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Class D or Hybrid Amp for Fritz Rev 7 speakers

I am a long-time member but very seldom post. However, I value the expertise here as I have not bought a lot of audio equipment in my day. My goal in 2014 is to upgrade my power amp to hopefully get more detail, a better midrange, and better soundstage. After upgrading the amp, my plan is to upgrade the pre-amp in 2015.

I had some great recommendations on potential tube amps but when I started reading the manuals, I realized that I don’t have the rack space to suit a higher powered tube amp. It seems like there is a lot of discussion here on Class D so I thought I would ask for comments/help.

My current system consists of MacMini/Rega DAC/Acurus RL11 preamp/Acurus A250 power amp/Fritz Rev 7 speakers. The Rev 7s are 4 ohm, 89 db sensitivity. I plan to keep these for a long time so want an amp to match. The Acurus equipment was modded a couple years ago.

My budget is approximately $2K used or new. As of now, my plan is to try a hybrid tube amp (Rogue or Audio by Van Alstine) or Class D amp. If I don’t get one of the hybrids, I would be intrigued by Class D amps such as Channel Islands, W4S, and Bel Canto.

One criteria is that they would have to be compatible with a tube pre-amp as I wan tto try tubes somewhere in my system. In 2015, I plan to upgrade the pre-amp. I have not heard Class D or tubes extensively so I don’t have a strong inclination. However, it seems that I could put together a nice combination using a class D or hybrid with a tube preamp.

Given my budget and system, are there any obvious combinations that you would recommend? Thanks in advance for any comments.
sruffle
sruffle OP
57 posts
 
Thanks for the comments. On paper, a Class D power amp and tube preamp makes a lot of sense. I love the idea of building one but am not sure about the time commitment and would also be learning to solder on YouTube!
djverne
77 posts
 
This past fall I owned a pair of Fritz Carbon 7's. Great speaker with large sound stage and smooth sound, but too big for my living room. I paired them with a few different amps,the Nad 356 BEE, Virtue Sensation, and the W4S mINT from Wyred for Sound. Even though Fritz has demoed his speakers with the W4S I did not think the amp paired well. The midrange sounded hard and the highs had a weird metallic distortion. I think the Hypex Ncore modules would be a better option.
sruffle OP
57 posts
 
Thanks for the comments on your experience with W4S and the Carbon 7s. This is very helpful. I am sure that the W4S stuff is very good but I have heard the same comments in many different places about the ICE modules.

Right now, I am leaning strongly to the Channel Islands amps or the Rogue hybrids - they are both using Hypex modules.
rx8man's avatar
rx8man
1,481 posts
 
NuForce Ref 9 monos with a TRL preamp, awesome combo.
strateahed
301 posts
 
Sruffle, I don't have any direct experience with Rogue; but I've had the following in my system: Nuforce, Bel Canto, Wyred4sound, Channel Island, and Class D Audio. IMHO Nuforce was the best and slightly better than Channel Island, but cost twice as much. The CI D-200's are still in service in my system.

That said, given your current situation, you could get Channel Island D-100 at your budget ($1,800 new) or try to find some used D-200's. BTW, CI Audio amps are Hypex UcD based, versus Ncore 400 amplifier modules. The Ncores are said to be superior. I have spoken with CI Audio owner Dusty Vawter, who may come out with Ncore based amps at some point. They will likely start at $12K plus ... in the same class as the Merrill Veritas and other OEM products based on Hypex higher end modules.

If you're not inclined to take the Ncore 400 DIY route (don't blame you there), there is an outfit that will do the build for you at cost of $155. You purchase the amp modules and power supplies direct from Hypex Netherlands. Cost should be about $1,500 USD - depending on FX rate. Amp enclosures, including all connectors, can be sourced from China ($175 total). So you could have a set of mono's for under $2,000 ... out the door. FWIW, I have already started that process. If interested send me a PM and I'll give you all the details.

Finally, you could contact Fritz and asked what he thinks. I met him a couple of times at audio shows. Very friendly and approachable guy. Good luck and Happy Listening!
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