2. amps-preamps
  3. 157567-134126

From one experiment to the next...

...so, just finished a month with a class D amp (XTZ A2-300). Not bad, but after I relaxed and compared it to my Nuforce STA200, I found it lacked a certain juiciness, or fullness. I don’t find the Nuforce overly warm, but I’ve always like the amp for its full articulate bass and balance across the spectrum, good soundstage, very natural sound. It always drew me in. We talk about the musicality of equipment; the Nuforce has it, the XTZ presented music but I was less interested, less drawn in, less caught up in the synergy of the presentation, as it lacked some of this. Incidentally, the XTZ presents micro details. I felt I could detect the recording space in many CD’s I tested, but there was something pinched or compressed about the vocals in some recordings and the Nuforce developed singing voices with more fullness.

So, I’m pondering my speakers, rated at 98db efficiency, and operating at 4ohms and down to 3.1, which means I can run a 6 watt amp and achieve 104db. I’m not open to an amp that can heat a room. This was one of the standards employed in pursuing the XTZ - the low heat. I ponder tubes but they run hot and I keep hearing they are not great with (low) ohm loads.

So, what do you recommend? I have brought this up before, but I’m refining my insight into the challenge and have experimented a little, so now I’m wondering what might work well in my next experiment. It is possible to go back into the class D arena, but I want a totally realized musical presentation, if that makes sense: nothing pinched, nor thin; I want a very real and full vocal range, etc. etc. You know.

One that comes to mind is the Schiit Aegir, but I also hear it runs hot...
listening99
roxy54's avatar
roxy54
7,973 posts
 
I can say from long experience that if you were at all interested in tubes, a 300b single ended won't heat up the room. 
gestalt's avatar
gestalt
190 posts
 
I can say from long experience that if you were at all interested in tubes, a 300b single ended won't heat up the room.

Agree.
rhljazz
1,253 posts
 
Push/pull el84 tube amps don’t create much heat.  You don’t need much power with your speakers.  10-15 watts is about average for this type of amp.  Manley made some really good mono amps.  An integrated such as Leben should work.  EL84 tubes are inexpensive, 15.00 ea or thereabouts.
soix
9,456 posts
 
Budget?
listening99 OP
172 posts
 
Ok, so here's where things are... I'm about six days into a Schiit Aegir. It's a great amp, without question. But, oddly enough, it's sound signature is almost identical to my Nuforce STA200. It might have a hair more bass; frankly, my wife and I have not been able to pinpoint any clear differences...

The Aegir runs MUCH hotter than the Nuforce, owing to its class A bias. I think I may have been overly sensitive to the Nuforce heating up when playing loud. I'm also realizing that I prefer to listen with peaks absolutely no higher than about 85db, because otherwise my ears start to feel like they are filling with cotton. So, I can certainly live with the Nuforce; there's no need to drop $900 for what seems to be the exact same sound, running hotter.

Nevertheless, I don't think I'm getting nearly what I can from my speakers, my three-month-old Moabs. So... I'm looking seriously at Decware, at the Zen Torii Jr. Anyone here have experience with that amplifier? Also, I'm think about the Carver Crimson 275. I don't know a thing about the Carver amp, except praise from a few people. Apparently, it runs cool, which is attractive, but not the last word. It also has 75 watts per channel. However, I hear the Zen Torii sounds more like a 100 watt amp... I like the spirit of the Decware equipment, beautiful art pieces with lifetime warranty.

I really have the intuition that the Decware could be the answer to completing my system... Interestingly, they offer and seem to recommend making it run without a pre-amp, although you could add one, if needed, perhaps for some extra volume... 

Any thoughts on these options, or others I should be taking seriously? Raven audio is taking advance orders, but I'm not really as excited about that route as what I'm seeing in the Zen Torii... 

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