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Mono Blocks on a Budget, is it possible?

I’m really struggling with the direction to take my system. I have the following:

Legacy Classics speakers
Aurender N100H media player
Schiit Freya tube pre-amp
Schiit Yggdrasil DAC
Schiit Vidar x2 (in mono block mode)

I will be replacing speakers at some point but the rest of the system I love... except the Vidars. Before them, I had NAD 356BEE that was used for the amp. Very clean and I loved it, except it was only 80 Watts. I decided to upgrade to the Vidars. They cost twice as much From a good manufacturer like Schiit so they must be better right? Not really. They are more noisy than the NAD amp and I’m finding myself less in love with them that I though I would be. I was planning the Vidar purchase for about a year and now that I got them I don’t know which direction to take in replacing them. I want to get cleaner mono amps but don’t want to spend more than $3k MAX for both. The Vidars are 400 Watts into 8ohm, are there any options out there for me that are close to the Vidar specs? I’m open to used but mostly I want the amps to sound almost completely clean with practically no distortion. 
xerotrace
ricevs
1,543 posts
 

Viber6,

Mono and balanced are mucho superior to single ended stereo.  The trouble with the AVA stuff is that Frank is anti tweak.  So, if anyone modded his thang he might throw a tantrum......and could you get it serviced?  If anyone wants to send me a pair of the AVA mono SET 600s I would mod them for sure.  However, this is out of this guys price range.

stringreen's avatar
stringreen
6,494 posts
 
You're better off with a better stereo amp than lesser monoblox
mulveling's avatar
mulveling
2,064 posts
 
Agree that monoblocks at this price point don’t make too much sense, unless maybe if you go used - even then it’s a tough ask. I used to have Legacy Signature III speakers. Hated them with a very dry sounding Sunfire Signature amp (the 600 Watts/ch one) - it simply lacked any soul to the music, which is what I imagine your problem with the Vidars might be (noise aside). Huge, HUGE improvement with a Parasound A21 and later JC-1 monoblocks. In the right room and with a great (vinyl) source, that was a rocking setup. Though in my system at the time, the JC-1’s weren’t THAT much better than the A21 (and at 3x the cost). Both Parasound amps had just a touch of sweetness that the Legacys needed, to go along with incredible power and dynamics. I’d extrapolate that a new A21+ would easily exceed your needs and expectations.
viber6
2,454 posts
 
stringreen,
Totally agree that a SOTA stereo amp will beat monos with inferior technology for absolute performance.  Since ricevs is advocating for best sound per dollar, we are looking forward to stereo amps with Purifi modules.  The corresponding mono amps will probably be better, but is it worth spending double when another designer will implement the module in a better stereo design?  And what about more powerful modules sure to come from Purifi?  Get a stereo SOTA amp that is 90+% as good as the mono version for 50% of the price.
ricevs
1,543 posts
 
Some stereo amps are fully dual mono....separate power supplies for each channel.  The Nord stereo amps are dual mono....my stereo amps are dual mono.  In fact, I have an option to have two separate power cords on it so if you have a dedicated line for each channel you will get a little better sound.  I am sure there will be stereo amps with the Purifi modules that will be dual mono.  Mono amps do allow you do put the amps closer to the speakers....but other than that a stereo dual mono amp will sound the same.....assuming great separation of the channels inside the amp.
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