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

@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. 

So George, have you actually heard the Amp? It's ok listing great specs. I've heard some Amps with great specs. that sound like a "crock".

I worked in a "high end" audio store in the late 70's. SAE earned the nomer Smokes And Explodes. I have several memories of their amps doing the rockets red glare when driven at all hard. Ahh, the good old days.