High current amp search
Hello, so as the title says, I'm looking for a 200+ wats amp (8ohm) that will double it's power down to 2 ohms but importantly also check all the audiophile boxes so strong, articulate, fast bass, smooth resolving mid-range and extended non fatiguing highs. It's proving to be rather difficult because hardly any manufacturers list output into 2ohms. Budget is around 4000$ so I'm looking at mostly used. Besides something like the Krell FPB 300/400 CX which can be had for that much , what else can be recommended?
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@lukaszwk I tried the Wotan with my Yamaha NS5000 speakers replacing the CODA #16. The Wotan was able to drive the NS5000 just fine with an eclectic range of music. The Wotan was not as good as the Class A #16 on the top end. The NS5000 can show the difference, not all speakers can. The Wotan is a second-tier amp while the #16 is hard to beat at any price (same as the NS5000). On my Maggies I found the #16 better but not worth the #16's price compared to the Wotan. The Maggies are not close in quality to the NS500. The Wotan needs a lot of break-in and Schiit provides a 15-day demo period. Though I needed 30 days of hard playing before the top end really sounded good. Hopefully some helpful context. |
My room is not all that large, but I still use somewhat large, inefficient, totally full-range speakers in it (Revel Salon 2 speakers). In my case, I was looking to simplify my audio system, so based on word of mouth, and also what I had read about it, I brought in a Hegel H590 integrated amp for audition. Well, let me tell you something, to my surprise, and after 4 years in my audio system, the Hegel H590 is still my reference for driving my speakers to absolute incredible effect. The Hegel H590, as advertised, is extremely powerful, with a extremely high damping factor, and is extremely high current, especially for a 48.5 lb integrated. I was shocked!!! But that’s not all. The H590 sounds absolutely phenomenal as well. I do not utilize the H590’s internal DAC. The H590 actually made me not miss the large separates I use to drive the speakers with. Happy listening. |
@lukaszwk Current does not exist without Voltage and the two together create power. The power formula is 1 Watt= 1Volt x 1 Amp. So you're looking for 800 Watts into 2 Ohms (since you were asking for 200 into 8 Ohms). That sounds like high power to me! You'll find the more power asked of the amp the less relaxed it will sound due to distortion generated, and all amps make more distortion into 2 Ohms than they do into 4 or 8 Ohms. The kind of distortion generated is harmonics; the higher ordered harmonics are the ones that cause amps to sound less relaxed and brighter. Ohms Law is Resistance = Voltage/Current. By doing some algebra we can relate that to power if the Resistance is known; that formula is Power = current squared times resistance. So doing more algebra we can solve for current by dividing 800 by 2 and then solving for the square root: 20 Amps is the total. A lot of amps are advertised with some crazy high currents like 80 Amps or the like. If we put 80 Amps in the formula and give the amp the benefit of the doubt and have it drive one Ohm, we find that 80 Amps is 6400 Watts! So its pretty likely that 80 Amp value does not have anything to do with the output power of the amp (although every now and then it does... that is why you want to know the math). Quite often that number represents how much current will flow in the power supply of the amp when its shorted out for 10milliseconds. That may not even have anything to do with the power transformer in the amp since that isn't enough time for the transformer to provide much current. Its that plus a measure of how much capacitance is in the amp. By that metric we make a tube amplifier that has that much current :) (it makes 200 into 8 Ohms too). The bottom line here is really think this through! It sounds like you have an impractical speaker, unless its an ESL like the Sound Lab (they have a 1.5 Ohm impedance at high frequencies but since its so high the amp need not make much current to drive it). @dodgealum take note. IOW I think you might get better sound if you used a speaker that isn't hard to drive! Amplifiers really should not be working hard for a living if you want the best sonic performance out of them for your dollar investment! |
- 166 posts total