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Which Amp for Ohm Walsh 2000 Speakers (100-250 watts/ch stereo for under $1000)

Pixelhead

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I just acquired a pair of Ohm Walsh 2000 Speakers and need to figure out the best amplifier to power them from for under $1000. (I'm in Florida, USA). The manufacturer recommends amps between 40 and 200W, but said they'd much rather me overshoot that range that end up with an underpowered amp. The speakers have an 88dB sensitivity and are 6 Ohms.

Audio will come from a Bluesound Node (airplay from phone, TV via eARC, Tidal and music off my NAS). It sounds like the Node has a variable output, so I could send that directly to an amplifier. I'm also fine ending up with an integrated amp.

Ideally I'd like just a two channel amp that is 200ish watts

I've been interested in a Class D amplifier, but find not that many well reviewed options in my price range. There are a few factory reconditioned Rotel RB 1572 V02's for $600 on Ebay.

I'd also consider vintage gear if I can end up with more bang for my buck and realize that will likely end up being a class A/B amp, which is fine, but I'd rather hide it away in a cabinet and would rather not have cooling issues.

I'm trying to get this figured out so that I can receive an amp before August 7th, which is my wife's birthday. I'm using that occasion as my deadline for getting this system setup.
 

Vini darko

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Hi welcome to ASR. Nice speakers I'd like to try out some day. I'm gonna recommend 2x Behringer A800 running in bridged mode. They will provide loads of power and run cool. Even better they don't cost much. If you do fancy running a pre-amp a schiit magnius is a good option. Having balanced outputs and very low cost. Would be £510 for the lot in the UK.
 

Jim Matthews

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I just acquired a pair of Ohm Walsh 2000 Speakers and need to figure out the best amplifier to power them from for under $1000. (I'm in Florida, USA). The manufacturer recommends amps between 40 and 200W, but said they'd much rather me overshoot that range that end up with an underpowered amp. The speakers have an 88dB sensitivity and are 6 Ohms.



Ideally I'd like just a two channel amp that is 200ish watts

I've been interested in a Class D amplifier, but find not that many well reviewed options in my price range. There are a few factory reconditioned Rotel RB 1572 V02's for $600 on Ebay.

You have a private message.
 
OP
Pixelhead

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Class-D Amp Possibilities:
(all ratings are from manufacturer, per channel, two channels driven):
Behringer A800: $550 400W @ 4Ω (Behringer doesn't supply shit for specs) ASR Review (can't find in-stock anywhere)
Niles SI-2150: $429 150W @ 8Ω, 270W @ 4Ω, 102dB, 0.2%THD (60 day trial at Crutchfields) ASR Review
XTZ Sound Edge A2-300: $550 150W @ 8Ω, 300W @ 4Ω, 113dB, .005%THD (price includes shipping) ASR Review
Crown XLS1002: $365 215W @ 8Ω, 350W @ 4Ω, 97dB, <0.5%THD (everything is digitized @ 48Khz due to DSP) ASR Review (can buy locally at guitar center to try out)
Class D Audio Mini GaN 5: $749 200W @ 8Ω, 300W @ 4Ω, 108dB, 0.006%THD
Buckeye NC252MP: $499 150W @ 8Ω, 250W @ 4Ω ASR Review
VTV's Stereo Hypex NC502MP: $769 350W 8Ω, 500W @ 4Ω, 124dB, 0.0024%THD

What should I add to my list of possibilities?

Which would you choose and why?

I'm looking for at least 100W/ch @ 8Ω and a max of maybe 250W/ch for under a $1000USD that are known to be capable of driving 4Ω loads and running off of 120V/60Hz AC power.
My speakers are 6Ω 88dB Ohm Walsh 2000's
 
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Pixelhead

Pixelhead

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Best Class-D value in the USA is ASR's very own Buckeye, and the $650 NC502 would be excellent.
Thanks for making me aware of the Buckeye option. The NC502 is 350W @8 while the NC252 is 150W, so I think the smaller guy might be better for my application unless there is a sound quality difference between the two.
 

Spkrdctr

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Very EASY recommendation. The Crown amp. I would buy the 1502 model. It is $500 with shipping included. You also get a 6 year warranty. Many people have Crown amps and they sound as good as anything else. No hissing, and power for fantastic sound. Also, the fans never turn on for home audio use when you buy a big enough unit. It is an easy win/win.
 
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Pixelhead

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Very EASY recommendation. The Crown amp. I would buy the 1502 model. It is $500 with shipping included. You also get a 6 year warranty. Many people have Crown amps and they sound as good as anything else. No hissing, and power for fantastic sound. Also, the fans never turn on for home audio use when you buy a big enough unit. It is an easy win/win.

Why would you get the 1502 over the 1002?

The manufacturer of my speakers recommends 40-200 watts on their web site and on the phone he said really 100 watts minimum (@8Ω), but also said there is no harm is going well over 200.
The 1002 is 215W at 8Ω (sounds ideal to me)
The 1502 is 300W at 8Ω (isn't that overkill... or would I hear some sort of difference?)

The main thing I don't like about the XLS DriveCore 2 Series is that it has analog inputs, but it digitizes everything to apply DSP.

From what's I've heard it does that at 48 khz, which I'm assuming means there is no chance to test to see if there is an audible difference between higher resolution sources because they'd go through a funnel down to 48Khz when they make their way into the amp. I love the convenience features the DSP provides, but why not feed it a digital input or allow me to completely bypass the digitalization? Why convert a digital signal to analog before sending it to the amp and then have it convert it back to digital before making it analog again to send it to the speakers?

Having said all that, my local Guitar Center has these in stock and has a 60 day return policy, so I should be able to try it out and just hear if it produces satisfactory sound in my system. I really don't care if there is some oddity with the specs or signal flow through the unit if it will produce amazing sound that is as good or better than the other options in the sub $1000 price range. Love the price.
 
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Pixelhead

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This review includes a comparison of a crown to the XTZ Sound Edge which was somewhat helpful for me:
 

Gorgonzola

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I just acquired a pair of Ohm Walsh 2000 Speakers and need to figure out the best amplifier to power them from for under $1000. (I'm in Florida, USA). The manufacturer recommends amps between 40 and 200W, but said they'd much rather me overshoot that range that end up with an underpowered amp. The speakers have an 88dB sensitivity and are 6 Ohms.
...

'Way back in the day circa 1980 I owned a pair of Ohm F's. Always kinda regretted that I sold them, so enjoy Ohm 2000's.

h54423-0-54423_600x600.jpg


Don't buy the BS about class D amps not sounding good -- they're great, at least many are. I've owned five class D's over the last 18 years; they were all decent and the lastest are unbeatable for resolution, transparency, bass, and dynamics. However if you demand a really "warm" sound class D might not be for you because they don't add the colorations that "warmth" consists of.

Without hesitation for you sub-$1000 budget I would recommend VTV's Stereo Hypex NC502MP amp, $720: 500 wpc in to 4 ohms or about 400 into the Ohm's 6 ohm impedance. I owned their NC252MP model and it was very nice indeed.
 
OP
Pixelhead

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Without hesitation for you sub-$1000 budget I would recommend VTV's Stereo Hypex NC502MP amp, $720: 500 wpc in to 4 ohms or about 400 into the Ohm's 6 ohm impedance. I owned their NC252MP model and it was very nice indeed.

Thanks for making me aware of the VTV's. I feel there are a lot of Class-D amps that I am unfamiliar with.

I've found google searches to be rather ineffective in finding all the manufacturers. Is there a list somewhere that I can refer to?
 

HammerSandwich

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Which would you choose and why?
NC502 from whichever assembler you prefer. Why?

NC252/502 are the cleanest amps on the list (unless CDA made big strides with the GaN). Sure, the audible differences are tiny at best, but Ncore does basically nothing wrong, ever. For example, you still won't hear hiss if you switch to more sensitive speakers in a few years. I wouldn't bet on that with the Behringer or Crown.

And don't worry about getting "too many watts." Specs say your Ohms should do ~105dB with 100W, and that's pretty darned loud. But the worst sounding amp is one that's driven into clipping, and it's actually reasonable to want a little more headroom. Seems insane, I know. Bear with me.

First, that 105dB is at 1M, not your ears. Subtract a few dB. EQ can cost a few more. The 100W amp's probably still enough for most recent releases, because 100dB peaks imply 90+dB average SPL. OTOH, play your most dynamic recordings (think -24dBFS average) so peaks just miss clipping, and you might struggle to average 80dB at the listening position. The NC502 will give an extra 5dB - clean! - and the momentary peaks won't hurt anything. If the peaks hit 300W, average levels will be about 2W. Don't try to use your hifi like a PA system, and turn it down if you hear distortion. You'll be fine.

Makes sense to me to get the biggest & best. An extra $150-200 now is MUCH less than replacing the amp later, and $700ish NC502 options remain well inside your budget.

That's why.
 
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Pixelhead

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Does anyone see an issue feeding the Bluesound Node's output directly to an amp without use of a preamp? I've been told it can provide a variable output signal.
 

Koeitje

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I would only buy a PA amplifier if you a. need the extra power and b. you don't want to keep it cheap. In this situation the NC502 is a no-brainer.
 
OP
Pixelhead

Pixelhead

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For the NC502, I am aware of VTV which had issues in the ASR review and Buckeye that are less than $1000.

VTV: I prefer the case and markings along with the 30 day trial and 2 year warranty.
Buckeye: I like the price of the Buckeye and it's smaller form factor (but the price is not that much lower than VTV) and I didn't see info about trial or warranty. The case also looks more DIY since it is lacking markings on the back, etc. But you only need to interact with those things a few times and the amp will likely be hidden away from view.

Are there other NC502 based options I should be considering?
 

jae

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Zero reason not to go with the Hypex NC252/502 sub $1000. Beyond that you have Purifi ($1250-1500+ ~400 WPC), other Hypex modules (1200/2000W), Benchmark ($3000 ~200 WPC). I would not consider anything beyond these unless you have a very good reason.

For the NC502, I am aware of VTV which had issues in the ASR review and Buckeye that are less than $1000.
Are there other NC502 based options I should be considering?

Building your own is another option. Case and wiring is ~$200 from ghent audio and the module can be found for $300-400. If you live in the US it is probably not going to be much cheaper to DIY, however.
 
OP
Pixelhead

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Building your own is another option. Case and wiring is ~$200 from ghent audio and the module can be found for $300-400. If you live in the US it is probably not going to be much cheaper to DIY, however.

I am in Florida, USA, so it sounds like I wouldn't save by going DIY.
 
OP
Pixelhead

Pixelhead

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First, that 105dB is at 1M, not your ears. Subtract a few dB. EQ can cost a few more. The 100W amp's probably still enough for most recent releases, because 100dB peaks imply 90+dB average SPL. OTOH, play your most dynamic recordings (think -24dBFS average) so peaks just miss clipping, and you might struggle to average 80dB at the listening position. The NC502 will give an extra 5dB - clean! - and the momentary peaks won't hurt anything. If the peaks hit 300W, average levels will be about 2W. Don't try to use your hifi like a PA system, and turn it down if you hear distortion. You'll be fine.

Makes sense to me to get the biggest & best. An extra $150-200 now is MUCH less than replacing the amp later, and $700ish NC502 options remain well inside your budget.

Thanks for taking the time to share your option. I really appreciate it.
 

Spkrdctr

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It sounds like you will be happy with the VTV NC502MP amp. It is a very nice amp and will do everything you want it too. I would just go ahead and order it. In the end you will be very happy with it and of course it will sound very nice and is in your budget. Let us know how it turns out. Class D is the way of the future!
 

gasolin75

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Behringer A500 but not powerfull enough for the speakers

 
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