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Plinius SA201 compared with the Plinius SA102

Would be interested to know if anyone has made the comparison between these two amps. Is the class A mode on the SA102
worth the heat. Plinius states they have built the SA 201
that comes frightingly close to the sound of the class A SA100
series. What do you think. Is Class A worth the heat?
The SA201 cosmetics design clearly wins over the old work hourse look of the SA102. Any insight would be appreciated.
Lets face it when one sits and listens to music one can not
help but stare at the amp but if the class A modality of the SA102 puts out that much better sound then I guess I can turn the lights off and crank up the airconditioning.
Currently running Totom Forest. (great speakers)
jajmyers

Showing 4 responses by pdreher

pdreher's avatar
pdreher
1,184 posts
 
I've had the SA-102 for approx. 2 years. Yes, the amp gets hot to the touch, but never to the extent that it heats up the listening room by more than a degree or two. Also, the manufacturer stating that the sound quality of the 201 comes close to that of the 102 would make me choose the better of the two. Go with the 102... it sounds great, reasonably priced in the used market, good resale value, has a mute switch & a switch to play in either class A or A/B . If you want a newer / more current version of the SA-102, there are plenty of used SA-103's popping up in the classifieds... a bit more expensive than the 102, but also newer.
pdreher's avatar
pdreher
1,184 posts
 
The SA-102 has bolts with transparent plastic housing.... very sturdy... and yes it takes spades.

I've owned solid state amps from BAT & Sim Audio... and in my experience, neither came close to the SA-102 in regards to musicality, warmth, build quality, value and listener satisfaction.
pdreher's avatar
pdreher
1,184 posts
 
Jajmyers - The plastic housing stays on... no problem accepting spades from my experience (currently using Harmonic Tech Pro 9's, but replacing with Stealth Hybrid MLT's currently in transit). I'm confident the SA 102 (paired with a nice tubed preamp) will outshine your 9100 integrated, as it should considering the outlay of $$$ required.
pdreher's avatar
pdreher
1,184 posts
 
I just took possession of a pair of Harbeth M-40.1's a few days ago. They are still not properly set up, as I'm about 2 weeks away from receiving Skylan stands for them... and I'm waiting for the new owner of the C4's to arrange shipping so I can get them out of my listening room.

I've put some preliminary observations on my virtual system that compares the two speakers... just keep in mind my initial observations are not fair to the Harbeth's as they won't be ready for critical listening until after the C4's are out of the way and the Harbeth's are mounted on the new stands and dialed in properly.
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