Sonus Faber Stradivari amp: X600.5 or X1000.5 ?


Hello,

I want to know which power amp is better for my new speakers (Sonus Faber Stradivari) combined with ARC REF3. Ive just listened a few days ago the X350.5 and i loved it so much. Right now i have a pair of MC-501 but i'm a little dissapointed of them when i try to listen to some complex music like rock and others. Is X1000.5 a good choice for it or X600.5? The X1000.5 have 2000 wats in 4ohms?
Anyone listened to both of them. Let me know.

Thanks.
johnb30

Showing 16 responses by johnb30

Ok i understand. But sometimes i really listen to extreme loud levels and thats why i was looking for a high power amp. Also i know that the first 100W on X600.5 are class A. Is that right ? And yes Frank, mcintosh stuff dosent sound to good with Strad. After i listened to X350.5 in my system i couldnt even change it back to my MC501. Is XA160.5 able to deliver extreme loud levels ? My room is like 35-40 square metters.
Thanks
Raquel:

What do you mean by "you are going to suffer when you are not listening to extremely loud music" ? If i'm listening to normal levels i should be on class A up to 80 watts.
It is not the same thing as haveing XA160.5 ?
Raquel:

Stards is haveing 4ohm nominal impedance so this 80w of pure class A will double ? Then 160 watts should be enough for "normal" listening levels.
OK i got it. But my next question is: how loud can i turn a 92db+ speaker with 160WPC on class A if im gonna change my order from X600.5 to XA160.5. I mean how many db i will have at max volume.
Tmsorosk:

The impedance of my speakers is 4 ohms. So this means the XA160.5 will double the watts. So this will means over 320 WPC. That will result in even higher volume. I think over 114 db. Something like 117-118 db...
Raquel:

Near my Strads i'm haveing a pair of Klipsch P-39F used for my home cinema. Thats why when i need to switch to them and to my cinema i need to have a powerful amp to drive these horns. Anyway i still want the class A watts but i want to be very sure that i can listen at very loud volumes with this XA160.5 on Strads.
Onemug:

When i'm listening to very very loud it stay at 500W and sometimes at extreme levels go up to 1000W.
Onemug:

I'm listening at such levels very rare. Almost 90% of the time the speakers are at 10-20watts but sometimes when i'm getting some drinks and want to hit it hard i kick it to 500 watts. This happends like 2-3 times a week no more then 1-2 hours. All the other time i keep it at max 5-10watts. But i still want to be able to play it very loud when i'm in that mood.
And also when i'm watching a movie on my cinema i switch my Strads to my klipsch that are hors with 99db sensitivity and i think this XA160.5 should be enough to play it very loud on that to.
Rtn1:

A few days ago i listened on my system the X350.5 and pushed the ARC REF3 to 60-65 and it was very loud. The amp was in perfect control of the speakers without any distortion or compression. The metter of X350.5 was over the half.
Ive just ordered a pair of XA160.5. In max one month it should be here. Thanks for all advices and i hope i will be very happy with my new pair of amps.
Thanks.
Ive just received the pair of XA160.5 yesterday. The sound is very good but it still needs some break in time. Does anyone knows how long it takes for XA160.5 for full break in ?
I didnt power off since i got them yesterday and now they have about 20 hours of music play...10 yesterday and 10 today...and i'm gonna let it sing more. The difference since yesterday is not that big. I think this 6 big 25.000uF capacitors needs like 600 hours for full brake in ?

PS: the power is more then enough for my Strads. Playing at very loud levels and the metter dosent move at all. So this means it dosent leave class A. I just tried on some metal music at extreme loud and it started to move a little. :)
Its start to getting better after 150 hours. I dont think it is final ...still need a lot more hours. XA machines are different then X machines.
Thanks
Peterayer:

Right now i have 185 hours counted on my REF3 preamp.
The improvments its not so big. I was also told from my deal to switch on and off a few times a day for recalibration of the caps. I think it will take more then what i was expeceted to. (2-300 hours). I think it can take even up to 7-800 for full brake in of the capacitors.

How many hours you have on your XA160.5 right now ? Did you feel that boom of performance ?
Mine is an ARC DAC8...i dont know what peterayer has.

BTW i just bought a Kimber KS-6063 cable for speakers.
They sound superb !

How many hours for ful brake in for this cable ?