A few months ago I was in a music shop and stumbled by chance across an open box Tapco J2500 Pro amp. Since this was the same amp I'm already using with my Mal-X, I asked how much it cost and they said they had "NO CLUE, make me an offer" and so I did
and for around $270 I was out of there with a 2500 watt amplifier to use with my second sub. Unfortunately I couldn't source a second maelstrom driver after the well known issues and discontinuation. I'll still figure something out.
Anyways the amp I had grabbed was just sitting around. This is a class H (AB plus switching voltage rails at high drive levels) amp spec'd at 750W into 4 ohm stereo by musician's friend... dangerous overkill for main speakers
so that's exactly what I decided to do.
Since this is a pro amp, it came equiped not only with heavy heatsinking, but dual 12V fans. Now with my sub amp, which is bridged into a 4 ohm load (essentially stereo 2ohm) and expected to handle LFE channel peaks around 115db, I installed a pair of Noctua NF-R8 fans to keep fan noise low. These have a fan noise at about 17db(a) - it's audible if you listen for it, otherwise it gets drained out in other low level noises including Laptop fan, PS3 fan, nearby freezer hum, and cars and trucks driving on the highway about a quarter mile from my house.
But for this amp, I figured, "since the 2nd sub is a no-go, i'll hook it up to the mains. it'll be seeing a nominal 6 ohm stereo load at dynamic in-home listening levels" and used the fanspeed attenuation resistors that came with the noctuas. The one at the back is at 10db(A) and the one at the front only 7db(A). at the listening position they are inaudible even if you try.
I'm not one to wax poetic about electronics so I'll save you the B.S. - this does in fact maybe sound better than my marantz amp at low levels. Not night and day, and maybe it's in fact good ol' placebo effect, but I definitely think there's a big more "distinction" between instruments compared to the receiver amps. Yes, there`s maybe some details I haven`t heard before. Nothing conclusive, but I`m liking what I hear. No "harsh pro audio sound" or anything like that - all fine and smooth at any listening level. it's not some amp made only for playing loud and low - don't be fooled by its output capability, this thing is wicked..
When I put my ear to my speakers, I did hear noise that wasn't there before. Only if you're within 4 inches of the speaker. Meh. Pisses me off but...
...I`ve got enough power to seriously damage my speakers. It`s so scary to turn the volume up.
Bass may or may not have more subjective slam with all the extra unclipped power, but i'm not about to find out today... It would wake someone in the neighborhood up from their nap, and probably still be nulled out my stupid room acoustics.
The best part? The amp is barely warm despite going from dual 5200cfm fans to around 1500-2000 cfm, and i've been running for a while now.
This thing could probably drive them B&W nautilus ...for less than $300
- I wish I had taken pics of the internals while I was in there.
