Mono Blocks / why are they not more prevalent? + Wyrded4Sound SX1000R

@emergingsoul - I respectfully disagree that ’nobody likes to live in an apartment because of the noise’. I’ve lived in an apartment for 35 years and quite enjoy it, and there’s a lot less unwanted noise between floors (in my case, none, unless nobody but quiet, non-vocal people who don’t listen to music or watch TV have lived above or below me for 35 years) with a foot of concrete separating them than in any house I’ve lived in. 

@larsman A high-rise structure with ample concrete sides is lovely. Most of the apartments around here (and in suburban America at large) are these awful 2 - 4 floor complexes that are practically squeezed out of a tube; living in them feels like a combination of paper mache and sounding boards. Security? Almost anyone can easily kick the doors in. Audiophiles around here really need a separate home (still generally bad construction, but at least you have a buffer). Mostly the only construction that’s of high quality is commercial. 

My personal hell (hopefully I’m not due there) is living in one of these complexes directly underneath a family with kids and a large dog - and directly above a single person driven into psychosis by the slightest disturbance. Plus a side neighbor who loves rap and has a subwoofer. 

Once I had a downstairs neighbor who played his music so loud (w/ subwoofers) I could get a rather nice foot massage through the floor (I guess that was a plus). Never again living in a complex lol. 

Dear @mendef   :I think that some way or the other almost all posts are good to read about that subject.

As some of you I walk from " here to there " several times: stereo vs monobloks.

I learned almost all what almost of the audiophiles experienced.

For the last 5-7 years I use Levinson Reference 20.6  monobloks ( a 20 years ago Curl design . Yesmy amps are second hand ) mainly because its electronics and protection ( bullet proof. Even a short circuit can't make a damage to the amp. ) are till today unsurpassed.Two years ago I changed all the power supply electrolyt capacitors ( important up-date/grade. ).

As is should be my monobloks are at les than 1m. of the speakers external crossovers and hard wired directly not to a circuiot board ( crossover ) but to the  crossover passive parts ( caps and resistors ).

Due that I have all the circuit diagrams I learned that even its very high quality of the 20.6 the best improves is to be certain that both amps measured the same including its bias ( those circuits/bipolar transistors runs in pure class A starting at 100 watts under 8 ohms and doubling that power ( watts ) down to 0.5ohms ( 1,600 watts ) and can run at an impedance as low as 0.1 ohm.

Well, it was worth of rewards been matched my monobloks. Yes you need a toom/system with very high resolution to listen that kind of improvent.

@mendef  at the end all depends of your main system MUSIC/Sound targets and money.

Regards and enjoy the MUSIC NOT DISTORTIONS,

R.

I guess I’ll never know unless I can get an amp that comes in stereo and has a mono option , like Odyssey. You might email them and ask. For me I have 3 rigs, the large on has Rogue M-180’s which are about 45 lbs each and pretty bulky. If I remember correctly Ralph had a post where they were driving big Maggie’s with OTL tube mono blocks. The thread talked about using heavy gauge speaker cables the were only 18 inches long. Under the circumstances the heavy gauge and short length made a big difference. In this case mono’s were a must for close placement. If my memory of this is incorrect, please put me in blast. Cheers, Mike B. 

There's no objective evidence that monoblocks provide better sound than stereo amps, integrateds, receivers, etc, especially with the higher quality parts that are available today. A lot of people in this hobby are older and aren't able to move on from long held beliefs regardless of what specs and objective testing tells them.

Dual Mono designs seem to bridge the divide. One power cord, but two separate power supplies and amplifier circuits. Just housed in one chassis. Am I missing something?