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Mytek AMP+ Review (Stereo Amplifier)

Bruce Morgen

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I am not talking about the acoustic performance of the speaker, but rather the crappy Pascal amps inside. That’s a lot of dough to pay for middling amplification.

Point taken -- it's one thing for an $800USD/pair studio monitor to have "middling amplification," another for a "high-end" product with a five-figure price tag to be so far short of SOTA in that respect.
 

don'ttrustauthority

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There is certainly benefits, at least theoretical, to have crossovers in the digital domain, before the amps, if it is well executed, if it is really what you are asking. Now I feel that would be a good reason for "Biamping". Other than that I wouldn't have an opinion, I fail to see the benefit but maybe others have other theories.
I had read that having an amplifier dedicated to a driver in a particular frequency range would have a similar effect to increasing the damping level and allow greater control of especially low frequency drivers. Seems like a small benefit since most amplifiers today are powerful enough to do their job properly.

But given the cheap price of these things, it's just a matter of time until these come prepackaged with dsp and multi-amping individual channels (selling the amp for use with any passive speaker).
 

Bruce Morgen

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What's wrong with Pascal?

While there's nothing "wrong" per se, their stuff simply isn't anywhere near SOTA in the Class D world -- currently defined by Purifi's "Eigentakt" scheme -- and therefore a fairly questionable choice for incorporation into "high end" active speakers that sell for $12kUSD/pair. Whether measurably better amps would audibly improve those already excellent speakers is also questionable, of course.
 

nerdoldnerdith

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While there's nothing "wrong" per se, their stuff simply isn't anywhere near SOTA in the Class D world -- currently defined by Purifi's "Eigentakt" scheme -- and therefore a fairly questionable choice for incorporation into "high end" active speakers that sell for $12kUSD/pair. Whether measurably better amps would audibly improve those already excellent speakers is also questionable, of course.
I doubt there would be any discernible difference.

The Dutch&Dutch 8C already have quite high harmonic distortion for monitors of their size, and it is inconsequential.
 

Dialectic

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I doubt there would be any discernible difference.

The Dutch&Dutch 8C already have quite high harmonic distortion for monitors of their size, and it is inconsequential.
GGNTKT tested different amp modules in their active speakers. Couldn't hear a difference, so they went with Pascal modules, too.

And the Crown amps bundled with JBL M2s certainly are not SOTA, although I'm sure they go very loud.
 

Purité Audio

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JJB70

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It makes me laugh that some people are obsessed with SINAD in tests of DACs and amplifiers but when it comes to active speakers it doesn't matter so long as audible performance is fine. I am actually in the second camp, but I also think that the obsession with SINAD has become silly
 

nerdoldnerdith

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It makes me laugh that some people are obsessed with SINAD in tests of DACs and amplifiers but when it comes to active speakers it doesn't matter so long as audible performance is fine. I am actually in the second camp, but I also think that the obsession with SINAD has become silly
It's probably because SINAD is a simple number that allows you to compare amplifiers. You need to understand the measurements to know how well-suited an amplifier is for a pair of speakers in a given listening situation. Having -20dB noise and distortion at 70dB listening levels is not going to make a difference, so you need to look at other metrics of the amplifier (like power) to decide if it's right for you.
 

Dialectic

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It makes me laugh that some people are obsessed with SINAD in tests of DACs and amplifiers but when it comes to active speakers it doesn't matter so long as audible performance is fine. I am actually in the second camp, but I also think that the obsession with SINAD has become silly
The typical ASR progression:

1. Denial - The ASR novice sees his hifi heroes slain on ASR, and copes by assuming that Amir doesn't know what he's talking about.

2. Anger - The audiophile lashes out at anyone who dares to question the superiority of Wilson speakers, Abyss 'phones, Schiit headphone amps, or any other product that the audiophile owns or lusts after.

3. Depression - The angry audiophile turns inward and asks for his account to be deleted.

4. Acceptance - The formerly angry and depressed audiophile creates a new account.

5. SINAD obsession - The recovering audiophile becomes obsessed with SINAD numbers and buys more and more Topping products to impress other SINAD-fixated audiophiles.

6. Indifference - The recovering audiophile realizes that even SINAD numbers above, say, 80 or so just don't matter that much except with phones or perhaps in front-end equipment.

7. Freedom - The former audiophile quits the audio hobby and gets on with life.
 

JJB70

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The typical ASR progression:

1. Denial - The ASR novice sees his hifi heroes slain on ASR, and copes by assuming that Amir doesn't know what he's talking about.

2. Anger - The audiophile lashes out at anyone who dares to question the superiority of Wilson speakers, Abyss 'phones, Schiit headphone amps, or any other product that the audiophile owns or lusts after.

3. Depression - The angry audiophile turns inward and asks for his account to be deleted.

4. Acceptance - The formerly angry and depressed audiophile creates a new account.

5. SINAD obsession - The recovering audiophile becomes obsessed with SINAD numbers and buys more and more Topping products to impress other SINAD-fixated audiophiles.

6. Indifference - The recovering audiophile realizes that even SINAD numbers above, say, 80 or so just don't matter that much except with phones or perhaps in front-end equipment.

7. Freedom - The former audiophile quits the audio hobby and gets on with life.

Lot of truth in that!
 

hae74

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This is a request for @amirm to show linearity plots for class D amplifiers at high frequencies (say 5khz-20khz). I could not find these measurements from class D amplifier manufacturers except for Orchard Audio which published one graph on this website that I assume was at 1 khz. I think this could be an area worth exploring further. I suspect that the shortest switching pulse which a class D amplifier can accurately produce in addition to the maximum number of switching cycles per waveform period, which progressively decreases with increasing audio frequency, put a limit on the amplifier's low level signal accuracy. The effect should become more and more pronounced with increasing audio frequency. I suspect that the favorable reports of some GaN designs are partly related to improvements in this area, due to their faster and possibly cleaner switching in comparison to Mosfets. Testing Class D amplifiers at or close to full power at higher frequencies is probably a best case scenario for those amplifiers. It also does not correlate with normal music signal power at those frequencies. If such linearity tests show problematic behavior, comparison with a good class A or AB amplifier would be informative.
 

pseudoid

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I have problems with designers who have to rely on ferrite-beads for design problems.
Such band-aids stink of internal (pwm?) noise problems rather than the EU EMC directives... even with a metal enclosure.
This maybe Yourtek but most definitely will not be Mytek ;)
 

alekc

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I admire the small and cool running amplifier here. Other than that though, performance is middling and nowhere near state of the art in class D amplification which you can get for these prices, albeit probably from lesser known companies.

So I've spent few hours with Mytek AMP+ last week and I wonder what are those other class D amps @amirm had in mind? It is hard to consult review index to find potential competitors since even Mytek AMP+ is missing from the list. I would be grateful for any tips.

missing_mytek_amp.png
 

ampplus

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Hello Amir,
Thank you for your test.
Did the AMP+ you tested emit a 'plop' in the speakers when you power them on ?
Anyway, if it does can it be harmful in the long term for the speakers ?

Mine are running moderately hot to the touch inside a hifi cabinet, but only a bit more than the tdai 1120 for example.
I think if I put them in open air the convection would be enough to dissipate the heat.

Did you test it in bridge mode after you fixed the 2nd channel ?
 
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amirm

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Did the AMP+ you tested emit a 'plop' in the speakers when you power them on ?
I am sorry but I did check for this. I probably should in the future. :)

Anyway, if it does can it be harmful in the long term for the speakers ?
Depends on the level. A lot of powered speakers pop like this even from top brands but it is usually not very loud. If it is loud enough to scare you, then yes, it can be damaging.
 
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