Monolith Five alternatives?

[Sound Epistemology]

So Im fairly bummed out. Monoprice has had their 5 channel amp (monolith five) out of stock with an eta of 6/5 for a couple of months now. Suddenly yesterday, just 4 days from the eta of 6/5 the website has now changed the eta to 10/5. I am beyond bummed out at this point.

Does anyone know:
1. What the heck is going on with Monoprice (akm factory?)

2. Any ideas for an alternative way for me to spend ~$1,500 on amplification?

 

[lovinthehd]

Supplies of all kinds are out of whack for a variety of industries, including the audio industry. International freight, particularly ocean freight, is somewhat a mess right now and costs are up, too.

Maybe look into VTV or one of the others putting together amps with either the Hypex or Purifi modules? Don't know if Emotiva is doing any better. Personally I'd see about three Crown XLS1502s....

 

[shadyJ]

So Im fairly bummed out. Monoprice has had their 5 channel amp (monolith five) out of stock with an eta of 6/5 for a couple of months now. Suddenly yesterday, just 4 days from the eta of 6/5 the website has now changed the eta to 10/5. I am beyond bummed out at this point.

Does anyone know:
1. What the heck is going on with Monoprice (akm factory?)

2. Any ideas for an alternative way for me to spend ~$1,500 on amplification?

The Monolith amps are made by ATI, not AKM. AKM makes processing stuff like DACs.

As for alternatives, check out the Monolith Model 5000X. Maybe the Starke Sound AD4.320.

 

[lovinthehd]

Wasn't sure what akm meant, was going to ask. AKM's factory fire has made for some problems, just not in power amps.

 

[BoredSysAdmin]

Don't know if Emotiva is doing any better.

Well, XPA-5 is in stock.https://emotiva.com/products/xpa-5-gen3
That's the closest one price/power wise

Personally I'd see about three Crown XLS1502s....

I'd think that for hi-fi audio XTI-2, specifically 3x Crown Audio XTi 1002 would be a better choice.

 

[lovinthehd]

Well, XPA-5 is in stock.https://emotiva.com/products/xpa-5-gen3
That's the closest one price/power wise

I'd think that for hi-fi audio XTI-2, specifically 3x Crown Audio XTi 1002 would be a better choice.

Curious, why the XTI if you don't need the extra dsp? Pretty much spec'd same as XLS I think. Altho would like to see measurements of the XTi but don't think I've run across any. What would be more "hi-fi" about the XTi?

 

[Verdinut]

The Monolith amps are made by ATI, not AKM. AKM makes processing stuff like DACs.

As for alternatives, check out the Monolith Model 5000X. Maybe the Starke Sound AD4.320.

I'm sure you meant the Outlaw 5000X.

 

[Pogre]

These Outlaw 2220 mono amps are legit great amps, tho 5 of them will cost a little more than the Mono 5. Could start with 3 of 'em for the front stage...

Model 2220

Mono? Mini? Micro? Magnificent? Whatever that M is, this is one UNREAL little single-channel amp. 200 Watts (conservatively!) into a 3-inch chassis with balanced input stage to offer Common Mode Rejection! MANUAL See Front Panel Huge See Rear Panel Huge

outlawaudio.com

 

[Verdinut]

These Outlaw 2220 mono amps are legit great amps, tho 5 of them will cost a little more than the Mono 5. Could start with 3 of 'em for the front stage...

Model 2220

Mono? Mini? Micro? Magnificent? Whatever that M is, this is one UNREAL little single-channel amp. 200 Watts (conservatively!) into a 3-inch chassis with balanced input stage to offer Common Mode Rejection! MANUAL See Front Panel Huge See Rear Panel Huge

outlawaudio.com

I was thinking of that too, but it would exceed the OP's planned budget, unless it came on sale.

 

[lovinthehd]

I was thinking of that too, but it would exceed the OP's planned budget, unless it came on sale.

Yeah now that the multi-amp discount is gone on the Outlaws, but they do want $1500 for the Monolith 5 OTOH...personally I'd just get the 7ch model for a bit more, tho of course the stock issue.....

 

[Pogre]

I was thinking of that too, but it would exceed the OP's planned budget, unless it came on sale.

Yeah now that the multi-amp discount is gone on the Outlaws, but they do want $1500 for the Monolith 5 OTOH...personally I'd just get the 7ch model for a bit more, tho of course the stock issue.....

Yeah, I hesitated because of cost too, but they're available now and I'll bet op could get away with amplifying just the front 3. I've not been recommending Emotiva lately and otherwise pickins' are pretty slim.

 

[BoredSysAdmin]

Curious, why the XTI if you don't need the extra dsp? Pretty much spec'd same as XLS I think. Altho would like to see measurements of the XTi but don't think I've run across any. What would be more "hi-fi" about the XTi?

SNR and Crosstalk both much improved. XLS is more of a DJ amp - good enough to be used as a sub amp

 

[lovinthehd]

SNR and Crosstalk both much improved. XLS is more of a DJ amp - good enough to be used as a sub amp

Using a 2502 right now on my mains, no issues, altho I use several 1500s on subs but used those on mains before, too (and the 2502 will go to a sub build eventually as I don't really need it on my mains, just putting it to use there for now). XTI is a fancier pro amp is all from what I see, maybe class AB instead of D, so a bit heavier and more heat to manage. SNR is spec'd at 100dB A-weighted for the XTi, 103 for the XLS (97 only for the 1002, the 1502 and above are the better spec)...both at same thd....crosstalk is spec'd 70 dB from 20hz to 1khz on the XTi and 85 dB on the XLS at 1 khz. I'd rather save the $ on the XLS myself. I doubt there's any audible difference....

 

[Sound Epistemology]

The Monolith amps are made by ATI, not AKM. AKM makes processing stuff like DACs.

did not know that. Thank you. Did you mean the outlaw 5000x?

 

[Sound Epistemology]

These Outlaw 2220 mono amps are legit great amps, tho 5 of them will cost a little more than the Mono 5. Could start with 3 of 'em for the front stage...

Model 2220

Mono? Mini? Micro? Magnificent? Whatever that M is, this is one UNREAL little single-channel amp. 200 Watts (conservatively!) into a 3-inch chassis with balanced input stage to offer Common Mode Rejection! MANUAL See Front Panel Huge See Rear Panel Huge

outlawaudio.com

Ya its a real shame that Outlaw scrapped the bundle price otherwise I would have already bought 5.

 

[Sound Epistemology]

Yeah now that the multi-amp discount is gone on the Outlaws, but they do want $1500 for the Monolith 5 OTOH...personally I'd just get the 7ch model for a bit more, tho of course the stock issue.....

I agree but unfortunately I have a 3k firm budget. $1500 is going to a Rythmik fv15hp when they are back in stock which leaves me ~$1500 for amplification.
I see these tonewinners showing up on forums but they are still such an unknown that Im not willing to be the test subject

 

[Sound Epistemology]

Yeah now that the multi-amp discount is gone on the Outlaws, but they do want $1500 for the Monolith 5 OTOH...personally I'd just get the 7ch model for a bit more, tho of course the stock issue.....

What is strange is the 7 channel Mono is still slated for 6/5 according to the website but who knows what it will say tomorrow

 

[BoredSysAdmin]

I agree but unfortunately I have a 3k firm budget. $1500 is going to a Rythmik fv15hp when they are back in stock which leaves me ~$1500 for amplification.
I see these tonewinners showing up on forums but they are still such an unknown that Im not willing to be the test subject

why not HSU's VTF-15H MK2 ? It's very similar in performance to FV15hp.

Data-Bass: Subwoofer Measurements

data-bass.com

Josh tested mk1, where mk2 from what I've heard is about 3db louder in most of the working band.

 

[lovinthehd]

I agree but unfortunately I have a 3k firm budget. $1500 is going to a Rythmik fv15hp when they are back in stock which leaves me ~$1500 for amplification.
I see these tonewinners showing up on forums but they are still such an unknown that Im not willing to be the test subject

I just saw mention of a Tonewinner the other day, don't know much about them. Why the Rythmik particularly? For $1500 you could almost have dual Hsu VTF-3 Mk5s. Curious why a 5ch amp instead of 3 particularly?

 

[Sound Epistemology]

Using a 2502

So I am considering this option but I have always had a question about these amps. Is it true that no matter what the signal will be converted back to digital in the amp and then use the Crown internal DAC instead. If so, does that absolutely negate any benefit of having a high quality DAC upstream of the amp?