Power Amp Advice

[John Geloso]

Hi


I’m looking to upgrade my system with a power amp.


I currently have a Linn Majik DSM driving a set of ML Ethos and Ohm Micro Walsh through a speaker splitter. I believe the Linn put out about 50 watts at 8 ohms. I have no problem driving both speakers and the sound is very good, but with more power, I’m told the ML Ethos would sound spectacular. So I’m looking for power amp with a minimum of 150 watts at 8 ohms.


The dilemma is determining which amp would pair effectively with my system. And there are so many power amps out there (Bryston, Anthem, Adcom, Wyred4Sound, etc …), all with excellent reviews, it is truly confusing which to select. As well I don’t know of many retailers that will allow you to demo the amps for a period of time to see what works best in my environment.


So I appeal to your advice, judgement and experience. Which power amps would you recommend, new or used. Also, should I consider Mono amps?


My budget is $2M.


Thanks


John

 

[Mikado463]

2 million, wow, that's one hell of a budget !

In so far as an amp upgrade goes you need to be concerned with ones 4 ohm and better specs, not 8 ohm. The Ethos is 4 ohm nominal and drops to less than an ohm in the very upper octaves (not a whole lot up there to worry about)

In the world of 'Logan' it's a given that Pass and Logan are a good match. When I had my M/L Spire's i drove them with a Plinius SA-102 that was mighty nice as well.

 

[lovinthehd]

Hard to know if additional amp power is needed from your description since you say the sound is very good. Are you experiencing distortion or clipping? Have you driven the amp into protection mode? Whether additional amp power will make an sq difference relates more to your use than some unused power in your amps making a big sonic difference.

What is exactly this speaker splitter you mention? Is this something you use to alternate speaker sets in different rooms or are you driving all four together? How far away are you from the speakers? Any idea what spl levels you're listening at?

I see your Majik DSM on the Linn site mentions it has a "Chakra amp" with 90W/ch but doesn't mention impedance. As Mikado said, your ML and Walsh speakers are rated at 4 ohm impedance so you should make sure any amp you use is at least rated for 4 ohm (or lower) impedance (especially if driving them all together); the MLs are rated 92dB sensitivity, the Walsh 85dB so the Walsh are going to need quite a bit more amp power for the same spl.

You do have pre-outs on the Linn Majik DSM to use a power amp (or two, if you want separate amplification for each set of speakers, which would be preferable to "splitting" a single amp's power over two sets of speakers).

 

[mtrycrafts]

...

I currently have a Linn Majik DSM driving a set of ML Ethos and Ohm Micro Walsh through a speaker splitter. I believe the Linn put out about 50 watts at 8 ohms. I have no problem driving both speakers and the sound is very good, but with more power, I’m told the ML Ethos would sound spectacular. ...


John

Welcome to AH.

You have no problem driving both speakers so where is the issue?
You are told by whom that more power will deliver magic?

Be careful who is telling for what reasons and is it evidence based?

 

[yepimonfire]

Welcome to AH.

You have no problem driving both speakers so where is the issue?
You are told by whom that more power will deliver magic?

Be careful who is telling for what reasons and is it evidence based?

With that kind of money, might as well get a bad ass amp. I’d agree, more power doesn’t translate into more clarity, unless the amp currently in use is being run past its limits into distortion. It’s also important to note, there is virtually no difference between solid state amps so long as they are run within the power limits. Any perceived difference is nothing more than expectation bias.

To determine the necessity of needing more power, post the listening distance and average/peak spl. For example, if you listen to classical music at realistic “live” levels, that translates to 65dB at the quietest passages, with 95dB peaks.

The ohm mini Walsh are the least efficient speakers in that setup, being 82dB @1w. The amp in the DSM is rated at 90w into 4ohms, and both speakers are rated at 4 ohms. With the ohm speakers, at a distance of about 3m, this translates into about 98dB, taking into account room gain. Each doubling of distance creates a loss of 6dB, so at 6m, that’s 91 dB. Electrostatic speakers radiate as a line source, so you only lose 3dB with each doubling, but that only applies to the stat panel, not the dynamic woofer (which would likely need bumped up to compensate.)


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Mikado463]

more power doesn’t translate into more clarity, unless the amp currently in use is being run past its limits into distortion. It’s also important to note, there is virtually no difference between solid state amps so long as they are run within the power limits. Any perceived difference is nothing more than expectation bias.

while true in many cases, as a general statement though ..... far from it !

Example a Class B SS amp at the same rated power as a Class A/B amp will most likely never sound as good. Can subtle differences be heard on a more resolving set up ? Case in point with respect to the Op's speakers (Ethos) if one were to listen to a pair of Logan Neolith's in an ideal acoustical environment would not subtle differences more likely be heard vs. the Ethos in his set up ? perhaps.......perhaps not !

 

[PENG]

Hi


I’m looking to upgrade my system with a power amp.


I currently have a Linn Majik DSM driving a set of ML Ethos and Ohm Micro Walsh through a speaker splitter. I believe the Linn put out about 50 watts at 8 ohms. I have no problem driving both speakers and the sound is very good, but with more power, I’m told the ML Ethos would sound spectacular. So I’m looking for power amp with a minimum of 150 watts at 8 ohms.


The dilemma is determining which amp would pair effectively with my system. And there are so many power amps out there (Bryston, Anthem, Adcom, Wyred4Sound, etc …), all with excellent reviews, it is truly confusing which to select. As well I don’t know of many retailers that will allow you to demo the amps for a period of time to see what works best in my environment.


So I appeal to your advice, judgement and experience. Which power amps would you recommend, new or used. Also, should I consider Mono amps?


My budget is $2M.


Thanks


John

Assuming $2M means $2,000, you can get a Monolith 5 channel amp.

https://www.monoprice.com/product?p_id=15593

If you only need a two channel amp, of the ones you mentioned, you can get good value from Anthem.

https://www.anthemav.com/products-current/series=mca-series-gen2/model=mca-225/page=overview

Otherwise, the Parasound Halo A21 can do a good job for you too.

https://www.anthemav.com/products-current/series=mca-series-gen2/model=mca-225/page=overview

 

[Mikado463]

good suggestions PENG !

 

[Mitchibo]

Or buy my Monolith 7. Do it. Do it.

 

[AcuDefTechGuy]

The ATI-made Monolith-7 (200x7) Amp in-new-condition for about $1200 is a pretty good deal, which comes out to about $170/Ch.

The very ugly (but good quality) Crown XLS1002 (200x2) Pro Amp is about $300, which is $150/Ch. You would have to buy 4 of these amps for 7Ch, which would also cost $1200.

 

[AcuDefTechGuy]

You might also check eBay, Audiogon, Craigslist for the ATI AT3002 (300W x 2) amp for $1200.

Of course, this won't be as good a deal as the Monolith-7 for about $1200.

The very ugly (but good quality) Crown XLS1502 (300x2) amp is only $400.