different' to the banana plugs I used all the time). No issues with a good working 909 and the current Artera version looks good too and with further tuning done

As for power, 120Wpc at 8 ohms and 220Wpc or so into 4 ohms is enough for most domestic usages, isn't it?

 

[LD644]

It's hopefully a bit better regarding both it's performance and negative impact it had on SINAD on earlier models such as R-N803 (as it's newer socket from their much more recent AVR's). Power is the almost the same 130~140W 8 Ohms and about 200 4 Ohms on all so far mentioned Yamahas by me. It's not all that much about power anyhow as 2xW=+3 dB. It's better to chose little more sensitive than average speakers than chase amplifier that can pump more W. Old speakers used rather high sensitive but less rigid cones (less mass but less linearity also and wants very clean amplifier) but didn't need much power.
As you are in US and young you might like to fiddle with Topping B200 monoblocks (and still buy spare power supplies at start). Those beat pretty much and any A class amplifier but aren't exactly good pair with your speakers or any other (bridged output) that deep under 4 Ohms. It's like sensitive IEM's amplifier but for such speakers and enough power to do any mid sensitive one's.
Did you even considered active studio monitors for your budget and a little bigger one's (8" to keep it simple)? It can be kept on A-B class (quality/longevity) and performance with more extension and SPL? Yamahas HS8 or if you could chase down JBL LSR2328P or higher end Makis... or choose to go totally opposite way and spend the money entirely on speakers and drive them with what ever you drive KEF's now. You can get Wharfedale Linton's or perhaps Super Linton's or chase wild fresh discounts on discontinued one's like some Revels for instance.
Edit: it all also all very dependant on if you have room for it.

I got the LS50 metas for an insane deal and they were my favorite thing I listened to assuming a subwoofer that I heard. I currently also have active Klipsch speakers. I only have a super super cheap speaker amp currently.

 

[LD644]

The AS701has about 10$ worth of DAC. Use your DAC and plug it into the AUX inputs.

Is the R-N800A dac good enough to hit the I can't tell level of distortion.

 

[Brian Hall]

Any slightly warm class D amplifiers.

The Fosi V3 monos get a bit warm after they have been on for a while. Not too hot to touch.

If you want more bass, use EQ instead of seeking a bad amplifier that doesn't accurately reproduce the audio.

 

[ZolaIII]

I got the LS50 metas for an insane deal and they were my favorite thing I listened to assuming a subwoofer that I heard. I currently also have active Klipsch speakers. I only have a super super cheap speaker amp currently.

Don't get me wrong LS50 Meta are good if you don't push them hard and when you do they show that they are still small speakers. That whose more rant to try to explain you that you get most from investing in speaker's not other equipment.
A-S701 use old and not great Burr Brown in Ti repack but I doubt that even it is not enough. A-S 801 has USB audio input and ES9018K2M with SINAD of 106 dB which is more than fine and newer R-N use newer ESS ones which certainly don't perform worse (probably better).