MattHooper
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Why use monoblocks?
- Thread starter JustAnAudioLover
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8 stereo amps (6 identical [2 identical), all of which can be (and usually are) used as mono blocks. (Also a pair of identical preamps), 4 FM tuners, multiple pairs of speakers (but only one pair of homebuilt passive subs) here. Also, multiple UPS's.Many believe in 'separates'... for many a reason.
These are just fringe groups who take 'separates' to another level.
Looked at it from a different perspective: Monoblocks prevent a single point failure.
If one of the monoblocks DOA; at least, you can still listen to music in the other mono channel.
I will not be without the capability of music unless there is a lengthy major catastrophe (such as the 4 months of no power that occurred to us on an island in the Western Pacific after one really bad typhoon.
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That may be less cool to a significant-other!
But cool to me.
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???
MattHooper
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Fidji
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Probably 2.500 W mono amplifiers for passive subs, falls under “thermals”
I have monoblocks for L-R [power and placement], multi-channel amps for the rest and stack of mono blocks for subs.
Second reason can be acoustics [if you have dedicated room] - you can usually get better results if space between the speakers is empty [this is why I never understood those double racks full of separates between the speakers] , so if you have assymetrical cable runs [e.g. electronics on one side] it is better to have different lengths in signal cables, than to run different lengths of speaker cable.
This would fall under “looks and convenience”
Actually super-short speaker cables are very convenient, XLR cables are usually much more flexible and you can run them couple of meters longer without any issue, to make them visually unobtrusive.
I would say, you also want monoblocks, if you are into active crossover speakers as it makes absolute sense to use separate amps for each driver.
I have monoblocks for L-R [power and placement], multi-channel amps for the rest and stack of mono blocks for subs.
Second reason can be acoustics [if you have dedicated room] - you can usually get better results if space between the speakers is empty [this is why I never understood those double racks full of separates between the speakers] , so if you have assymetrical cable runs [e.g. electronics on one side] it is better to have different lengths in signal cables, than to run different lengths of speaker cable.
This would fall under “looks and convenience”
Actually super-short speaker cables are very convenient, XLR cables are usually much more flexible and you can run them couple of meters longer without any issue, to make them visually unobtrusive.
I would say, you also want monoblocks, if you are into active crossover speakers as it makes absolute sense to use separate amps for each driver.
I just like to be able to pull out the single broken item when something goes wrong & put in my spare not broken item while I have my item repaired. That way I am not out of a bunch of functions in my system when one item goes bad.Hi-fi is all about, or used to be, having as many separate components as possible(Nowadays that's outdated thinking.)
wadude
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Having a stack of tube mono blocks appealed to my inner Who.
It's easier to send a small signal than it is to send a large amount of power. Losses in a speaker cable can be significant if the cable is long. Losses would be too little to care about in a small signal cable unless its capacitance is excessive.
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Hope you resist the temptation to jam a Gibson Les Paul (or a Vox Cheetah, as the case may be) into 'em.
Count Arthur
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And if you use longer balanced cables, and shorter speaker cables, there's less chance of picking up any interference through the cables.
In one place I lived, that got really good FM reception - it was line of sight to a large transmission tower on the hills nearby, I could hear a radio station faintly through one speaker on occasion. You could also get a pretty good television signal by just touching the aerial socket on the back of a TV set with your finger.
+1Mono blocks = wasted space and energy.
I can't hear a difference between a stereo Purifi and a mono Purifi amp.
The only difference was a lighter wallet.
I tried two FOSI ZA-3s -as mono-blocks- and was not impressed.
Sold one of the ZA-3s and decided to keep the 2nd one as a spare...
Mine is a happy wallet!
H'mm but it is the aesthetic that I like. So part of my idea of décor. Folks that do not like my décor are certainly not being held hostage, unlike 'Hotel California' they are free to leave any time that they like if my décor bothers them so much.
Wish mine had meters, though. Maybe one day.
Wasted energy: Just guessing on this: but think that likely it is a debate of it's own and probably has to do with each use case, the efficiency of speakers involved, the room size, and likely many other things.
Not sure that it is true as a blanket statement.
Sounds like an "I heard it on the Grapevine" thing with no actual proof.
Or the proof shows that in many situations but not all.
I call the Nowadays thinking a few things (and brilliant is not usually one of them [though, on a rare occasion, it is]).Hi-fi is all about, or used to be, having as many separate components as possible
Who is Who?
@mhardy6647, didja forget to give a Like to the above comment?Hi-fi is all about, or used to be, having as many separate components as possible
So what, if he called us (parenthetical) old farts?
Who cares!?
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2) I must've overlooked it.Who is Who?
@mhardy6647, didja forget to give a Like to the above comment?
So what, if he called us (parenthetical) old farts?
1) Who's on first.
who came first, too...
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