2. amps-preamps
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Again the topic of weight of amps

I see this has been covered but not recently.
I have had a few amps in the 100+ pound range.
I liked them enormously but I am in a small space and am tired of dealing with these behemoths when I need to move them around and the real estate they take up. They were all wonderful in their way and I would like to have kept them but for their immobility. But can one find true love after such heavy weights with a feather weight 55 pounder?
Have technological advances in 2019 made such a thing possible? I had a pass 350.8 which I loved but you can't keep a Stonehenge rock in an apartment living room.

roxy1927
tlinkie
107 posts
 
Count me as skeptical of the notion that damping factors much over 200 are meaningful much less desirable. As with so many other things there are diminishing returns at best. In some ways, as hinted above, the yield curve reverses and as such I'm skeptical for two different reasons.
atmasphere's avatar
atmasphere
11,784 posts
 
Do you think I'm correct in assuming the high powered 1,200 watt class D monos with damping factors >1,000, that power my Magnepan 2.7QR main speakers, could be beneficial on the leading edges of bass notes and, combined with the more natural bass note decays reproduced by the Swarm/class AB amp, provide the best of both worlds with a more balanced and natural overall bass presentation?
    I guess since it sounds like that to me, that's what's important and I answered my own question. But I just wanted to know if this makes sense to you or if I'm just fooling myself.
@noble100  If you wanted to point to a weakness of class D amps- this is very likely it. To get better specs, class D amps benefit from faster switching output transistors. But these output devices have a much lower ON resistance (GaNs are typically 60milliohms or less) resulting in an insanely low output impedance- and so higher and higher damping factors as the technology evolves. I'm very unconvinced that ultra high damping factors are good for any loudspeaker. I'm sure that using the Swarm does help you though- as getting bass off of the Maggies will reduce Doppler Effect distortion.


noble100's avatar
noble100
2,419 posts
 
Hello atmosphere,

     Running my Maggies solely with a pair of 1,200 watt class D amps and damping factors over 1,000 produces a tautness in their bass, down to their 35 Hz limit, that I have ever experienced with any other amp I've used, mainly high powered class AB amps. The taut bass actually sounds good but it is too tight for natural.  I now better understand the effects of ultra high damping factors on speakers and agree with you that it's best avoided.


Thanks for your help,
          Tim
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