Need Amplifier Recommendation

[Usenet-News]

I am looking for an amplifier (that can work without a preamp) that is
simple and perferablly compact with the following specs:

At least one stereo channel to drive two 100 watt 8 ohm speakers
Single volume control for stereo channel (not a separate volume control for
L/R channels)
Headphone jack would be a plus

Parasound's Zamp v.3 (http://www.parasound.com/zcustom/zampv3.php) is close
except that it only drives 45Wx2 and does not have a single volume control
(it has separate volume controls -- one for L channel and one for R
channel). But it is compact and has the headphone jack.

I've looked into Audiosource's amps, but they need a pre-amp, have no
headphone jacks and also separate volume control into L/R channel
configurations.

Currenty I am using an Onkyo TX-8511, but it is a full fledge stereo
receiver and has much more than I need -- several inputs, a tuner, etc. I
would love to shrink this down in size and stick with the basics above.

Does anyone have any suggestions?

*thanks*

Dave

[Don Pearce]

Usenet-News wrote:
> I am looking for an amplifier (that can work without a preamp) that is
> simple and perferablly compact with the following specs:
>
> At least one stereo channel to drive two 100 watt 8 ohm speakers
> Single volume control for stereo channel (not a separate volume control
> for L/R channels)
> Headphone jack would be a plus
>
> Parasound's Zamp v.3 (http://www.parasound.com/zcustom/zampv3.php) is
> close except that it only drives 45Wx2 and does not have a single volume
> control (it has separate volume controls -- one for L channel and one
> for R channel). But it is compact and has the headphone jack.
>
> I've looked into Audiosource's amps, but they need a pre-amp, have no
> headphone jacks and also separate volume control into L/R channel
> configurations.
>
> Currenty I am using an Onkyo TX-8511, but it is a full fledge stereo
> receiver and has much more than I need -- several inputs, a tuner, etc.
> I would love to shrink this down in size and stick with the basics above.
>
> Does anyone have any suggestions?
>
> *thanks*
>
> Dave

The Audiosource one you suggest needs a pre-amp - the Zpre 2. Have a
look in Richer Sounds to see what they have - I'm betting they can help
you for not a lot of money. A quick look shows they have the Cambridge
Azur 840A, which would serve nicely.

Don't be too hung up on the power level - even 50W is only 3dB down,
and that comes in the barely audible range over the several minutes it
would take you to swap amplifiers.

d

[Usenet-News]

> The Audiosource one you suggest needs a pre-amp - the Zpre 2. Have a look
> in Richer Sounds to see what they have - I'm betting they can help you for
> not a lot of money. A quick look shows they have the Cambridge Azur 840A,
> which would serve nicely.

The Azur is out of my price range, but it is a nice unit. They did have one
that looked like it would be perfect -- the Tangent Amp 100, but it looks
like it is UK only (and I'm in the US). The Cambridge Audio A5 looks good
too (although no headphone jack). But, again... seems to be UK only. :(
So I need to keep looking.

> Don't be too hung up on the power level - even 50W is only 3dB down, and
> that comes in the barely audible range over the several minutes it would
> take you to swap amplifiers.

Thanks for the counsel--I would have never looked at the Tangent above,
otherwise.

What I actually have are four 4 ohm speakers, each pair hooked up in series
(for 8 ohm load). Each speaker is 50W, which is why I was figuring that my
minimum amp would be 100W per channel at 8 ohms.

Does that sound correct?

Dave

[[email protected]]

On Aug 29, 2:09 pm, "Usenet-News" > wrote:
> What I actually have are four 4 ohm speakers, each pair hooked up in series
> (for 8 ohm load). Each speaker is 50W, which is why I was figuring that my
> minimum amp would be 100W per channel at 8 ohms.
>
> Does that sound correct?

No, it doesn't, for a variety of reasons.

The "50W" figure you're quoting for each speaker is, most often,
a vague and undependable rating of maximum power for the
speaker based often more on marketing than technical
considerations. Just because you have a speaker "rated"
for 50 watts does not mean that speaker NEEDS 50 watts.
Only that the manufacturer is saying that the speaker shouldn't
be subjected to MORE than 50 watts.

So, an alternate view is that since each speaker has a power
rating of 50 watts, 100 watts is probably a reasonable
MAXIMUM, not minimum, for your application.

More generally, you're simply going to be hard pressed to
hear any substantive difference between a 50 watt and a
100 watt amplifier. Worrying about such a difference is
boarding on obsessive and utterly unnecessary.

Pick anything between 25 and 100 watts or so, and it's
very likely you'll be satisfied with your power requirements.

That means the more important consideration for you
is feature set.

[Eeyore]

Usenet-News wrote:

> I am looking for an amplifier (that can work without a preamp) that is
> simple and perferablly compact with the following specs:
>
> At least one stereo channel to drive two 100 watt 8 ohm speakers

How loud it goes depends not just on the watts but the sensitivity of the
speakers.

Therefore a watts requirement is generally quite useless unless you already
have suitable speakers that'll take the power and know how many more dB you
want.

Remember, doubling the watts only increases the SPL by 3dB which is not a lot.
Just a bit more than barely audible.

To subjectively 'double' the SPL you need TEN times the power.

This is why I work with the like of sound rigs of 5kW or so capacity and 102dB
sensitivity (@1W @ 1m).

Graham

[Eeyore]

Usenet-News wrote:

> > The Audiosource one you suggest needs a pre-amp - the Zpre 2. Have a look
> > in Richer Sounds to see what they have - I'm betting they can help you for
> > not a lot of money. A quick look shows they have the Cambridge Azur 840A,
> > which would serve nicely.
>
> The Azur is out of my price range

So what IS your price range ?

Why wait to tell us such important factors ?

Graham

[Usenet-News]

> So what IS your price range ?
>
> Why wait to tell us such important factors ?

An oversight... I am looking for a unit up to $350 US ($190 GBP)

The Cambridge Audio Azur 340A started to look perfect until I found that the
speakers are cut off when headphones are inserted (and I would like both
speakers+headphones). As I wrote early, though, I can probably live
without the headphones, but an amp that would do both would be ideal.

Dave

[Eeyore]

Usenet-News wrote:

> > So what IS your price range ?
> >
> > Why wait to tell us such important factors ?
>
> An oversight... I am looking for a unit up to $350 US ($190 GBP)
>
> The Cambridge Audio Azur 340A started to look perfect until I found that the
> speakers are cut off when headphones are inserted (and I would like both
> speakers+headphones).

I'm utterly baffled as to why you would want both simultaneously.


> As I wrote early, though, I can probably live
> without the headphones, but an amp that would do both would be ideal.

Well your budget isn't over-generous so down to Richer Sounds to see what's on
offer I say. Btw, I once bought a really cheap Sherwood from them just because I
needed something with a reasonable number of input selectors. I ran some tests
on it with the company Audio Precision System One and it was surprisingly good !

http://archive.ap.com/index.php?page=products&id=1000000857


Graham

[[email protected]]

I have never used them myself, but when you said small, these are the
amps that came to mind.

http://www.stewartaudio.com/

Norm

[Sonnova]

On Wed, 10 Sep 2008 17:08:24 -0700, wrote
(in article
>):

> I have never used them myself, but when you said small, these are the
> amps that came to mind.
>
> http://www.stewartaudio.com/
>
> Norm

Don't know your requirements, of course, but before making a decision, take a
look at the amplifiers Behringer at:

http://www.behringer.com/A500/index.cfm?lang=ENG

http://www.behringer.com/EP1500/index.cfm?lang=ENG

http://www.behringer.com/EP2500/index.cfm?lang=ENG


I have the A500 and at $200 truly believe that it's a bargain almost too good
to be true. It performs flawlessly.

If the others are as good, then at their price points they too are
unbelievable bargains.

[Eeyore]

Sonnova wrote:

> wrote
>
> > I have never used them myself, but when you said small, these are the
> > amps that came to mind.
> >
> > http://www.stewartaudio.com/
> >
> > Norm
>
> Don't know your requirements, of course, but before making a decision, take a
> look at the amplifiers Behringer at:
>
> http://www.behringer.com/A500/index.cfm?lang=ENG
>
> http://www.behringer.com/EP1500/index.cfm?lang=ENG
>
> http://www.behringer.com/EP2500/index.cfm?lang=ENG
>
> I have the A500 and at $200 truly believe that it's a bargain almost too good
> to be true. It performs flawlessly.
>
> If the others are as good, then at their price points they too are
> unbelievable bargains.

The EPs are sound reinforcement amps and have noisy fans.

Graham