Best Bass Amp!


I’m in the process of rebuilding my pair of Kinergetics SW-900 linesource subwoofers that have six 10” drivers per side. I need input on choosing the best sounding(5hz-80hz), most powerful, hardest hitting & most important cool running(most likely Class-D)monoblock bass amplifiers. I prefer ‘always on’ or ‘auto turn on’ if possible. No built-in crossover needed since I’ll be using my Pre/Pro for that. They will be used for music(40%) & home theater(60%) to mate up to my Apogee Studio Grand & Dali Megaline speakers.

I want to stay under $2500 price new/used for the pair if possible.

My choices so far are:

Bel Canto Ref-1000

Wyred 4 Sound SX-1000

PS Audio M-700

Emerald Physics 200.2SE(in mono)

I have a Coda Continuum No. 8 Stereo Class-A amplifier I will be comparing to hear the difference with the digital amps listed above.

FYI- I’ll be replacing the stock Vifa woofers in the SW-900 with Dayton Audio Reference 10” woofers(model #RSS265HF-8).

Please help me select the best from the list above or add any other amps you can think of that would be better.

Thank you!


ptheo
Looking at the audiophile (i.e. Hypex) Class D amps, they generally max out at 1200 watts into 4 ohms (with a monoblock).  Also, stability into 2 ohms is not always clear.

If you're still looking for a big bass amp, one thought would be too look at Crown Amplifiers.  I had a Crown CTS2000 years ago.  It was their "Class I" type (which is very similar to Class D).  It did very well powering a subwoofer and was stable to 2 ohm loads.  With the current product line, they have a Crown DSI 6000, which is a stereo amp that provides 2100 watts per channel into 4 ohm, or 3000 watts per channel into 2 ohm loads.  You can select the input to use a "mono input configuration", which means you only need to use one of the XLR inputs.  Street price for this is just under $2k.  The downsides are - only XLR inputs, uses a fan cooled system which means you can hear the fan when amp is under high load, and there is no trigger auto-turn-on function (complete manual power).  Just an option.
Beyond that, the absolute best amp I have ever used for subwoofer duty is actually the Emotiva XPR-1 monoblock -- 1000 watts into 8 ohms, 1750 watts into 4 ohms.  However, it is a giant beast at 99 lbs and is also a Class AB amp, and does get quite warm when driving 4 ohm load for bass.  The thing pounds bass like a mother, however.
ptheo: "  I also stated Noble100 because of my room layout I cannot put subs on every wall in the room for DSA but you choose to ignore that.  Since I also will be using my system for home theater 60% of the time I want the extra capability low distortion woofers when needs for dinosaur stomps. I will be utilizing Dspeaker anti mode 2.0 different EQ curve music/home theater selection for that purpose. Curious, won’t I get much lower distortion at 20hz 115db with LSVA twelve 10” woofers vs DSA four 10” woofers?!"

Hello ptheo,
     I'm glad you're main concern is bass quality and not bass quantity. You are correct I did not notice you stated that you cannot put subs on every wall due to room layout. However, I did not choose to ignore this I just failed to notice this statement. It is also not required with a DBA to have a sub on every wall, just that the subs are well dispersed within the room.
     " Curious, won’t I get much lower distortion at 20hz 115db with LSVA twelve 10” woofers vs DSA four 10” woofers?!"

     Well, I believe you'll likely get a higher volume of deep bass at 20 Hz with twelve 10" woofers pointed at you than four dispersed throughout the room each facing away from you but I'm much less certain it would be lower distortion and higher quality deep bass.  

Best wishes,
   Tim      
Right. Anyone taking time to read up on the theory and practice of distributed bass (which if you haven't you should) will quickly come to realize that while the very best results come from distributing as widely as possible still the concept is so powerful that just about any four locations will work much better than just about anything else based on only one or two subs. 

Questions about distortion are all based on the party line we've been fed for generations, which is all based on a faulty understanding of the way low bass interacts with human hearing in normal rooms.

The OP is in a perfect situation to test this out. He's already got all the drivers he needs. All he needs to do is stick em in separate boxes, plop em down wherever he has room, and let the chips fall where they may.


QSC PLX 3602. Blast a hole through the ozone. Screw hearing. It's feeling that counts.

Thanks for the amp suggestions auxinput & mijostyn! I’m sure the Crown & QSC amps would be great for bass but for my application it won’t work since I want a quiet amp with no fan noise(Crown) and way too much power on both. No problem on the XLR connection since that is all I use in my system. Also, with their massive power it will be overkill since I will have so much room coupling due to the multiple drivers. I’m willing to bet my sensitivity will be over 95db SPL @1W. I do value quality over quantity first & foremost. Even thought I do more home theater now,  accurate music sound reproduction is much more important to me vs HT. If it turns out that Class-A/AB amps sound better than Class-D does on the subs, I will use the Class-A/AB amps Nov thru Apr & use the Class-D amps May thru Oct(since it gets so friggin’ hot here in Sacto).