2. amps-preamps
  3. 135777-10185

Mono Blocks on a Budget, is it possible?

I’m really struggling with the direction to take my system. I have the following:

Legacy Classics speakers
Aurender N100H media player
Schiit Freya tube pre-amp
Schiit Yggdrasil DAC
Schiit Vidar x2 (in mono block mode)

I will be replacing speakers at some point but the rest of the system I love... except the Vidars. Before them, I had NAD 356BEE that was used for the amp. Very clean and I loved it, except it was only 80 Watts. I decided to upgrade to the Vidars. They cost twice as much From a good manufacturer like Schiit so they must be better right? Not really. They are more noisy than the NAD amp and I’m finding myself less in love with them that I though I would be. I was planning the Vidar purchase for about a year and now that I got them I don’t know which direction to take in replacing them. I want to get cleaner mono amps but don’t want to spend more than $3k MAX for both. The Vidars are 400 Watts into 8ohm, are there any options out there for me that are close to the Vidar specs? I’m open to used but mostly I want the amps to sound almost completely clean with practically no distortion. 
xerotrace
yogiboy's avatar
yogiboy
5,515 posts
 
The QS Mini-mite is not produced anymore. You can’t beat the Mid-monos if you are looking for tube amps!
dhawks3001
32 posts
 
PCconnexion has the Burson Timekeeper on sale for $845 each (original MSRP $2600 each). A/AB operation, 240 watts @ 8ohm, unbelievably clean & pure. I am using them with Dynaudio Special 40s and it's like having a personal concert in my listening room every night.
ostensible_constituency's avatar
ostensible_constituency
76 posts
 

You could get the Nord Acoustics Hypex nCore monoblocks for just a little over $2,000, they’ll do 400 watts into 8 ohms.


I see no reason to get "mono-blocks" if you're doing class D as literally the only difference is two power cords vs. one. I suppose that's another opportunity to waste $300-$1000 x 2 on expensive "directional" power cables, but it'd be a total waste. 

So-called dual-mono is the way to go with Class D - probably Class A and Class AB as well providing your power cable is sufficient to convey enough electrons and your power supplies are each capable of running and fitting in the same box with the two discrete L-R amplifiers. 


erik_squires
15,946 posts
 
I see no reason to get "mono-blocks" if you're doing class D as literally the only difference is two power cords vs. one. I suppose that's another opportunity to waste $300-$1000 x 2 on expensive "directional" power cables, but it'd be a total waste.

Depends on the amplifier. To be a true dual mono, requires splitting of the power supplies at the incoming AC power. If you share a power supply there is increased capacity for crosstalk, which is readily visible in crosstalk measurements (which I guess Stereophile no longer will do). Lots of the ICEpower modules for instance com in powered (AS) and non powered (A) so you can create whatever kind of amplifier you wish. 

Not all Class-D have dual power supplies, so therefore, yes, there is some difference possible. 

Can you hear it? I don't know. :) 

But it's more than just about power cords. 

Best,


E
skiroe's avatar
Ag insider logo xs@2x
skiroe
131 posts
 
As a poster mentioned earlier---  Emotiva's are not half bad.   I have a pair of XPA 100's  of which I think are out of production.  The pair cost me 600 if I recall brand new.    For perspective -- I also run at times a Pass XA30.5 among others .   They are very quiet and I actually bought them awhile back to pump up the   watts a bit because Roger Sanders insisted I needed more oomph for my Martin Logans of which I am not using at this time.  Matter of fact since I moved  3 weeks ago I have yet to set up a system and have been listening to FM over the internet via  a Grace internet radio.  yikes.    This public confession will hopefully help me get it together.   
More to discover