2. amps-preamps
  3. 131712-103828

Picking an amplifier

I have the following speakers:
NHT 2.1 Front LR 200W @ 6ohms
NHT AC1 Center 150W @ 8 ohms
NHT SW2 Subwoofer 200W @ 8 ohms
The rear speakers are inconsequential (and boxed up) they might come out to play when I move to bigger digs.
I’ve been using NHTs 214s and 216s, (think lightbulbs) but the market is drying up. I remain unconvinced they are worth the shipping & costs to repair.
My (current) short list of replacement amps:
Outlaw Audio model 770 7 (7 channels)
Bryston 9B ST (5 channels) (2 years left on warranty)
Parasound 5125 (5 channels)
The budget is $1000, I have located sources for all three at or below $1000.
Any/all discussion of suitability, repair outlook, and peanut shells welcome. From a listening perspective, I've been fine with the NADs, but am priced out of the newer models. Nuts, I might even repair the NADs if I find the right person with the skills & tools.

shalmaneser
shalmaneser OP
62 posts
 
2psyop: It means you like your sex hot, your skulduggery and murder barbaric, and your courts liberal. Don’t know what to make of Vikings - don’t follow it. Does your mate wear armor & horns?

I’m beginning to see a theme in audiophiles: Jazz is about the tonality and fidelity - individually well played notes. Give them a pitch perfect voice, a couple of stringed instruments noodling along on their own, finishing together and an audiophile will follow you anywhere. I think seeing a live competitive marching band (Shadow Company forever!) would explode heads.

http://www.dci.org/
auxinput
2,920 posts
 

That is not the Xonar card I was recommending.  The Xonar "DS" model is a 7.1 audio gaming card.  It does have an spdif output, but you will have to do a mod to wire it into an RCA output, like this:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v7CLneUAnRw

By the way, this guy is a total amateur with regards to soldering.  I'm cringing just watching him do those solder points! ack.  The "DS" model does not have the two crystal clocks for the proper audio sampling right timing. It can be used, but the Xonar Essence "ST" model is highly superior.

It does not look like there are any Xonar Essence "ST" cards on ebay right now, but they do come up for sale fairly often (there have been 3 sold in the last month).

There are some "STX" PCIE cards available right now on ebay, such as this one:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/ASUS-Xonar-Essence-STX-/253196117652?epid=77162604&hash=item3af3aa2694:g:rokAAOSw6HJZ2RY-

---

Take a look at the details on this page:

https://www.asus.com/Sound-Cards/Essence_STX_II_71/

This is the newest version of the card, the "STX II".  It appears that it uses TCXO clocks, which are highly superior to the normal crystal clocks in the older ST/STX versions.  But it's a new product and it's going for about $250, such as this:

https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16829132072&cm_re=sound_card-_-29-132-072-_-Product

Hope all this info helps.

auxinput
2,920 posts
 
by the way, that NCR division directory story was totally funny!
Ag insider logo xs@2x
knownothing
1,579 posts
 
Shalmaeser, I would try this before dropping big $ on an optical cable.  I think the optical converters on both sides usually don't merit the added expense of a fancy optical cable compared with coax cables.  This inexpensive cable is all glass and works very well in my experience, better than much more expensive synthetic fiber cables.

http://www.uniqueproductsonline.com/gltodiopca.html
shalmaneser OP
62 posts
 
@knownothing Thanks for the link. I never did buy into the super connector concept at any level, even in the copper wire days - and my research into audio fibre optics confirmed that. There are minimums of fit, finish, and conductors required by communication standards. However that doesn't mean manufactures haven't been reading their P.T. Barnum: There's a sucker born every minute.
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