You want the TRUTH from those Wilson Alexia's, maybe you can't handle the TRUTH



56 bi-polar outputs, current till the cows come home, massive supply, multiple small power supply caps for fast release, 2000w into 2ohms that’s 2hp!!!!!

http://www.stereophile.com/content/sae-2hp-d-power-amplifier#DY4MYZKcUUSS8LeR.97

Cheers George
128x128georgehifi
I wonder is there any room left to squeeze a supercharger? Sure I get it, but since the energy it makes wasn’t designed to turn gears putting a horsepower rating on an amplifier seems a bit too gimmicky to me.
Try driving a pair of Wilson Alexia’s < .9ohm or XLF’s and others, then you’ll need something like this, to get the best out of them.
And lets face it, if you buy these >$50k speakers you want to hear the TRUTH and not compromise them with weaker amps that can’t pump out that kind of current.

Cheers George
Be prepared to get your electrical service upgraded! 200 W panel just for your hifi; same for your video system! 3rd one for the rest of the house; did I forget the home office? Solar City eat your heart out!

@ivanj

Electrical panels are rated by amps, not watts, but I get your point. :)

Fortunately most audio equipment is reasonably efficient at idle. Unless you plan to run those amps near peak power, I suspect most audiophiles will have no trouble at all even in an apartment.

I've gone to Class D and am just fine there thank you. The latest generation of high efficiency amps hits my sweet spot of power, affordability, sound quality and live-ability (i.e. small, easy to hide) but I do wish they had super cool output meters. :)

Best,


Erik
You know, I just thought of something.  SAE gained fame around the time of Halfer and before Sumo, sort of. I mean, these brands were all around and had some sort of a following.  Amber and Adcom I believe were also gaining some fame too around the same period.

James Bonjiorno (1923-2013) worked first for SAE and later for Sumo, but the Sumo amps always sounded to my ears fuller, sweeter and more powerful than SAE and Hafler. I wonder if there was some shared design flaws and later, improvements? I understand Hafler in later amplifiers gained some intestinal fortitude.

Maybe power supply caps were getting better? It's just fun to think of these things.

Best,


Erik 
georgelofi OP1,739 postsTry driving a pair of Wilson Alexia’s < .9ohm or XLF’s and others, then you’ll need something like this, to get the best out of them.
And lets face it, if you buy these >$50k speakers you want to hear the TRUTH and not compromise them with weaker amps that can’t pump out that kind of current.

Cheers George


I understand. But its not the only big kid on the block.

Two Bryston 28 BSST3 mono blocks come in at less than the SAE at $19,200

The Bryston’s numbers are more impressive. I’ve never seen a Bryston bench sheet test at an amps published output ratings, always a percentage higher. Not a few watts, numbers worth mentioning.

I can’t say which would fair better with the Wilson’s, just putting it out there. I know which one(s) I would bet on though.