March Audio P452 Purifi Based Stereo Power Amplifier

[ex audiophile]

Well finally connected up my minidsp SHD to my brand new March Audio p452. Streaming flac from a raspberry pi 4 to my Monitor Audio Silver 8 speakers, it is hard to think of much that could be improved. I will be adding a sub later on but boy, this is a killer setup. The p452 is more quiet than any of my previous amps and blows my old Class D Audio SDS470c away in terms of low noise. It is dead silent. Its so weird, even at high volumes there is just absolutely no amp noise. Do not even know if the amp is turned on, the music just suddenly appears out of the speakers. I could go on about how it sounds but it doesn't really sound at all. It just plays music really well with low distortion, which is exactly what I want. I think this is probably my end game amp. Cannot see me ever wanting to move on from here, unless it dies, at which point I will look for the latest Class D technology, which will no doubt have move on into ever increasing low levels of distortion and high levels of power.

Thanks Alan and Team Bruno, killer amp at an impressive price point. Highly recommended.

PS One minor issue, I seem to struggle to reliably turn the amp on and off with the piezo switch. Will need to work on the correct amount of time and pressure to get it to work every time. Took me a few depresses to get it to turn on. This is minor though and likely just me.

Does your amp have a standby mode and trigger? If so couldn't you just leave it in standby?

Not sure about the stereo amp but their monoblocks have triggers (at least the current version)

 

[mikeburns]

Does your amp have a standby mode and trigger? If so couldn't you just leave it in standby?

Not sure about the stereo amp but their monoblocks have triggers (at least the current version)

Great idea, unfortunately the minidsp shd does not have a trigger out. The piezo switch turns it from the on state to a low power standby state.

 

[Aldo]

Il m'a fallu un peu de temps pour m'habituer aussi.

J'ai remarqué la même chose ...
Mes mains sont très sèches, surtout en hiver.
Si mon doigt est légèrement plus humide, pas de soucis du tout!

 

[Aldo]

Well finally connected up my minidsp SHD to my brand new March Audio p452. Streaming flac from a raspberry pi 4 to my Monitor Audio Silver 8 speakers, it is hard to think of much that could be improved. I will be adding a sub later on but boy, this is a killer setup. The p452 is more quiet than any of my previous amps and blows my old Class D Audio SDS470c away in terms of low noise. It is dead silent. Its so weird, even at high volumes there is just absolutely no amp noise. Do not even know if the amp is turned on, the music just suddenly appears out of the speakers. I could go on about how it sounds but it doesn't really sound at all. It just plays music really well with low distortion, which is exactly what I want. I think this is probably my end game amp. Cannot see me ever wanting to move on from here, unless it dies, at which point I will look for the latest Class D technology, which will no doubt have move on into ever increasing low levels of distortion and high levels of power.

Thanks Alan and Team Bruno, killer amp at an impressive price point. Highly recommended.

PS One minor issue, I seem to struggle to reliably turn the amp on and off with the piezo switch. Will need to work on the correct amount of time and pressure to get it to work every time. Took me a few depresses to get it to turn on. This is minor though and likely just me.

I am also interested in the minidsp SHD.

I am afraid that the SHD is the weak link in my SINAD thermal system after all the attention I have paid to it so far ... and I must say that the contribution of the p452 has been a real auditory revelation that I could not have imagined ! I don't know what else to expect !! but I'm so curious

So my questions :
1°) what is the benefit/loss ratio of the audio signal between a weaker SINAD and a dsp piece correction ?
2°) why did you choose an Rpi 4 as a server rather than the SHD one ?

I will be curious to have the feeling of @March Audio on this subject.

 

[mikeburns]

I am also interested in the minidsp SHD.

I am afraid that the SHD is the weak link in my SINAD thermal system after all the attention I have paid to it so far ... and I must say that the contribution of the p452 has been a real auditory revelation that I could not have imagined ! I don't know what else to expect !! but I'm so curious

So my questions :
1°) what is the benefit/loss ratio of the audio signal between a weaker SINAD and a dsp piece correction ?
2°) why did you choose an Rpi 4 as a server rather than the SHD one ?

I will be curious to have the feeling of @March Audio on this subject.

The shd measures really really well. The hardware update has amended the jitter which was already probably below audibility. As far as I'm concerned it in no way reduces the sinad of my system. It's improvements in room correction far outweigh any sinad issues it may bring, though it has been shown to have very little in amirs measurements.

The pi is awesome. It's all you need and smashes alot of products that are much more expensive. That's why I, and many others chose it.

 

[Astroboydivx]

I also have the occasional issue with the piezo switch, so most of the time I just leave it on. I really wish the shd had 12v trigger, that worked great to the P452 when I was using my old AVR.

 

[Aldo]

The shd measures really really well. The hardware update has amended the jitter which was already probably below audibility. As far as I'm concerned it in no way reduces the sinad of my system. It's improvements in room correction far outweigh any sinad issues it may bring, though it has been shown to have very little in amirs measurements.

The pi is awesome. It's all you need and smashes alot of products that are much more expensive. That's why I, and many others chose it.

Last question ... without wanting to pollute this thread :
Why the SHD studio if you don't use its streamer function rather than the DDRC-24 or the DDRC-22D, which both use DIRAC live ?
The USB input for the Rpi ?

thank you !

 

[mikeburns]

Last question ... without wanting to pollute this thread :
Why the SHD studio if you don't use its streamer function rather than the DDRC-24 or the DDRC-22D, which both use DIRAC live ?
The USB input for the Rpi ?

thank you !

The SHD itself measures much better than the DDRC options. That was the primary reason. The SHD also eliminated a preamp in my system and initially I had expected to use its streaming functionality as well, but found that my RPi4 setup far surpassed it. Plus the studio does not include a dac and I wanted some analog input options due to losing them when I parted ways with my old preamp. I was unhappy with the lack of permanently on functioning of my original dac - SMSL SU-8 USB input was not always hot, whereas the USB input on the SHD was, so that was a key feature I was looking for. In the end I still use the nanopi on the SHD for streaming radio as that function works really well on volumio.

If you have a dac and do not need analog inputs then the studio is the way to go. I did not want to lose too much functionality when I sold my preamp and replaced it with the SHD hence my decision.

 

[Aldo]

thank you for taking the time to tell me more about your journey ... mine seems to be going in the same direction !
I glean information as soon as I can ...
In the meantime I'm enjoying the music thanks to my p452 !! (among others...)

 

[mikeburns]

thank you for taking the time to tell me more about your journey ... mine seems to be going in the same direction !
I glean information as soon as I can ...
In the meantime I'm enjoying the music thanks to my p452 !! (among others...)

No worries! I am really enjoying my p452 and SHD combo. If the SHD works for your situation and setup then you will not be disappointed. This is supreme hifi value for money. I guess people will argue that the specs are just as good with the hypex models of amps but the improved specs of the purifi design as well as it being the next iteration of Bruno Putzey's design makes the extra cost worth it for me.

 

[CoolHandDuke]

No worries! I am really enjoying my p452 and SHD combo. If the SHD works for your situation and setup then you will not be disappointed. This is supreme hifi value for money. I guess people will argue that the specs are just as good with the hypex models of amps but the improved specs of the purifi design as well as it being the next iteration of Bruno Putzey's design makes the extra cost worth it for me.

What makes the Purifi line better than the Hypex?

 

[Rottmannash]

Thanks @March Audio and @Soniclife that's a very good option and really appreciate the help. Out of interest, Alan, how long is shipping to the UK taking at the moment?

I actually think I could mount them behind the TV unit in each corner by each speaker. I wonder if I could buy or fabricate a bracket to securely hold each amp in place. Or possibly get just the P452 and mount it on the back of the TV unit. I'm going to have a play around with a few options tonight and see if I can find a good placement for either the P452 or P451's.
I've just spotted my Bluesound Node 2 has a 12v trigger so that could be an option, I just need to check at what point it would trigger.

I couldn't get my Node 2i to trigger my VTV Purifi amp.

 

[Matt_Photo]

I couldn't get my Node 2i to trigger my VTV Purifi amp.

Oh no, I was really hoping the trigger from the Node 2 would do the job.
@MarchAudio does the Amp go into standby if it has no source for an amount of time?

 

[Rottmannash]

Oh no, I was really hoping the trigger from the Node 2 would do the job.
@MarchAudio does the Amp go into standby if it has no source for an amount of time?

I'm not sure if my cable was exactly the right type but I couldn't get my VTV to turn on using the Node 2i trigger out.

 

[Dj7675]

I'm not sure if my cable was exactly the right type but I couldn't get my VTV to turn on using the Node 2i trigger out.

I had that issue and the cable I had was a stereo cable and it needed to be a mono cable. In my case that solved it for me (different components though)

 

[Rottmannash]

I had that issue and the cable I had was a stereo cable and it needed to be a mono cable. In my case that solved it for me (different components though)

That may be my problem. I'll pick up a mono cable and try. Thanks.

 

[mikeburns]

What makes the Purifi line better than the Hypex?

I guess you need to explore the various measurement discussion threads etc. I think the main thing was that the purifi is flatter out to 20Hz and has lower distortion at low levels, where most of my listening is likely to occur. It also runs cooler. To be honest either would be fine, I just really appreciated the next stage in Class D technology that the purifi brings to the table and therefore support for the ever improving tech is worthwhile (in my mind). To each their own, but I love my P452. You can no doubt get equivalent Hypex amps for less money. But its not purifi. =)

 

[Rottmannash]

I guess you need to explore the various measurement discussion threads etc. I think the main thing was that the purifi is flatter out to 20Hz and has lower distortion at low levels, where most of my listening is likely to occur. It also runs cooler. To be honest either would be fine, I just really appreciated the next stage in Class D technology that the purifi brings to the table and therefore support for the ever improving tech is worthwhile (in my mind). To each their own, but I love my P452. You can no doubt get equivalent Hypex amps for less money. But its not purifi. =)

Preach brother!

 

[Arvind]

Has Amir tested this or P451yet?

 

[Alexanderc]

Nope. Several other Purifi amps though and they all measure very well. I’m sure this would be no different.