Mixing amps for LCR - bad idea?

[ryanosaur]

Pricing looks a little higher with the few minutes i've looked.

Review and Measurements of Purifi 1ET400A Amplifier

This is a review and detailed measurements of the Purifi 1ET400A Class-D amplifier module. Company was kind enough to send me a complete, assembled kit consisting of two modules, power supply and case, ready to go. They have not disclosed the cost of the unit. Modules will be available to DIY...

www.audiosciencereview.com

it's right at the level of the NC400 performance wise according to Amir.
So certainly worth looking at...
I will some more and try to figure out total cost to either DIY or order whole.

 

[Swerd]

My usage is 70-80 HT, 20-30% music. I’m looking to get an external 2 (maybe 3) channel amp for the LCR. Given that stereo amps are far more plentiful. I’m wondering if it would be a good/bad idea to get a stereo amp for the the LR, and leave the center and surrounds driven my the AVR - Denon x4200W, speakers are Salk BeAT, SCST center.

Unfortunately I don’t have room for monoblocks - need a one box solution.

Of all the resulting discussion, I can't believe no one replied to the original post that it will not significantly affect his overall sound quality if he uses his Denon AVR alone, or adds an external 2-channel or 3-channel amp .

@thebrieze , excellent speaker choice. What type of finish are you getting?

By any chance, your question sounds typical of the questions that Salk buyers have, as they wait & wait for their speakers to be finished. Trust me, it's worth the long wait. Don't wonder about amps, speaker cables, or anything else until after you've heard those new Salks .

 

[lovinthehd]

Of all the resulting discussion, I can't believe no one replied to the original post that it will not significantly affect his overall sound quality if he uses his Denon AVR alone, or adds an external 2-channel or 3-channel amp .

@thebrieze , excellent speaker choice. What type of finish are you getting?

By any chance, your question sounds typical of the questions that Salk buyers have, as they wait & wait for their speakers to be finished. Trust me, it's worth the long wait. Don't wonder about amps, speaker cables, or anything else until after you've heard those new Salks .

Good point but hard to know since he didn't share much useful information other than desire . That is a fairly strong avr, so could suffice easily enough.

 

[ryanosaur]

But now we've got a great, organic sidebar going on, Swerd! Yes, indeed. You are correct in one thing... Which Finish?!!!! (Oh ya, and that other stuff too!)

Something I noticed is that the Purifi Amp modules are using a Hypex SMPS unit in a few applications. Haven't figured out yet if they require the intervening board for Input/Output or if the modules can connect directly to binding posts... So far, simplicity is on Hypex side.

 

[thebrieze]

Of all the resulting discussion, I can't believe no one replied to the original post that it will not significantly affect his overall sound quality if he uses his Denon AVR alone, or adds an external 2-channel or 3-channel amp .

@thebrieze , excellent speaker choice. What type of finish are you getting?

By any chance, your question sounds typical of the questions that Salk buyers have, as they wait & wait for their speakers to be finished. Trust me, it's worth the long wait. Don't wonder about amps, speaker cables, or anything else until after you've heard those new Salks .

I have the Salk’s already. Curly Maple, Silver dye, Burst edges. Speakers are sublime, highs feel a little rolled off, and I miss a little of the detail I had with my previous speakers - this actually came as a slight surprise considering the Beryllium tweeter. However as a package, they are pretty amazing. I love that the speakers simply disappear, and sounds cannot be localized to either a speaker or driver. The imaging and sound stage is that good.

I am not looking for increasing output volume. They play pretty loud already. Rather, it is as you described - the Salk’s are driving the upgrade itch to see what else they can do

I am also considering upgrading the AVR to the Arcam (AVR10, and RCA preouts to the amp) - or maybe Anthem, if they cannot get their act together.

 

[ryanosaur]

I have the Salk’s already. Curly Maple, Silver dye, Burst edges. Speakers are sublime, highs feel a little rolled off, and I miss a little of the detail I had with my previous speakers - this actually came as a slight surprise considering the Beryllium tweeter. However as a package, they are pretty amazing. I love that the speakers simply disappear, and sounds cannot be localized to either a speaker or driver. The imaging and sound stage is that good.

I am not looking for increasing output volume. They play pretty loud already. Rather, it is as you described - the Salk’s are driving the upgrade itch to see what else they can do

I am also considering upgrading the AVR to the Arcam (AVR10, and RCA preouts to the amp) - or maybe Anthem, if they cannot get their act together.

http://www.salksound.com/gallery/Song3%20BeAT/s3-BeAT-silvergrayburst.jpg

Might these be they?
Bueno. This conversation arises a lot. I think most agree that the silver/gray dye and burst edges are stunning.

I had Jim do my Phil 3s in Blue Curly Maple. I fell in love when I saw this shot:

http://www.salksound.com/gallery/Veracity%20ST/V-ST-midbluequiltedmaple.jpg

My Amp choice was not to make my speakers sound different, rather to make certain I had the Dynamic Headroom to cover peaks in Music and HT. I'm mostly Music for my usage. Pursuing Multi-Channel music is why I went with 5 channels of amplification. The Outlaws and the Philharmonic Experience in my room work very well together.

My interest in the Hypex modules is to possibly expand to separates for my current rig, as well as powering a new rig I will be designing over the next little bit. I will likely need the amplification before I have the speakers ready, so, that's why I've been looking.

 

[Swerd]

I have the Salk’s already. Curly Maple, Silver dye, Burst edges. Speakers are sublime, highs feel a little rolled off, and I miss a little of the detail I had with my previous speakers - this actually came as a slight surprise considering the Beryllium tweeter. However as a package, they are pretty amazing. I love that the speakers simply disappear, and sounds cannot be localized to either a speaker or driver. The imaging and sound stage is that good.

Very nice. Jim Salk does wonderful stuff with that basic curly maple veneer.

Yes, Salks simply disappear. Those little musicians have emerged from inside the cabinets and joined you in your room as you listen to music.

I am not looking for increasing output volume. They play pretty loud already. Rather, it is as you described - the Salk’s are driving the upgrade itch to see what else they can do

You may have noticed in my signature line, I too use an external 2-channel amp too. So I don't practice what I preach. I all honesty, I had that amp before I owned Salks. I kept using it and never looked back.

 

[everettT]

I have the Salk’s already. Curly Maple, Silver dye, Burst edges. Speakers are sublime, highs feel a little rolled off, and I miss a little of the detail I had with my previous speakers - this actually came as a slight surprise considering the Beryllium tweeter. However as a package, they are pretty amazing. I love that the speakers simply disappear, and sounds cannot be localized to either a speaker or driver. The imaging and sound stage is that good.

I am not looking for increasing output volume. They play pretty loud already. Rather, it is as you described - the Salk’s are driving the upgrade itch to see what else they can do

I am also considering upgrading the AVR to the Arcam (AVR10, and RCA preouts to the amp) - or maybe Anthem, if they cannot get their act together.

Like this color?

 

[ryanosaur]

Like this color?

Yup. Still like 'em.

 

[thebrieze]

Yup, here you go..

 

[thebrieze]

Now that I’m actually paying attention to the finish more closely, I’ve noticed a couple of things between my speaker an the images above from the Salk site.
1. The center of each panel face is a fade to light gradient, so you don’t see dark/black horizontal streaks as you do in the Salk images. The contrast appears enhanced in the image, and is closer everttT’s image in reality

2. The side panels appear to be a single piece of veneer. I do not see a vertical joint running down the center (the somewhat vertical banding in the image is the wood rings and not a joint)

 

[ryanosaur]

Like this color?

Speaking of which... I don't think you've shared the subs!

 

[ryanosaur]

Now that I’m actually paying attention to the finish more closely, I’ve noticed a couple of things between my speaker an the images above from the Salk site.
1. The center of each panel face is a fade to light gradient, so you don’t see dark/black horizontal streaks as you do in the Salk images. The contrast appears enhanced in the image, and is closer everttT’s image in reality

2. The side panels appear to be a single piece of veneer. I do not see a vertical joint running down the center (the somewhat vertical banding in the image is the wood rings and not a joint)

Depending on the veneer, it can be had in many sizes. Curly Maple is one of the most common... thus it's lower pricing and wider availability. Some of them can be small and you get into bookmatching the pieces of veneer, either as a 2-way or 4-way fold. Done well, the effect can be pretty spectacular.
The studio shots Salk takes are, I think, why we buy. Definitely not the speakers.
Here's mine.

I do have a vertical seam on my side panels... at 2' deep, really no way to avoid that.

 

[Trell]

Depending on the veneer, it can be had in many sizes. Curly Maple is one of the most common... thus it's lower pricing and wider availability. Some of them can be small and you get into bookmatching the pieces of veneer, either as a 2-way or 4-way fold. Done well, the effect can be pretty spectacular.
The studio shots Salk takes are, I think, why we buy. Definitely not the speakers.
Here's mine.
View attachment 34347
I do have a vertical seam on my side panels... at 2' deep, really no way to avoid that.

I want speakers that are both good-looking and sound excellent. I'm partial to cherry veneer, like in my Canton Vento 886.2:

 

[ryanosaur]

I want speakers that are both good-looking and sound excellent. I'm partial to cherry veneer, like in my Canton Vento 886.2:

View attachment 34348
View attachment 34349

When I was ordering and in conversation with both Dennis and Jim about the finish, I got to the point of saying that "I don't own any furniture that's finished like that, and stained Cherry , Walnut and Oak is kind of meaningless to me."
That said, I was in love with the natural oak MA Silver 500:

But I learned that was a unicorn and not actually available. Ha!

You nailed it, though, the look is just as important as the sound. And though I don't mind a utilitarian looking Piano Black, I definitely prefer something with a little more love to it.
Like this:

http://www.salksound.com/gallery/Song3%20BeAT/s3-BeAT-spaltedbeech.jpg

 

[everettT]

Speaking of which... I don't think you've shared the subs!

The next time we go up to the house I'll take updated photos of the whole system.

 

[snakeeyes]

The next time we go up to the house I'll take updated photos of the whole system.

What speakers do you use at your main house?

 

[everettT]

What speakers do you use at your main house?

Using 90s timeframes DCM speakers in the surround setup and 2 epik empires, plan on JTRs at the other house when my wife retires. Boston Acoustics VRMs in the 2 channel setup

 

[thebrieze]

That Nord amp looks interesting, been seeing nice things said about the Purifi module; hopefully that input sensitivity is okay. Perhaps another along those lines of small form factor is the XTZ Edge A2-300. As to powering center channel, if you want it to have same capabilities as L/R....

Now you’ve got me worried about the input sensitivity.. The Nord amps appear to have a max input sensitivity of 2.35V rms, with a gain of 26.8dB
The Denon has an output sensitivity of 1V nominal, 2V max
I’ve been considering the Arcam AVR’s (for Dirac) which have an output sensitivity of 1V nominal, 5V max

Would either of these be mismatched with the Nord?
I’m still trying to make sense of the 5V max in the Arcam’s- feels like quite a bit of gain for the preouts. What does that imply?

 

[lovinthehd]

Now you’ve got me worried about the input sensitivity.. The Nord amps appear to have a max input sensitivity of 2.35V rms, with a gain of 26.8dB
The Denon has an output sensitivity of 1V nominal, 2V max
I’ve been considering the Arcam AVR’s (for Dirac) which have an output sensitivity of 1V nominal, 5V max

Would either of these be mismatched with the Nord?
I’m still trying to make sense of the 5V max in the Arcam’s- feels like quite a bit of gain for the preouts. What does that imply?

I just noticed the somewhat low sensitivity on the amp, but many Denons have been measured at more than 2V too (altho a question of clipping has come up at higher levels in some cases).....was your model measured for a max of 2V? Some pre outs can be higher than 5V.....