2. amps-preamps
  3. 138740-118236

Please tutor me on some integrated amp basics.

I’ve recently purchased Magico A3 speakers and a VPI Classic 2 SE turntable with an Ortofon Black 2M moving magnet cartridge. I have a Marantz SA 8005 CD/SACD player to play the few (maybe a hundred or so) CD’s in my possession.
I’ve mostly vinyl albums and no streaming sources. I’m next going to upgrade my old amp/preamp purchased back in the late 70’s with a new, probably integrated, one and am starting to do some research.

Here’s where I need some tutoring. A lot has changed since the seventies with the advent of digital technology. As well as I need to learn more about amplification components in the high end of audio technology. I keep running across terms I don’t understand. I’ll give you a list and if someone would be kind enough to explain these basics I’d be obliged.

For instance I was reading about the Hegel H360 integrated amp that Magico’s Alon Wolf recommended for their A3’s. The review mentioned they were a Class A/B amp, another person commented Class A’s were better, and a third person said he didn’t care for Class D amps. What do these classes signify? 

A second question is about DACs. I generally understand their purpose of the DAC, converting a digital to an analog signal. However my only digital device, the Marantz SA 8005 already has a DAC, ostensibly of good quality. The turntable ’s Ortofon cartridge would not need to play through a DAC, I presume. Would I bypass the CD’s players DAC if I purchase the higher quality Hegel H360 integrated amp?. Or could I find an equivalent integrated amp without an integral DAC?

On the other side of the equation I understand the turntable’s cartridge cannot play through the Hegel without first going through a phono stage. My old Phase Linear 4000 preamp you just plugged the turntables RCA cables into the back of the preamp and you were done. What’s that about? Do they make equivalent integrated amps to the Hegel H360 with integrated phono stages already in place, so I can just plug my turntable in as I’ve been able to do before. The amps don’t seem to be well integrated at all if you have to add a pricey phono stage to make them work, and end up having an extra DAC. That’s just me whining.

Third question is what are monoblocks, how are they used, and what are their advantages to a system? They were used at one of my speaker auditions.

I figured out the answer to what amplifier damping was myself, so I’m sparing you that one, but what does the term impedance mean? I keep coming across that.

Thank goodness I don’t have to figure out the cabling nightmare yet. Thanks for any help.

Mike
skyscraper
Post removed 
skyscraper OP
829 posts
 
Builder3, glad you had good luck with your used amp. I’d likely be the one with bad luck taking the same chance. I think my Dad’s many years of selling used cars taught me to stick with new, so you’re sure what you are getting. His used cars came with 90 Day Guarantees, or whenever you pulled out of the lot’s parking lot, whichever came first. Unlike his customers, he thought that was real funny. Even new equipment you can’t be sure about. I was shocked to find the Norwegian labelled Hegel I was about to spend $6000 on was manufactured in China, the home of poor quality everything.

Yysantabarbara, thanks for the link. I’ll check them out in short order.

Headphonedreams, same with your links. Thanks

Ieales, i will pay attention to thermal management and electrolytic capacitor quality. I’’ll have to learn how to do the latter though. I’d just emailed Hegel about the former a couple of days ago and got an incomplete response.

Auxinput, just when this was getting a little less confusing...

kosst_amojan. Thanks again.

Mike
auxinput
2,920 posts
 
Kosst thinks that his Pass Labs F5 amp is the greatest thing in the world. And for him, that may be true. He has also touted that his system with his Focal speakers can beat almost anything out there. That perception may have some truth in it, but there is also the element of system synergy. The Pass full "Class A" circuit will have a very neutral sound, but also warm and a very thick midrange/midbass. The Focal speakers tend to have a somewhat thin and hollow sounding midrange/midbass. The combination of these two things is an example of how the thin sounding Focal is compensating for the extra thick sounding midrange of the Pass (or vice-versa depending on how you look at it).
---
In looking at other amps, I just heard a set of mid level Focals with the new Classe Audio amplifiers. They are Class AB monoblocks and it definitely showed how the Focals were somewhat thin/hollow in the midrange and, therefore, seemed too bright because there was too much up top (in the high frequencies). That’s a Class AB amp. The Bryston amps (which are about the closest thing to Class B) would be a severely bad match with the Focal speakers (and a lot of other speakers as well).

----
The Pass Labs full "Class A" amps may not be a great match for every speaker or every listener. In this case, you’ll need to think about what speakers you have and what sources and then decide what kind of sound your ultimately after.
auxinput
2,920 posts
 
Sorry Kosst, but I have heard both FET and Bipolar devices and they definitely have different sounds. The FET usually has a more warm/fuzzy texture, but they can be relatively clear in some cases. The bipolar are ultimately cleaner sounding and have a completely different sound when biased into Class A.  Bipolar devices are sometimes chosen over FET because of the distortion characteristics of FET.
skyscraper OP
829 posts
 
Yysantabara, I checked out the new Mark Levinson’s amp link you provided. they sounded perfect until I got to the price, a couple thousand or so out of my already inflated price range or $5000 to $6000. I might have jumped up another $1000 for the integral mm/mc phono stage, but can’t responsibly go to $8500 for that. Close but no cookie. Thank you much though.

Mkke


More to discover