I went from class D to the Simaudio Moon 330A. Excellent amp, beautiful, a little more power than the ABH2, perfect footprint for my space (like the ABH2), runs cool, and if lightly used, within your price range. Paired it with the BHK pre. Perfect!
Class A\B or D for summer months (vs Class A)
I have a Pass XA25 with a XP20 pre-amp with Forte iV speakers.I bounce back & forth between streaming local content & vinyl. Noise floor is low, sound quality is good through the volume range - Classic rock, hard rock, blues rock... Typical late 70's through 90's mainstream bangers.
Last summer I did notice the XA25 amp and my central air were battling it out a little in the listening room. The amp had no issues and runs warm regardless of season. I guess I notice it more when I'm looking to stay cool vs stay warm.
I have a Benchmark LA4 preamp that I used prior to the Pass XP20. I'm sure there's good synergy between the Benchmark LA4 and Benchmark AHB2 amp so the AHB2 has been on my 'investigate further' list.
I'm a little worried that it might be too thin or sterile vs the XP25. The AHB2 would certainly help reduce the heat.
Anyone been down a similar path with thoughts to share?
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@fatdaddy2 Here in Minnesota even a class A high powered triode amp has no dent on the room temperature... |
I recently made a screened in porch into a family room and we installed a Mitsubishi heat pump where the compressor is still outside and the cassette with the blower and filter is in the room. It’s kinda like a mini split, but separated into two sections. Anyway, there is a fan setting that is amazingly quiet! Seeing as I hope to be in this home for a while, so I bucked up for the superheat feature, which mostly worked last week when we got down to 4°. All the best. |
I had a Benchmark DAC back in 2007. I found Benchmark to be extremely clean and clear, but a bit sterile. Voices in real life never sounded as "clinical" as they did thru the Benchmark. So, the OP's concerns might be justified. I admired it, but it wouldn't be something I'd choose for listening to music, either. |
If you are used to class A, it is hard to be happy with anything else. teh marketing literature will always say that it is as good but my experience says otherwise. Most class A/B generate very little heat, yet they claim they operate in class A up to several watts. Draw your own conclusions. I've drawn mine. they they aren't positive. your 99dB speakers could operate with a very low wattage amp. I have driven my 98dB speakers with a 2.3 watt decware amp with no problems. I find that an SET tube amp generally puts very little heat into the room. I don't even have air conditioning. The exception is the 6C33C tube that runs hot. radiated heat goes at Texp4. The 6C33C runs about twice the temperature of a normal tube so that is 16 times the radiated heat. If you don't want to go tube, then there is the first watt which sould work fine. There are a lot of people that will tell you you need more power they fall into 2 categories. 1. Dealers who want to sell you a more powerful amp. they want to disqualify most all SET tube amps so they say "you need at least 20 watts" or something similar. 2. People who repeat what the dealer told them. Jerry |
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