New Monolith amp for 400 USD...

[laurelkurt]

Any thoughts on their published test results? Do you think this might be a decent product? This is the amp. Here's a link to their results.

Monolith by Monoprice M2100X 2x90 Watts Per Channel Stereo Home Theater Power Amplifier with RCA & XLR Inputs

https://downloads.monoprice.com/files/manuals/43863_Amplifier_Testing.pdf?_gl=1*mx5dkt*_ga*MTE3MzIzMjU2My4xNjgyMDI5ODI0*_ga_CRFDN7FZH7*MTY5MTUzNjQ0My4zMi4xLjE2OTE1MzY5NDYuMjMuMC4w

Thanks.

 

[mdsimon2]

Not worth $400 IMO. Noise is high at ~500 uV and power output isn't exceptional. For reference 5 W in to 4 ohm SINAD is ~78 dB which is mostly noise dominated.

Are you set on class AB? Do you need both RCA and XLR inputs? What power output are you looking for? What are the other components in your system?

Michael

 

[TonyJZX]

https://www.monoprice.com/product?p_id=43863

as a HT amp its probably close enough

i think to me a stereo 90w in 3ru is kind of... hmm... but given they are using the same chassis as the 5 channel...

if you look at the interior and chassis shots its looks to me like they tried to make it look impressive imposing expensive from a distance but looking close up there's a lot of things that make me go... "ehhhh"

 

[laurelkurt]

Not worth $400 IMO. Noise is high at ~500 uV and power output isn't exceptional. For reference 5 W in to 4 ohm SINAD is ~78 dB which is mostly noise dominated.

Are you set on class AB? Do you need both RCA and XLR inputs? What power output are you looking for? What are the other components in your system?

Michael

Its being delivered tomorrow. I was getting hum from my old ADCOM with RCA ins for my surrounds. My main amp is monolith 5X200. I'm running that through XLR ins from my AVP. So this will be for surrounds, but I'm wondering about the test results.

 

[mdsimon2]

Its being delivered tomorrow. I was getting hum from my old ADCOM with RCA ins for my surrounds. My main amp is monolith 5X200. I'm running that through XLR ins from my AVP. So this will be for surrounds, but I'm wondering about the test results.

Already gave you my thoughts on the measurements...relatively high noise .

The 5X200 by comparison is a much better amp. Built by ATI in the US. Residual noise of around 40 uV which will give about a 20 dB better SNR than the M2100X.

Not saying the M2100X is terrible but you may have hiss/hum depending on system gain structure and speaker sensitivity.

Michael

 

[staticV3]

Not worth $400 IMO. Noise is high at ~500 uV

I'm curious how you got to 500μV.
I'm getting either 110 or 160μV(A), depending on whether the 1W SNR measurement was done at 4 or 8Ω:



Even without A-weighting, that's at most ~210μV.

 

[laurelkurt]

https://www.monoprice.com/product?p_id=43863

as a HT amp its probably close enough

i think to me a stereo 90w in 3ru is kind of... hmm... but given they are using the same chassis as the 5 channel...

if you look at the interior and chassis shots its looks to me like they tried to make it look impressive imposing expensive from a distance but looking close up there's a lot of things that make me go... "ehhhh"

So this isn't a high current amp at all? I'd like it to be able to drive my kef R3s as mains as well (in a pinch if my powered speakers fail.) Also I just noticed the 2 fans. I'll push it tomorrow with my kef r3s as mains and see if I hear any noise, or if the fans are loud. If so I have 45 days to decide.
Thanks

 

[mdsimon2]

I'm curious how you got to 500μV.
I'm getting either 110 or 160μV(A), depending on whether the 1W SNR measurement was done at 4 or 8Ω:
View attachment 304605
View attachment 304604 View attachment 304603

Even without A-weighting, that's at most ~210μV.

I picked it a point on the low end of the XLR, 4 ohm, power vs THD+N sweep that should be noise dominated, specifically 0.03% THD+N at 0.7 W.

V = sqrt(0.7 x 4) = 1.67 V
N = 1.67 x (0.03/100) x 10^6 = 500 uV

On second glance looking at the SNR measurement I agree that I would expect ~200 uV residual unweighted. I guess that means that even at ~1W into 4 ohm the amp has some noise floor modulation or THD as the SNR measurement is done with no input signal.

Michael

 

[multichannel_guy]

Its being delivered tomorrow. I was getting hum from my old ADCOM with RCA ins for my surrounds. My main amp is monolith 5X200. I'm running that through XLR ins from my AVP. So this will be for surrounds, but I'm wondering about the test results.

How does the budget monolith 5100x sound for music listening? Looking for a low cost class AB amp. Does it sound good? Or did the sinad kill the music, cause any psychological trauma?

I would prefer not to deal with emotiva, if possible.

 

[laurelkurt]

How does the budget monolith 5100x sound for music listening? Looking for a low cost class AB amp. Does it sound good? Or did the sinad kill the music, cause any psychological trauma?

I would prefer not to deal with emotiva, if possible.

It drove my R3s as mains, mostly crossed over with subs at 80 and as full range too. It sounded very good. Even cranked up loud for 45 or so minutes It barely got warm with no hiss or hum. The only time I heard the fans was for a second upon startup. I was listening hard trying to be disappointed and it didn't happen. Gene @ Audioholics tested all of them and said the 5 channel had the best value and performance.

 

[multichannel_guy]

It drove my R3s as mains, mostly crossed over with subs at 80 and as full range too. It sounded very good. Even cranked up loud for 45 or so minutes It barely got warm with no hiss or hum. The only time I heard the fans was for a second upon startup. I was listening hard trying to be disappointed and it didn't happen. Gene @ Audioholics tested all of them and said the 5 channel had the best value and performance.

Good to hear....thanks....i just hit the buy button since it was on sale.
Merry Christmas