Solid-State Power Amp Adventures

Sorry just to be clear do you mean H20 or H2? I have the former; can't find any info on the latter.

 

Thanks!

 

No you do 200-lb squats (5*5) and trap-bar deadlifts (250 lb again 5*5).

 

Found this locally:
https://cincinnati.craigslist.org/ele/5975963852.html

and sensible mods: http://carvermk2.com/M50tmkII/m50tmkII.htm

 

Add $200 or more for shipping.

I love mine. I used to own the first production version but I bought the new version (with the R-cores) and it is a superior amp - stunning clarity. Its almost too much of a good thing in combination with the Yggdrasil. I have a couple of local buddies who sold expensive monos from Cary and Rogue in favor of the amp. I think its a good candidate to be used with a tube preamp too.

 

Was just testing some pi Dac's against Moby spdif, then to pi2design/Moby i2s at a friends house this weekend, he's borrowing my spare Adcom gear and speakers. A long time ago (freshmen in college) I went the adcom route: 555mkII, 5800, ended up on the 5802. 5802's a very different beast from the rest. Sold long ago, now have a baby 5002 as a spare kicking around. Adcom is not what it used to be, I think even the current GFP-815 preamp is a re-branded parasound something.

@Marvey Thanks for the A23 review, was a fun read!

Thought you guys might enjoy some pics from my testing this weekend (on a basic 2-channel system GFA5002/GFP715/Energy C2):

A/B'ing LPS/piA+/kali384/piano2.1 against Modi Multibit Spdif

Modi Multibit i2s (wow)

Anyway you guys brought up Adcom -- plan to still post more detail about this in the Modi i2s thread. Thanks!!

 

How would vintage Rotel power amps, such as the RB-981, compare to the vintage Sony's and Denon's?

 

Have you heard @tomchr 's take on the LM3886? It might be worth a look...

 

I built a pair. If you can live with 50W, then I'd go for it. Depending on power/current requirements these can be built with very modest heatsinking.

 

DOMS just means you did well. It happens less and less as you work those muscles more. Hardest part is just doing tough enough exercises to get to that point, and building up the stamina to not feel exhausted after a workout for the rest of the day (which takes 2-3 weeks even for young people like me).

Though, any soreness lasting longer than 3-4 days might be indicative of actual damage. I'd consult an expert if week+ duration of soreness continues being a common experience for you post workout. Could just be related to a general inflammatory condition causing slower recovery.

 

Glad you think so too. I also agree with the comment about the headamp world concept. Used, though, the Hegel H2 probably goes cheaper than some of the solid state options out there and (at least basing off of my H20) is miles better. That's why I've kept it for my HE6. It's not gimped at all next to a great tube amp. I don't understand why speaker manufacturers have figured this out (how to make great solid state amps), but headamp makers seem to still struggle with it.

 

Like the Scandinavian version of Simaudio, price-wise at least.

 

HP amp market has another 50 y to develop. There were no good sounding hp-s 50 years ago, but there probably were some great speakers.

 

there is plenty of high performing sub 1200 dollar amps. just have no where to look for. that's all. even in the pro world there is as well but, most likely nowadays gonna have to be used since most pro world went class d route. pro world i only do metal-die t-03's though when comes to class a/b power amps. metal-dies do better under stress and stay more linear as well. i wouldn't use a class a or a/b mosfet amp for high power applications cause lot people swear by the older mosfet ashly pro gear. yea, amps with metal-die's tend to cost more,especially if need repair but, in my opinion a lot more reliable and better sounding compared to other pro amps i dealt with.

for tubes favorite is a completely rebuilt mcintosh mc40 mono blocks cause they don't have that auto-former or ''tube'' sound to them or atleast my friend's mc's don't.

i never had experience with these amps mentioned above like hegal or vincent so, can't say anything on them. i just never liked emotiva or parasound. only select couple adcoms i liked before hand but, forgot the models of them. for low power powered amps with better than stellar performance is harman kardon hk775 mono blocks or the 770 dual-mono power amp. always liked them right next to their citation series. rotel is pretty over-rated in my opinion as well. i always see them go for high market prices all the time. there is tons of other amps i know of but, not top of my head since i just kinda woke up so, still waking up here.

 

@Marvey
This is getting exciting. Great stuff Marvey. Hope the Vincent 331 sounds better than the Godzilla Vincent you have now. I have never seen that one. Wonder if the Germans even designed the circuits in that one, or was it the Chinese engineers? And here I'm the one that recommended Vincent to you. Ouch

I wish I could lend you my NuPrime, but it's not in the cards with the testing I'm doing now. I will point out that Audio Advisor has a DEMO unit for $579.00 available. That's how I got mine. I think the actual power is more like 145 watts RMS/ch. Some have measured it for 145 and it gets something (don't have the manual in front of me) like 230 watts peak power/ch. The Hegal is still probably going to win, but you can't buy it, so it is disqualified. But it is a good reference unit. So we need a Crest 2 beater.

When I was younger.... it was either you went with the powerhouse NAD, Crown, Carver or you went all out and spent your life savings on Mark Levinson, Jeff Roland, Krell or some OTL Tube setup that was just creamy butter for your speakers. The latter brought something not tangible, we called it soundstage and imaging.

I didn't realize that the choices are still pretty much the same (lot of dough for good amplifiers) except for a few diamonds in the rough. Here's to hoping that Vidar crushes all.