All time greatest amplifiers

[steve_1979]

Who was the best ever James Bond?

Barry Nelson

Bob Holness

Bob Simmons

Sean Connery

George Lazenby

David Niven

Roger Moore

Christopher Cazenove

Timothy Dalton

Michael Jayston

Pierce Brosnan

Daniel Craig

Toby Stephens

Wow! Was there really that many?

Definitely Sean Connery though with Roger Moore coming a close second.

 

[Blacksabbath25]

Who was the best ever James Bond?

Barry Nelson

Bob Holness

Bob Simmons

Sean Connery

George Lazenby

David Niven

Roger Moore

Christopher Cazenove

Timothy Dalton

Michael Jayston

Pierce Brosnan

Daniel Craig

Toby Stephens

personally I like Pierce Brosnan then roger Moore and Sean Connery

they are my favourite bond actors

 

[Blacksabbath25]

I’ve heard that crown amplifiers are for PA speakers and they have noisy fans inside but are very powerful and can be cheaper to buy but weather what I am saying is true or not I do not no

 

[steve_1979]

I’ve heard that crown amplifiers are for PA speakers and they have noisy fans inside but are very powerful and can be cheaper to buy but weather what I am saying is true or not I do not no

You're probably thinking of the ones used with the JBL K2 speakers which apparently have quite noisy fans even when they're not being pushed hard. Many of the other Crown amps are noisy too.

The XLS2502 is different. It does have a fan but it's usually switched off and only kicks in if the amplifier overheats. Under normal conditions it will run difficult to drive speakers at stupid loud volume levels for hours at a time without getting hot enough for the fan to come on. Even on a hot day and you do manage to push it hard enough for the fan to kick in the music would be so loud that you'll never hear it. You'd probably also have hearing damage by that stage too.

 

[steve_1979]

All time greatest amplifiers

What about technically brilliant modern amplifiers such as the Crown XLS 2502? It has hundreds of watts more power than you will ever need, it comfortably runs 2 ohm speakers without breaking a sweat and has a low THD.

It might not have the looks, style or romance of a 30 year old brushed aluminium exotic brand named amplifier with VU lights but technically it's miles better than any other amplifiers mentioned so far.

Here's a review of its baby brother the XLS 1502.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BZD2Pc_tHnE

 

[Blacksabbath25]

https://youtu.be/BZD2Pc_tHnE. Here’s a good review on one but it’s power there’s not a very big power supply inside but it’s still powerful

 

[steve_1979]

there’s not a very big power supply inside but it’s still powerful

Class D is very efficient so a large power supply isn't needed.

 

[Blacksabbath25]

there’s not a very big power supply inside but it’s still powerful

Class D is very efficient so a large power supply isn't needed.

not a bad price for such a powerful power amplifier I’ve seen prices from £350- £450 And like you say it uses clean power but if you look at the review there not much inside for such a powerful amplifier it’s even got fully balanced XLR inputs

 

[Blacksabbath25]

Buy 2 of the power amplifiers from crown and then bridge mode the 2 power amplifiers then your got 15000 watts into 4ohms that’s seriously powerful

 

[steve_1979]

£560 for the 440wpc Crown XLS 2502.

£377 for the 300wpc Crown XLS 1502.

You'll need to budget for a pre-amp to control the volume as well though.

 

[steve_1979]

A pair of bridged XLS 2502 will give you 1550 wpc into 8 ohms and 2400 wpc into 4 ohms.

That's what Rolls Royce would describe as 'adequate'.

 

[Andrewjvt]

I've owned the NAD 3020 and Pioneer A400, the NAD is terrible in every aspect, the A400 is much better.

Of course the Pioneer didn’t launch until 12 years after the NAD first appeared, so they are - effectively - from different eras. The NAD was conceived with LPs and FM and cassettes in mind and the Pioneer was designed - primarily - for CD replay.

The Technics SU-7300 was of the same vintage (77/78) and also a cheapy, but it doesn't sound as muddy as the 3020. Maybe I had a dud (and my friend too), considering so many years have passed. 

My 3020 also sounded muddy to me also and I swapped it for a vintage Sony funny enough!
Much more clearer
Pitty I can't remember the model number etc as in those days I never cared about such things but it was silver and very shinny.

 

[Blacksabbath25]

Or daisy chain as meany as you like ...... but what a wast of untapped watts that I would never use but think of the headroom you would get and the fact that my Dali speakers are rated at 350 watts so I would have to buy some Speakers that could handle that much power .

just think what people would say !

 

[steve_1979]

Or daisy chain as meany as you like ...... but what a wast of untapped watts that I would never use but think of the headroom you would get and the fact that my Dali speakers are rated at 350 watts so I would have to buy some Speakers that could handle that much power .

just think what people would say !

At 440 wpc a single Crown XLS 2502 is more than enough to push your speakers to their limit and still have a bit of headroom left in the amp.

If you want to go mad just buy two of them and have four times more power than you can even use. There's so much headroom there and the THD will be very low if they're only being run at less than 25% max power.

 

[Blacksabbath25]

Or daisy chain as meany as you like ...... but what a wast of untapped watts that I would never use but think of the headroom you would get and the fact that my Dali speakers are rated at 350 watts so I would have to buy some Speakers that could handle that much power .

just think what people would say !

it’s

At 440 wpc a single Crown XLS 2502 is more than enough to push your speakers to their limit and still have a bit of headroom left in the amp.

If you want to go mad just buy two of them and have four times more power than you can even use. There's so much headroom there and the THD will be very low if they're only being run at less than 25% max power.

it’s silly power but totally understand where your coming from

 

[davedotco]

At one time I had a Phase Linear 400, measured at 273 watts at 1kHz (sinewave), one channel driven.

I used them to drive Spendor BC1, rated at 30 watts and notoriously easy to blow up due to their rather low sensitivity.

I played the song Bad Company, (side 2, track 1 on the first album) to my 'hi-fi mates', cranked up pretty loud. The vinyl was pretty dynamic as I recall and I was using a then rather rare m/c cartridge, the DL103, which was dynamically very explosive.

After the subdued opening of 'barrelhouse' piano and voice, Simon Kirke's drums hit you right in the chest, cue some very surprised listeners!

I used to play pretty loud in those days and the BC1s were replacements for a pair of 4310 monitors, not as loud obviously but easily loud enough given the power available in a domestic environment. Despite 'showing off' on a fair number of occasions, I never damaged the BC1 speakers, not once.

 

[lindsayt]

Which sounded better the JBL 4310's or Spendor BC1's?

 

[gasolin]

nad 3020.......

 

[steve_1979]

At one time I had a Phase Linear 400, measured at 273 watts at 1kHz (sinewave), one channel driven.

I used them to drive Spendor BC1, rated at 30 watts and notoriously easy to blow up due to their rather low sensitivity.

I played the song Bad Company, (side 2, track 1 on the first album) to my 'hi-fi mates', cranked up pretty loud. The vinyl was pretty dynamic as I recall and I was using a then rather rare m/c cartridge, the DL103, which was dynamically very explosive.

After the subdued opening of 'barrelhouse' piano and voice, Simon Kirke's drums hit you right in the chest, cue some very surprised listeners!

I used to play pretty loud in those days and the BC1s were replacements for a pair of 4310 monitors, not as loud obviously but easily loud enough given the power available in a domestic environment. Despite 'showing off' on a fair number of occasions, I never damaged the BC1 speakers, not once.

People misunderstand the difference having 'headroom' can make. Sure you may only use 4 or 5 watts most of the time but having 100 watts or more in reserve for the very short burst peaks that music often has will make your speakers sound much more dynamic even at normal domestic listening levels. Headroom is not about playing music louder it's about playing dynamic music clearer.

Personally I would never use an amplifier with less than 100 watts with normal hifi speakers. Obviously horns or very efficient large speakers my may not so much but for average modern hifi speakers with 5" to 8" bass drivers the extra headroom from a 100 watt plus amplifier will make a difference to the sound quality.

 

[Vladimir]

At one time I had a Phase Linear 400, measured at 273 watts at 1kHz (sinewave), one channel driven.

I used them to drive Spendor BC1, rated at 30 watts and notoriously easy to blow up due to their rather low sensitivity.

I played the song Bad Company, (side 2, track 1 on the first album) to my 'hi-fi mates', cranked up pretty loud. The vinyl was pretty dynamic as I recall and I was using a then rather rare m/c cartridge, the DL103, which was dynamically very explosive.

After the subdued opening of 'barrelhouse' piano and voice, Simon Kirke's drums hit you right in the chest, cue some very surprised listeners!

I used to play pretty loud in those days and the BC1s were replacements for a pair of 4310 monitors, not as loud obviously but easily loud enough given the power available in a domestic environment. Despite 'showing off' on a fair number of occasions, I never damaged the BC1 speakers, not once.

Gad dammn this is a good album.

It's incredible that this is a self-produced debut album recorded with a mobile studio. A true gem.