Trinnov 8m 8 Channel Amplifier Review

[Billy Budapest]

Thanks, Amir.

Absolutely stunning look and performance for a multichannel amp !

Designed in France, but Made in USA... Quite unusual.

ATI are kind of the masters of building multichannel home theater amps, so it’s not surprising Trinnov collaborated with them on this piece.

 

[Hipster Doofus]

Nice to see such a good product. Thanks.

but lately going greener….I have been thinking of reducing some speakers and going to a 5.1 system, hence the need for fewer amps. After all it’s just fake noise in most movies. And when it is real it’s just a few people talking.

but…it is drool worthy

 

[CedarX]

I see in the insides picture that it has 2x transformers and ‘x’ (2? 4? 8?) linear PSUs. If it is power supply-limited, does the power distribution architecture matter? For example should one side feed channels 1-4, the other 5-8, or is better for power and crosstalk to have one side feeding the L channels, the other feeding the R’s? What did Trinnov do with this one, and are these PSUs causing the Ok-but-could-be-better crosstalk performances?

 

[xavierjohn]

What is linear power? Which one is better, linear power or switching power supply?
Based on the results, isn’t the value in just buying the buckeye amp?
XLR to DB25 is a custom cable that will cost $100 so I am using my existing XLR cables to connect the Trinnov Alt 16 to the amp.

The Trinnov amp is built by ATI.

 

[amirm]

Did anyone run the numbers yet to see how much (hopefully noise “free”) input voltage is required to drive that thing to full power?

I have started to note that in the review (for 4 ohm anyway):

As you see, to get it to clip you need 4.7 volt. For 8 ohm I had to set the max to 6 volt or so.

 

[amirm]

It went into protection at 2R at any load angle, with just 2 of 8 channels driven...

Again, that is not how the test works. To find the max power, the analyzer needs to be given an upper and lower bound for voltage. For that to work for all impedances, I have to give it a very high input voltage (I used 6 volts). The analyzer then searches between that high and low watermarks to find the 1% THD. This amplifier is actually quite robust in the way it accepted 6 volts for 4 ohm where in reality starts to clip around 4.7 ohm. For 2 ohm, that was just too much as that was likely way, way past its clipping point. It ran one test that I reported (32 volt out) but than shut down on the next test.

I could try to manually re-run it and get those 2 ohm numbers but since Trinnov doesn't rate it at 2 ohm, I did not think it was worth going there.

 

[juliangst]

It's nice to see that the 16 channel version can also be bought with a Dante input module.

It makes a lot more sense to me to have good DACs inside the amp instead of having to connect 16+ cables from the processor to the amp.
Storm audio also has an all digital processor now so I guess they'll release an AES67 amp too at some point.

 

[Robbo99999]

Nice, but this equipment is beyond my limit of a lot of things: money / number of meaty speakers in a room / further personal research required on my behalf to implement a state of the art theatre system. In terms of theatre systems I can't get by how good my parent's Onkyo 5.1 system (small satellite speakers) from 2010 is that I time & volume aligned for all speakers at the listening position (using REW & UMIK & the Onkyo menus), that I find it hard to think of the need for having something better & more physically intrusive for movie watching in an aesthetic home environment (it can really pump out some bass and overall volume impact along with good spatialisation making for some "wow" moments in movies), albeit their system is not high end at all for music listening so there is that distinction, just their system was so impressive to me after I'd set it up properly for movie watching. (I personally don't want a cheap 5.1 setup properly in my own place because it wouldn't be good for music listening & I get by with a "quality" 2.1 channel system for TV/Movie/Music in my living room.)

 

[egellings]

The Beatles' An Octopus's Garden would be a great test track for the 8 channel amplifier.

 

[PJ 1]

Great review! Thanks Amir. Looks like a great amp. Just wondering if it's 2x better than the ATI AT528NC that you also reviewed. The Trinnov looks to emphasize being quieter at lower watts so maybe for higher sensitivity speakers or critical listening it's objectively better. But seeing these numbers compared to the ATI amp, I'm actually more impressed with the ATI. My subjective opinion of course as I know of several more lower priced Hypex-based amps but few have the reputation of ATI or their great 7 year warranty.

 

[Dj7675]

Nice to see such great performance. Expensive but performance is quite good. Love the DB25… wish more would do this. 8 channel NC502 based amp, NAD M27 or M28 would be more cost effective high performance multichannel options but very nice review.
Edit: Although if you get a Trinnov Alt16/32, have a purpose built room designed, cost difference isn’t all that significant relative to the total budget.

 

[juliangst]

I think multichannel Hypex builds offer a lot better price to performance and the new NCx500 also delivers a lot more power

Apollon has a nice looking 6-12 channel NCx500 amp for example

One moment, please...

 

[ocinn]

Apollon 1et7040 8ch - $6900 USD
Apollon NCx500 8ch - $5150 USD
Buckeye NC502mp 8ch - $2200 USD

This is a waste of the nc1200 modules, IMO. What is the point of using them, when they are being capped at below NC502mp power levels? I'd stomach the 5db SINAD hit with the buckeye, and relax knowing I saved $7300.

 

[Ziroz]

This amp paired with a topping dm7 would make a pretty nice setup for an 8 channel system, but the price is a bit steep and the power is not exactly impressive for said price.

 

[Billy Budapest]

B-but... ATI is AMD for like 10+ years already

Different ATI.

This is the ATI we are talking about—Morris Kessler’s company:

Amplifier Technologies Inc.

At ATI, we make heavy-duty amplifiers with proven circuitry, meticulous assembly and rigorous testing designed to deliver state-of-the-art audio for years, all designed by us and built in our own US factory. It’s a simple story, American amplifiers built by American people. We hope you enjoy...

ati-amp.com

ATI and Kessler have been around a long, long time doing what they do. They used to make the big brawny Adcom amps in the 80’s and 90’s. And Kessler’s company before ATI was SAE. He’s a legend in the industry.

 

[enricoclaudio]

Thanks, Amir.

Absolutely stunning look and performance for a multichannel amp !

Designed in France, but Made in USA... Quite unusual.

Thanks @amirm for another great review. @VintageFlanker you forgot to mention "with amp modules Designed in The Netherlands and Made in Malaysia"

 

[HarmonicTHD]

I have started to note that in the review (for 4 ohm anyway):

As you see, to get it to clip you need 4.7 volt. For 8 ohm I had to set the max to 6 volt or so.

Thanks for pointing me to it.

 

[Rick Sykora]

I run 9 bed channels that are all full sized Tower 4 ohm load speakers. So, not necessarily overkill for some setups. I run 12 channels of NC502MP or 500 watts per. Having lots of headroom is vital for hugely dynamic movie soundtracks. I suspect that if you are spending Trinnov level money you probably have big power hungry bed channel speakers. I just saw a home theater that had a crazy high number of ML Electrostatic bed speakers at 11.7.12 configuration. Crazy level agreed. But that is the segment Trinnov is targeting right?

Your amps have a dedicated smps for every 2 channels. This amp appears to have 2 linear supplies and each of those supplies 4 channels of amplification. Your Buckeye does about 430 watts with both channels driven and this amp does about 330 watts. Amir measured a Nord amp using the same NC1200 modules (as the Trinnov) and it put out 500 watts in a dual monoblock configuration. While you do have some power margin, the Trinnov has better power headroom. Whether that justifies its bigger price tag is up to the purchaser.

While nicely made, based on Amir’s measurements, the Trinnov does not seem worth the price premium to me.

 

[Sokel]

Your amps have a dedicated smps for every 2 channels. This amp appears to have 2 linear supplies and each of those supplies 4 channels of amplification. Your Buckeye does about 430 watts with both channels driven and this amp does about 330 watts. Amir measured a Nord amp using the same NC1200 modules (as the Trinnov) and it put out 500 watts in a dual monoblock configuration. While you do have some power margin, the Trinnov has better power headroom. Whether that justifies its bigger price tag is up to the purchaser.

While nicely made, based on Amir’s measurements, the Trinnov does not seem worth the price premium to me.

Which company has an NC1200 based amp which is actually up to module specs?
I mean full bore down to 2 ohm.

 

[375HP2482]

The linear power supply adds considerable weight to the unit and no doubt, cost. It provides a level of differentiation.

For nearly ten kilobucks I suspect customers might feel cheated if it weighed less (switchmode p.s.).

From amirm's recent review, backbreaking amplifiers appeared to be de rigueur at the Pacific Audio Fest