Transparent amplification

[stunta]

Wouldn’t you be better off just buying active ATCs?
Keith

I would love to get the active versions. However, the pro equivalent 20ASL goes for $5.6K. The consumer version is even more expensive. They are very rare on the s/h market. Eventually, I want the active versions as front-mains and the passive 19s I currently have as rears in a HT setup in a to-be basement man-cave, so that is a long ways off and will also depend on how well my employer treats me

@Bjorn Thanks for the reply. I take it you didn't get the kit from Hypex. I got the kit because my assembly skills are limited to turning a screwdriver clockwise or anti-clockwise.

 

[Dismayed]

I'm looking for an amp for my son to take to college when he starts his freshman year in the Fall. He has Martin Logan Motion 15 bookshelf speakers that have a 5 ohm impedance. https://www.martinlogan.com/en/product/motion-15

I was considering a Cambridge Audio CXA80 because it has a built-in DAC and USB input. Does anyone here have experience with this amp, or with Cambridge Audio in general? Anything similar that I should consider?

I'd like to send him off to college with a nice system. Science is a labor of love for him, and he's worked hard - he won a Rensselaer Medal, and he landed an internship in an MIT Material Sciences lab. I figured that he would end up cleaning lab benches, but he's preparing fuel cell electrode samples and taking measurements. So I want to do something nice for him, but with the constraint that I will be paying tuition for him next year.

 

[stunta]

I'm looking for an amp for my son to take to college when he starts his freshman year in the Fall. He has Martin Logan Motion 15 bookshelf speakers that have a 5 ohm impedance. https://www.martinlogan.com/en/product/motion-15

I was considering a Cambridge Audio CXA80 because it has a built-in DAC and USB input. Does anyone here have experience with this amp, or with Cambridge Audio in general? Anything similar that I should consider?

I'd like to send him off to college with a nice system. Science is a labor of love for him, and he's worked hard - he won a Rensselaer Medal, and he landed an internship in an MIT Material Sciences lab. I figured that he would end up cleaning lab benches, but he's preparing fuel cell electrode samples and taking measurements. So I want to do something nice for him, but with the constraint that I will be paying tuition for him next year.

At that price range, I would consider something like the NAD C 368. I've been looking into it for my den TV setup which is stereo. It has Hypex UcD amp modules which supposedly are immune to load variations. I have the Hypex NCore amps and they seem very neutral. The NAD also has an upgrade path given its modular design.

I have no experience with Cambridge Audio products, but have owned the NAD D3020 which is quite a remarkable unit.

Congrats to your son. I have heard MIT is a decent place ;-)

 

[Wombat]

The Cambridge looks to be a versatile amp. Nad, Arcam, Onkyo and Yamaha are worth a look. I think the one that has the right features should be seriously considered as performance-wise they are in the same ball-park, market-wise.

 

[Dismayed]

At that price range, I would consider something like the NAD C 368. I've been looking into it for my den TV setup which is stereo. It has Hypex UcD amp modules which supposedly are immune to load variations. I have the Hypex NCore amps and they seem very neutral. The NAD also has an upgrade path given its modular design.

I have no experience with Cambridge Audio products, but have owned the NAD D3020 which is quite a remarkable unit.

Congrats to your son. I have heard MIT is a decent place ;-)

Thank you. I'll look at the NAD line.

My son really is enjoying working in an active research group. He is the only high school student amongst a dozen researchers who are all graduate students and post docs. He's not applying to MIT for undergrad, but he would like to come back for graduate school (the MIT campus is only a few miles from our house, and I think he wants to explore a new city).

 

[Sal1950]

I'm looking for an amp for my son to take to college when he starts his freshman year in the Fall. He has Martin Logan Motion 15 bookshelf speakers that have a 5 ohm impedance.

New Outlaw RR2160 receiver $799
Well reviewed around the net. Has pre-outs for possible later upgrade, bass management, etc.
He just might want to listen to the radio now and then.
https://www.outlawaudio.com/products/rr2160.html
https://hometheaterhifi.com/reviews...aw-audio-rr2160-stereo-retro-receiver-review/