When you get down to the 2 ohm range, it's best to talk to the manufacturer and tell them what loudspeaker you are trying to drive. Specs don't tell the whole story and I would not put a lot of faith in them.
Best High Current amplifiers stable into low impedances
Seems like all I hear when reading Stereophile’s measurements when it comes to speakers: must be used with a High current amplifier stable at 2 Ohm. Most amplifiers rarely give specs related to 2 ohm loads. Most amplifiers are only stable into 8 and 4 ohm loads, and if they mention 2 ohm it seems they aren’t saying continuous, but peak, short term power.
With speakers becoming more complex and harder to drive, what are some high current amplifiers that have no problem with these 2 ohm or lower impedance speakers?
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I went through the 2 Ohm dance with my now sold Thiel CS3.7 speakers. I thought newer speakers were easier to drive. The amp I am likely going to get for my Livingroom is the KRELL KSA i400. It is 400 watts of Class A (depending on demand) at 8 Ohm. It doubles down to 800, and then 1600 watts. It is supposed to be able to double again to 3200 if your power source can provide the current. I do not think that 400 watts of Class A will double, nor half. I remember an interview with the designer where he said it stays at 400 watts of Class A when it is doubling. SoundStageNetwork.com | SoundStage.com - Talks I have the KRELL Dou 175XD that has similar tech as this new amp. I love the 175XD, which I use as a headphone amp (’ear speaker amp’). The CODA #16 also doubles into 8 - 4 - 2. It is a great sounding amp. |
On the used market, Innersound Electrostatic amplifier. Or Sanders or Coda. These amplifiers share a common design approach - numerous transistors that can dump gigantic amounts of current into any load. Here’s something I clipped from the enjoy the music review of the Innersound amp: The InnerSound Electrostatic Amplifier ("ESL amp") solves this problem by using a massive output stage. Each output transistor is capable of delivering 250 watts -- and there are eighteen of these per channel. As a result, it can deliver a staggering 135 amps of current with a combined power rating of 4,500 watts per channel! The output impedance of an amplifier must be lower than the impedance of the speaker, or current clipping will result. With so many output devices, the output impedance of the ESL amplifier is virtually zero. Current clipping simply is no longer an issue. This amp does not sound dry. It sounds beautiful. Like music. I’ve emphasized it here because I’ve owned one. A tremendous piece of gear. A tremendous value. The Sanders amplifiers are evolutions of this design and are extremely good value. Same with Coda. Mind-boggling approach. Totally cool. |
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