Perreaux amplifier 3150B - your opinion sought

This specific Perreaux amp is very warm and full sounding with great bass "thump". Some would say that the amp lacks air and spaciousness and i would probably tend to agree as a general rule. If you like a warm and romantic sound with great bass attack, it would be right up your alley. It is also capable of pumping enough juice to drive just about any load that you throw at it.

I have tried quite a few different combo's with this amp in terms of speakers and speaker cables and the sound has remained consistent 98% of the time. I found that the YBA Diamond speaker cables actually did alter sonics i.e. opened the top end up but caused an overall lean sound. I would think that Nordost's might have a similar effect although i never ran them with this amp for some reason.

Given the above info, i use two of these amps to power multiple low impedance subwoofers in one system. They are great for bottom end impact and slam. Just keep in mind that they run QUITE hot and will need quite a bit of open space around them if you want to avoid cooking them to death.

As far as pricing goes, that may be a tad high but not by a whole bunch. Obviously, prices will vary with physical / electrical condition and you have to take that into account.

Here are some other points that you should be aware of. The binding posts on this amp are 100% bare metal. On top of that, the rail voltage on this amp are capable of swinging 180 volts peak to peak out of those binding posts at a very high level of current. As such, it has the potential to kill you or do major damage if the cables or speakers short out. If the output terminals were accidently shorted, the amp would probably be terminally wounded. Peter Perreaux basically believed in building amps like tanks and avoiding all but the most essential protection circuitry. As such, the output devices would probably be cooked and they are no longer available. In effect, this would leave you with a nice chassis and transformer and no source for amplification. Sean
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Sean,

That was very nice of you to go to such length to explain so many things in one go. THANK YOU VERY MUCH!

I am a bit concerned about the safety aspect that you touched, I am not very happy to hear that, as you know accidents to happen, but not the type you mention stirs my soul.

I will surely reconsider it and make a decision based on that very point you raised.

I am not too concerned about the cost part of it, slightly on the higher side is sometimes OK if one really likes the equipment.

Thank you again for the insight!

Sincerely,

As far as shorting the outputs goes. I accidently shorted out my output terrminals about a week ago. The rail fuses blew instantly but zero dammage to the amp or the mosfets.I put a peice of thick rubber between them now just to be safe. Sean's discription is rirght on the money. I also have two 2150b Perreaux amps and never have had any problems. The 3150 is a better amp though and IMHO thats saying alot as the 2150b's are very good also. The boards inside the 3150 are made of a better material. Basicly the 3150 builds on the earlier 2150b's and what they had learned from them. should be happy with it for a long time to come. And there are plenty of people that would be interested if you ever want to sell it. If you use heavy speaker cable as you should it with spades watch that they do not turn themselves and short out. It can be difficult to tightend the binding posts. You can't use a wrench on them as they are straight grooved aand kinda slippery. Also if you do over tightend them they may spin in the back pannel. I use WBT locking bananna connecters now and feel much better. Great amp and should give you many happy hours of good listening.