AudiogoN Forums: Who is the KING of MONOS?

Who is the KING of MONOS?

WHO IS THE KING OF MONOS???

Mcintosh 501:
Big. Heavy. Reliable. Built like a tank. Smooth and pleasing. This chuck of metal will flow liquid sound at you all day and not even get warm. It is Fun to listen to and fun to look at. Arguably the best looking amp of them all. Some accuse it of being too laid back. Others would consider selling an appendage to obtain a pair.

Krell Evolution 600e.
Pretty. Maybe not Mac pretty but still pretty. Unlike lesser Krells it is smooth and articulate. Possibly possesses the best bass of any amplifier anywhere. Expensive. If it can be the King it should be expensive.

Cary SA 500.1
Probably has one of the best reviews ever written. Cary is said to be a perfect middle ground between Krell and Levinson. Not too laid back. Not too harsh or dry. Just perfectly nestled in the middle. Not big or heavy. A little plain to look at. Middle of group price tag. A few complaints floating around about reliability. A few complaints that Cary is cheaply made. Is it worthy of a King’s Crown? 10 Audio thinks so………

Levinson N 53.
It is pleasing to the eye. It has lots of clout. It has cost no object claims. It costs a lot of big American Dollars. It has a non typical switching power supply. Levinson is sometimes accused of being too warm. Is this the case the N53? The company has encountered a lot of turmoil in the recent past. Can it overcome the negatives and beat the rest? Will the new D technology be its demise?

Classe CA-M600.
Aesthetically pleasing but doesn’t match anything else. Another smooth operator. This amp has also been accused of being too laid back and polite. Sometimes polite is a good thing. Can it be the polite King of Monos?

Pass Labs XA600.5
Can anything negative be said for this beast. Another block of beauty that has a glowing meter. A little magic and a little hocus pocus maybe. I can see the others getting a little nervous with the Pass in the mix. If only the company would answer the phone and tell me who the dealers are. I hope the product is better than their customer communications.

Wyred4Sound SX-1000
Can it even fit in with names like this? According to the reviews and the manufacturer it can. Its Class D. Its Light. It looks good. According to a lot of people it does things Class A / AB cant. It is by far the cheapest or cost effective of the group. Can this economical wonder compete or beat any of these brutes? Will it wimper and run away with its tail between its legs? We shall see.

Let us discuss who the King should be. Let us discuss who it shouldn’t be. Who cares about price. This is a Royal group. Who is the best of the best? No one wants to hear “They all sound the same.” Don’t waste our time. These boxes have magic inside. Who has the most? Which one should we all be dreaming of when go sleepy at night?. Who is the King Of Monos?

Paimei (Threads | Answers | This Thread)

12-05-10

Responses (51-100 of 153)

Click title to read one, or click date to read all below it.

12-10-10 Goldmund telos 5000 Roysen

12-10-10 Btw, the levinson no.53 does not have a digital power supply ... Roysen

12-10-10 If we are talking big and powerful, then the sovereign audio ... Roysen

12-10-10 When it comes to tube amplifiers my pick would be the tube r ... Roysen

12-10-10 The pass x600 and the x600.5 are two different generations o ... Ozzy

12-10-10 Thanx for the info on the pass. ill consider it a vote to k ... Paimei

12-10-10 In tube land definately the trl g.t.-800 monos. Rx8man

12-11-10 Considering this a dumb thread there's lots of interest. Markwatkiss

12-11-10 Audio research ref vt 600 mono's. boulder 2050 monoblock am ... Twilo

12-11-10 A list of contenders: goldmund telos 5000 fm acoustics resol ... Roysen

12-11-10 Roysen, admittedly i am biased, but you don't think any des ... Peterayer

12-11-10 Sure, that was just names that quickly came to me. more name ... Roysen

12-12-10 The soon to be released 1400 watts continuous in 8 ohms hege ... Talk2me

12-12-10 Nothing dumb about this thread or the participants. more g ... Paimei

12-12-10 12-12-10: paimei hear that audiofeil? loud and clear sparky ... Audiofeil

12-12-10 It does not possess the intelligence of your "how phil ... Paimei

12-13-10 In the list, 'atma-sphere' is misspelled. Atmasphere

12-15-10 You are right - thanks! Roysen

12-15-10 Luxman b-1000f Renjy651

12-15-10 i'm afraid that i have to agree with audiofeil - it's a blat ... Bombaywalla

12-15-10 This is very much like the thread "best integrated amp ... Everest_audio

12-15-10 The question may be somewhat subjective. however, these amp ... Paimei

12-15-10 Agree with audiofeil and audiobombaywalla ... dumb thread! Knghifi

12-16-10 Nobody as far as i can see have claimed there is one mono am ... Roysen

12-16-10 When somebody claims a thread is dumb when they simply could ... Roysen

12-16-10 This thread is awesome. maybe, for your next one, you could ... Jeffreybowman2k

12-16-10 Why not? ... and who has ever claimed this thread is awsome? ... Roysen

12-16-10 Sm 101 vitus Ciro71

12-16-10 i leave that to you. but i du no how dum yor respons waz. Jeffreybowman2k

12-16-10 Really? then congratulations to you on your acheivement. i a ... Roysen

12-16-10 i'm left speachless. Jeffreybowman2k

12-17-10 I'm glad. you really should have been silent from the start. ... Roysen

12-17-10 Sorry for my bad english. i am not an english natural. that ... Roysen

12-17-10 My issue is not about discussing high performance pieces at ... Everest_audio

12-17-10 I am sure the wording "king og minos" was chosen p ... Roysen

12-17-10 I'll make it simple ... any mono can be king of mono in the ... Knghifi

12-17-10 Green! Jeffreybowman2k

12-17-10 Abbey road or charlton heston. can't make up my mind. Audiofeil

12-18-10 I'm puzzled why the king must unleash more than 500 but less ... Karelfd

12-18-10 Now those are some nice suggestions. kharma speakers look ni ... Paimei

12-19-10 You can lead the horse to the water, but you can't make him ... Knghifi

12-19-10 from so many lame responses here, i'd say many here have alr ... Jafox

12-19-10 I bet you are with audiofeil right now. Paimei

12-19-10 It's not a stupid post! but it does beg the question, if th ... Onhwy61

12-19-10 Paimei, i am not "with" audiofeil at any time. ho ... Jafox

12-20-10: Roysen
Well,

Can you point out exactly what post in this thread where it is stated that rated output power is the measurement use to determine the answer to the initial post?

However since we are talking about amplifiers, its quality is related to power as well as distortion and noise.

It is also not quite as simple as the previous poster described because when you decide to upgrade by changing the speakers, it would be great not having to change the amplifier too. By choosing an amplifier able to drive anything the first time you do an amplifier investement, you will not be forced to change the amplifier every time you change speakers.

Objectively the measuring stick for the best amplifier would be the one with lowest noise and distortion which is powerful enough to drive any speaker. The subjective measuring stick but you need to replace the lowest noise distortion with subjective sound quality.

To be able to drive any speaker requires power. So that power is part of what makes the best amplifier should not be a surprise to anyone.
Roysen (Threads | Answers | This Thread)

12-20-10 The op stated it several times, the first of which was in hi ... Csmgolf

12-21-10 Of course speaker compatibility, room, preamp, source compon ... Roysen

12-21-10 Jafox. and others. look, we understand here that synergy i ... Paimei

12-21-10 maybe to your ears. but they both sound equally crappy to ... Jeffreybowman2k

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