Starke Sound AD4.320 Amp Review (Sample 2)

[nstzya]

Amir testing this amp at 160 watts into 8 ohms which showed clipping and a SINAD of 19 which is ~11% distortion. This is still a long way from 225 watts @10% distortion.

I think it may have been at 4 ohms. Even worse. Besides, if you read the regulations, it must be with all 4 channels driven for 5 mins, etc. etc. It‘s only a page long. Easy read. For a regulation.

 

[F1308]

You can't promise people one gallon of milk but put half as much in the jug....

...and to our amusement find there is not a single drop of milk in there.

PD: it seems makers have the right to change content and specifications without advise.

 

[amirm]

I still have the unit but need permission from owner to open it.

 

[nstzya]

I still have the unit but need permission from owner to open it.

Be careful. Particularly if he has played Pandora thru it…

 

[nstzya]

Were the 160 clipped watts at 4 or 8 ohms, Amir?

 

[MediumRare]

Can anyone recommend a class action lawyer?

 

[amirm]

Were the 160 clipped watts at 4 or 8 ohms, Amir?

4 ohm.

 

[AdamG]

Ohm, ohm, ohm, ohm…….Your right I do feel better now!

 

[GWolfman]

...and to our amusement find there is not a single drop of milk in there.

PD: it seems makers have the right to change content and specifications without advise.

But I wouldn't think that covers not updating their specification for (future) buyers affected by the change. Hope at least they'd be forced to prove at least at launch a certain number met specifications. Also, I'm sure there's a forgivable allowance (say 5-10%), but anything this drastic is simply criminal.

 

[pseudoid]

4 ohm.

You mean that they really did not accuse you of using wrong loads and/or the problem lies with your AP?

 

[Dennis_FL]

Can anyone recommend a class action lawyer?

visit Florida and turn on any channel

 

[beagleman]

Maybe PMPO at 1 kHz at 20% distortion....??

(humour)

 

[Rottmannash]

" Saving us money one review at a time." You may have inadvertently created the ASR T-shirt we've all been wanting.

 

[pseudoid]

Can anyone recommend a class action lawyer?

Hey! This is ASR! You need to be more specific: ClassA, Class AB or ClassD lawsuit???

 

[sam_adams]

@amirm, you gave them a mulligan and they came up short again. It's gratifying that you were willing to be so magnanimous to give Starke a chance to redeem themselves—especially given your current personal circumstances. In my opinion, the fact that you took the time to do this goes a long way toward silencing your critics. Thanks, also, to the member that provided the amp for retesting. It really shows that the ASR community is not just a group of sycophants that others accuse the membership here of being.

 

[wwenze]

Who remember the days when peak power is rated at 2x RMS

 

[anchan]

Who remember the days when peak power is rated at 2x RMS

Haha, too many peaks these days lol.
I know your being tongue and cheek and it’s a good joke, but it raises an interesting point….

That peak refers to the power as calculated using the peak V of the sine wave that the amplifier is able to output into a fixed R (vs the average power from that sine wave), which when integrated turns out to be half.

That said, things get complicated when an amp can put out said voltage (and in turn calculated power) but can’t sustain that level of power for thermal or other reasons. In which case that peak power should be lower than the first kind of peak power.

But even after all of that, and even without fancy measuring equipment, one can fairly accurately calculate the first kind of peak power just by knowing the rail voltage. So any claims by manufacturers feigning ignorance become totally unbelievable.

 

[anchan]

The whole hifi industry relies on a hope that the consumers stay ignorant. Even after people finally get this power thing, next stop SNR.
Oh, you were using dBV? I was using dBFS or dBW. Oh you mean dB 1 watt for 8 ohms ? No I was using dB Wampum which is DbW, silly mistake this stupid shift key, arg! lol

 

[trl]

Not just output power is not respecting the specs, but also the dynamic as well: 105 dB on Amir's first test vs. 112 dB on manufacturer's webpage. @amirm was your dynamic measurement A-weighted like Starke's measurement?

As for the THD, I see the specs from A8.350 mentions a THD of only 0.045% at 1 kHz, at 350 W (4 Ω) which means a THD of -66.93 dB. That means that manufacturer is not intending of creating high-spec'd amplifiers, just good looking and powerful ones, although they missed the power rating for sure.

 

[alpha_logic]

Before ASR, audio companies could reasonably expect to just get away with this kind of stuff...