Used Marantz or New Emotiva/Dayton monoblock?

[roscoeiii]

Hi Folks

I need a cheap monoblock amp (no more than $150) to power my passive sub (an NHT SW2), and I'm trying to decide between a used Marantz MA-500 and a new Dayton APA150 (which appears to be identical or similar to the discontinued Emotiva BPA-1). The Marantz is 125W into 8 Ohms and the Dayton (when bridged) is 150W into 8 Ohms, but both seem powerful enough to power the sub. They are both about the same price, so it's just a matter of which will sound better. Is monoblock preferable to a bridged amp? Anyone listened to both? Have any thoughts that could help with the decision? Or any thoughts on other subs I should look into? Thanks.

 

[fmw]

Hi Folks

I need a cheap monoblock amp (no more than $150) to power my passive sub (an NHT SW2), and I'm trying to decide between a used Marantz MA-500 and a new Dayton APA150 (which appears to be identical or similar to the discontinued Emotiva BPA-1). The Marantz is 125W into 8 Ohms and the Dayton (when bridged) is 150W into 8 Ohms, but both seem powerful enough to power the sub. They are both about the same price, so it's just a matter of which will sound better. Is monoblock preferable to a bridged amp? Anyone listened to both? Have any thoughts that could help with the decision? Or any thoughts on other subs I should look into? Thanks.

I doubt there would be any difference in sound. In your shoes I would buy a pro audio stereo amp that is bridgeable and use that, assuming the SUB has an 8 ohm nominal impedance.

 

[roscoeiii]

Thanks for the advice fmw. Any specific bridgeable pro audio amp that you recommend? Why would you choose pro? New to the game and trying to figure out what might really help the sub sound better and what is overkill.

 

[Seth=L]

Thanks for the advice fmw. Any specific bridgeable pro audio amp that you recommend? Why would you choose pro? New to the game and trying to figure out what might really help the sub sound better and what is overkill.

Behringer A500.

What is the impedance of the subwoofer driver you wish to use? If it is 4 ohms I cannot recommend any amplifier, new or used, for under $150 as they would not be stable with a 4 ohm load or lower. The Behringer A500 would be fine with an 8 ohm subwoofer while bridged. If the woofer is 6 ohms or lower, I must recommend the Behringer EP2500, which will have more than enough power for any future subwoofer you might build, and it is stable into 4 ohms bridged, 2 ohms in two channel mode.

 

[fmw]

Thanks for the advice fmw. Any specific bridgeable pro audio amp that you recommend? Why would you choose pro? New to the game and trying to figure out what might really help the sub sound better and what is overkill.

To be brutally frank with you, it's pretty hard to hear distortion in the bass frequencies. There is no point in using a high end amp with a sub. We want all the fancy stuff for the mids and highs. The fact that the amp is flat at 20khz is completely immaterial to the application. With subs we aren't so concerned about the amp's frequency response as we are about the amp's ability to deliver current. Go to Ebay and find a nice used pro audio amp. Crown and QSC are a couple of respected names in the business and they make reliable gear. Most are bridgeable. I used QSC amps to drive my first home theater back in the 1990.s There are other competent brands, of course.

Make note of Seth's comment about bridging into a 4 ohm load. It takes a lot of current delivery capacity to handle that. If the sub is nominally 8 ohms you won't have a problem. If it is 4 ohms then you want to consider either not bridging or upgrading to a higher current model.