Using two channel amps as monos?

Dob-----Are you by any chance an attorney? I noticed you didn't answer the question I posed: Have you actually done a comparison listening to the amps running in both modes? It would be interesting to hear from someone who has done this.

With the Sunfires, to run in mono-strapped mode, you need a single-ended cable input. My cables are balanced, so I can't do this, and I just run one channel through each amp. Hence, my interest in hearing from anyone who has actually done a comparison like this.

Hello Jimjoyce,

Double no - I am not attorney and I did not do this experiment. I can't comprehend that someone having two channels which he/she/it can use "free of charge" in fully balanced mode will choose volunterely to use only one channel.

Its almost like experiment: to run on one leg or to run using both legs...well,almost. - we all did this experiment.

All The Best
Rafael

Spoken like a true audiophile. It must be nice having as intuitive a sense of electronics as you have of your own body! Why experiment indeed!

I did this experiment many years ago for a relatively short time with two Parasound 750 stereo amps powering Paradigm Studio 100s V1, using only one channel of each amp for each speaker. It was OK but then I upgaded to a Bryston 4BST stereo amp and things got noticeably better. So it will work but it depends on the power and budget. My sense is that the price for one high quality stereo amp will provide better results than two amps added together cost the same.

As I mentioned in my earlier post, I have been using two stereo amps as mono amps with excellent results. Perhaps a better way is to look at this would be to imagine 2 cars each with an available 300HP. One weighs 3000lbs, the other 1500lbs. Everything else being the same, which car will go faster? One of my reasons for doing this "experiment" was based on that sort of logic. The stereo amps existing power supply now sees only 1/2 of it's original specified load.

Note, I've only run single ended as balanced is not an option with the Forte units, wish it was.

So why do I run two stereo amps like this in the first place??? Well because I bought the first Forte amp and really enjoyed it! Since having hard to drive electrostatic speakers, I thought I would get another unit and have them bridged. Looked for and found a "deal" on E-Bay, but got jacked by the seller, one channel was toasted, guess he forgot to put that in the description?

Ok, what to do? Well, I was looking at two amps and three working channels or two amps and two channels and a spare amp module... or virtual monoblocks!