Looking for 200 watt Amp to drive Dynaudio Heritage speakers


Hi Everyone - 

BACKGROUND 


A few years ago, during Covid and after having worked for so many years without really treating myself to a sound system, I took the plunge and started purchasing audio equipment. Unfortunately, I was a terribly uninformed audio buyer and dove in with some purchases that were not terribly well considered. Oh well. 

So here we are today... I have a pair of Dynaudio Heritage Special speakers that I was considering selling.

The Dynaudio Heritage Special speakers require power to open up. Driven at 100 watts, they sound a little anemic and the treble dominates at lower levels. So they ended up in the closet for the last year with plans to sell them. In retrospect, the dealer I purchased them suggested a lower wattage amp than was advisable. 

For my primary system, I'm now running QLN Prestige Three speakers with a Conrad Johnson Classic 120 EL34 amp, LTA Microzotl preamp, Merason DAC1 and Innuos Zenith. The sound of this system is wonderful - ethereal, nuanced, great soundstage and imaging. Very relaxing combo. 

I'm thinking of cycling the Dynaudio into circulation for a few months a year to change things up. I'm looking for a 200 Watt Solid State Amp. But here's the thing, I'm getting older and lugging heavy things around - especially when stairs are part of the equation - is terribly unappealing. 50-55 pounds is pretty much my limit right now.  

I had some Pass Labs amps in for home demos and the thing was a back breaker. I think it was 80 pounds or so. My days of pseudo body building are over... so lugging that thing up and down stairs is something I NEVER want to do again. 

QUESTION FOR THE FORUM 

Can anyone suggest a reasonably priced solid state 200 watt SS amp - no more than 50-55 pounds - that I can use to enjoy these Dynaudio Heritage Speakers? Class AB or Class D, obviously. For weight considerations, I'm really open to a Class D amp, assuming it sounds good. 

Budget is $5K or under - new or used. 

In terms of what I'm looking for - and given my weight requirements - I'd say the primary thing I'm looking to avoid is overt brightness. Otherwise, I'm pretty open to what suggestions the forum might have. Thanks in advance! 
 

128x128bluethinker

200W into 8 ohms. 100 amperes peak per channel. 45 lbs

@som FWIW Dept.:

The 100A has nothing to do with the output power just so you know. That’s probably the current that flows when the power supply is shorted for 10ms. I guarantee that if 100A flowed through the output section it would be permanently damaged.

The math tells you what is up. Power is mathematically related to speaker impedance and current:

P = R x Current squared

(R is the speaker resistance)

So if we give the amp the benefit of the doubt that it can double power as impedance is halved, and so use a 1 Ohm load, the current squared is then equal to the power. That’s 100 squared or 10,000 Watts. That doesn’t ’square’ with 200 Watts into 8 Ohms if you see what I did there. If it can double power right to 1 Ohm it would be 1600 Watts- to my knowledge no-one makes a 10,000 Watt amp that might be considered hifi.

If we use that current rating as a short circuit value (essentially a measure of how much capacity is available in the power supplies) then this makes more sense. We make a tube amp that has 80Amps available by that measure (the MA-2).

@atmasphere Thanks. that definitely makes more sense as to how they got those numbers. Good old marketing department hard at work again

I would recommend the Kinki Studios EX-M1 amp 265 watts. I had one, and installed the Sparkos OP amp kit. Brought is very close to a class A amp. I had it paired with a set of Special 40 speakers, and then a set of Capriccio Continuo ad monitor 311 speakers. They are a more musical speaker than the special 40. I sold the Kinki because I got a smoking deal on a Sugden IA-4 integrated from my dealer. But the Kinki Amp and the S40's were a pretty decent pairing. 

Search out a clean preowned Classe Delta CA-2300... end search, you have arrived. Perfect amp for your Dynaudio speaks! 

Benchmark ABH2? Yes, only 100 watts but

small footprint, lightweight, cool running,

exceptionally clean sounding and ultra quiet. Strap

two together at 360 watts for under $5K the

pair used.