Kindly suggest (none integrated) power amp, 2 or 3ch for Polk R700 (and possibly a center)

[pompecukor]

Hi Folks

I would be looking a suggestion for power amp, preferably something available at reasonable price in EU. Reasonable price meaning around up to 1000 EUR. plus or minus a bit.
This is to take the load off the Denon X4800H for my front speakers (Polk Audio Reserve 700) and perhaps the center too (Wharfedale EVO 4.C).
Obviously there is much less options in that price with good power for 3ch. I am not even sure the 3ch would really make a difference. But I do not have much expererince.
Here are some options that I have found and considering. My main problem is I dont know many of them and some have not been reviewed here (expcially the cheaper ones) and I dont want to make the wrong pick.

I will start with one of the few that is actually 3 channel and still in the budget: APERION AUDIO ENERGY 3
It is AB, I am not really an audiphile, so not sure what the consensues is on the AB vs D saga. I am 99% I would not be able to tell the difference myself.

Then there is the Apollon Audio NCx500ST which I have seen got some stellar reviews here safe for the (over) hearting issues mentioned? But I may be wrong on that. Apollon Audio
I would almost think this one is a not brainer if the 3channel would fit in the budget. Unfortunaly only the 2ch does. But as I said, I may just skip the center for now and if later I find it lacking I could always save up and get a single channel mono block for about half that price.
PS, there is something really wrong with thier site for the past week. It loads incredibly slowly.

There is the nice looking Nord One NC500 , but unfortunaly UK, so I imagine if I try to buy in EU the price would be even more with the 27% VAT added for Hungary. Again if this option, then can only go 2ch. Also with my limited understanding of this, would this amp be overpowered for these speaker? Should I be looking at one size smaller?
Also got great reviews from Amir. There are too many option like NC502, is that better than MC500? Perhaps I need to write them to ask for recommendation of what they think would match best with these speakers?
There is somestuff about EU customs compensation which is not 100% clear to me.

I was suggested Buckeye Amps, they seem great for the price, that becomes no longer such a good price when the cross the pund I imagine.

What am I missing per bang for buck? Thank you for your time.

 

[pompecukor]

One little followup. I see on a few of these amps there is option to choose some 12v trigger? Do I need that for this AVR? I always tought that it worked like most SUBs that I have seen, then if there is not signal it would just turn itself off.

 

[Grandzoltar]

You can buy the 4ch nc502 for $1125 and provide amplification for all 3 If you want slightly more power with better measurements 2ch ncx500 $995 3ch ncx500 $1550 3ch purifi $1450
All prices from buckeye amps

If you don't want to manually have to turn on the amp then the 12v trigger is needed

 

[pompecukor]

You can buy the 4ch nc502 for $1125 and provide amplification for all 3 If you want slightly more power with better measurements 2ch ncx500 $995 3ch ncx500 $1550 3ch purifi $1450
All prices from buckeye amps

If you don't want to manually have to turn on the amp then the 12v trigger is needed

Thank you, but unfortunalty, those are all US prices, so I guess you are talking about some US made one. Please rememeber there is shipping and then a custom duty as well as VAT added. VAT alone is 27%. Together with customs it is about 30% added. That is where the Buckeye starts loosing any edge. Like if you compared it to the Apollon which will not have that 30% added to the price you see on the website.

Do you know anything about the APERION?

 

[ZolaIII]

Try with Apollon instead and with unbalanced inputs as well.
For example and do dig in to try to find something more suitable.

One moment, please...

You don't need super strong amp for mid chenel, Denon will do that part more than fine.
Amir did measurements of their NCx500ST.

Apollon NCx500ST Stereo Amplifier Review

This is a review and detailed measurements of the Apollon NCx500ST stereo class D amplifier based on Hypex NCOREx NCx500 modules. It was kindly drop shipped from the member and costs 1,090.00€ (US $1,168) with standard opamp. While the case is stamped aluminum, it is a heavily customized one...

www.audiosciencereview.com

 

[Grandzoltar]

Then search those amps and see what comes up relatively local to you. Apollon wants about 2000 euro for a 4ch nc502 which is much more than the 27% vat added for the buckeye

 

[pompecukor]

Then search those amps and see what comes up relatively local to you. Apollon wants about 2000 euro for a 4ch nc502 which is much more than the 27% vat added for the buckeye

Correct, and buget is ~1000k which is why I said 3ch is not an option with Apollon. I was considering the 2ch one that I linked. 3ch is not a must. Only an option like with the other amp that I linked.

 

[hash70]

I was in a similar boat a few weeks ago,was looking for a 3channel amp to use with pre outs on my marantz sr7012 av,there is plenty of rotel or arcam multi amps on ebay,I was a bit a lucky,iwas gonna bid £550 for a arcam p1000 7channel amp when 1 suddenly popped up local on Gumtree for £440,cut him down £350 and he even delivered it,big improvement over the amps in the marantz sr7012 and that's no slouch,there is plenty of the arcam fmj 3 channels amps on ebay for 300-400

 

[Chrispy]

What about Audiophonics?

 

[pompecukor]

What about Audiophonics?

What about them? I am looking for brand/make suggestion. Not shop.
Which concrete one available there do you recommend that is good and fits the budget? Thanks.
Anyway it was on Audiophonics that I found that one that i mentioned, which no one seems to have heard of as no one reacted to that. Seem to be some garage company that has zero reviews that i could find save for one weird youtube video and there is not even any forum discussions anywhere, the few there are are about their speekers.
I mean if course the Aperion Audio.

 

[Phorize]

Hi Folks

I would be looking a suggestion for power amp, preferably something available at reasonable price in EU. Reasonable price meaning around up to 1000 EUR. plus or minus a bit.
This is to take the load off the Denon X4800H for my front speakers (Polk Audio Reserve 700) and perhaps the center too (Wharfedale EVO 4.C).
Obviously there is much less options in that price with good power for 3ch. I am not even sure the 3ch would really make a difference. But I do not have much expererince.
Here are some options that I have found and considering. My main problem is I dont know many of them and some have not been reviewed here (expcially the cheaper ones) and I dont want to make the wrong pick.

I will start with one of the few that is actually 3 channel and still in the budget: APERION AUDIO ENERGY 3
It is AB, I am not really an audiphile, so not sure what the consensues is on the AB vs D saga. I am 99% I would not be able to tell the difference myself.

Then there is the Apollon Audio NCx500ST which I have seen got some stellar reviews here safe for the (over) hearting issues mentioned? But I may be wrong on that. Apollon Audio
I would almost think this one is a not brainer if the 3channel would fit in the budget. Unfortunaly only the 2ch does. But as I said, I may just skip the center for now and if later I find it lacking I could always save up and get a single channel mono block for about half that price.
PS, there is something really wrong with thier site for the past week. It loads incredibly slowly.

There is the nice looking Nord One NC500 , but unfortunaly UK, so I imagine if I try to buy in EU the price would be even more with the 27% VAT added for Hungary. Again if this option, then can only go 2ch. Also with my limited understanding of this, would this amp be overpowered for these speaker? Should I be looking at one size smaller?
Also got great reviews from Amir. There are too many option like NC502, is that better than MC500? Perhaps I need to write them to ask for recommendation of what they think would match best with these speakers?
There is somestuff about EU customs compensation which is not 100% clear to me.

I was suggested Buckeye Amps, they seem great for the price, that becomes no longer such a good price when the cross the pund I imagine.

What am I missing per bang for buck? Thank you for your time.

On the VAT issue. They are selling to EU customers without U.K VAT (so 20% less that a UK customer pays) and promising to pay any amount of customs duty and VAT that you charged are by EU based authorities that goes over 20% of the sale value. I note that they also cover courier costs when repairing, which I have never seen with other similar manufacturers. I'd say that you are safe buying on these terms if they have something you want to buy.

 

[pompecukor]

On the VAT issue. They are selling to EU customers without U.K VAT (so 20% less that a UK customer pays) and promising to pay any amount of customs duty and VAT that you charged are by EU based authorities that goes over 20% of the sale value. I note that they also cover courier costs when repairing, which I have never seen with other similar manufacturers. I'd say that you are safe buying on these terms if they have something you want to buy.

Unfortunatly that is still almost 2k EUR which is twice my budget.

 

[Chrispy]

What about them? I am looking for brand/make suggestion. Not shop.
Which concrete one available there do you recommend that is good and fits the budget? Thanks.
Anyway it was on Audiophonics that I found that one that i mentioned, which no one seems to have heard of as no one reacted to that. Seem to be some garage company that has zero reviews that i could find save for one weird youtube video and there is not even any forum discussions anywhere, the few there are are about their speekers.
I mean if course the Aperion Audio.

They (Audiophonics) have a line of amps under their brand from what I see using Hypex modules. Aperion is a somewhat local brand of speaker, not familiar with an amp brand by that name.

 

[pompecukor]

They (Audiophonics) have a line of amps under their brand from what I see using Hypex modules. Aperion is a somewhat local brand of speaker, not familiar with an amp brand by that name.

Thank you Chris, and are the Audiophonics any good?

 

[Phorize]

Thank you Chris, and are the Audiophonics any good?

They have a good reputation for their own builds. Amir has tested one their amps:

AUDIOPHONICS MPA-S250NC Amp Review

This is a review and detailed measurements of the AUDIOPHONICS MPA-S250NC stereo Ncore class D amplifier. It is on kind loan from a member and costs 415,83 € tax excl. (US $444). The enclosure is absolutely adorable! While it is fair bit deep, the other two dimensions are quite small...

www.audiosciencereview.com

 

[Deleted member 71304]

I use a Crown XLS 1502 with my Polk r700 and it works great; if you order it at Thomann they give you a 30 days trial period, no questions asked if you return it. It costs around 450€ and they give you a 3 year warranty