Power Amp for PMC Monitors

[Maxdb1]

Hi there,

I´m new in this forum but I have been reading it a lot in the past few months, I just got my new PMC DB1 Gold edition speakers for my home studio, I mainly make electronic music and mix down some songs for friends and stuff.

I have to pick up this evening a couple of power amps that my father has in a old storage, one is a Yamaha with 200W per channel but Im afraid its has a noisy fan, and the other one is a old hifi Onkyo amp with 80W per channel, I was thinking about to get one of those Hypex made in Holland, supose to be a good option, I like clinical listening BTW, but economy now is not good enough so I might have to spend a couple of months with a temporary amp, I was wondering me if you guys now what´s the minimun wattage that would be good to use with these monitors, I guess 80W per channel is not good in terms of THD, and if you think that the Onkyo of the Yamaha could be a decent temporary option or will destroy the sound of these monitors.

I always had active speakers, you know, Event, Fostex, Dynaudio... so I have no clue about amps, I know some sound a bit warmer, which is nice but I perfer hifi, flat, fidelity, you probaly know what I mean ;-)

 

[matt49]

In terms of VFM you will do well to beat the Behringer A500, which can be had on Amazon for under £140.

Matt

 

[Maxdb1]

thanks Matt, my experience with Berincher is not really good to be honest, but I dunno about those amps, could be great, you think better than the Onlyo?

 

[davedotco]

Hi there,

I´m new in this forum but I have been reading it a lot in the past few months, I just got my new PMC DB1 Gold edition speakers for my home studio, I mainly make electronic music and mix down some songs for friends and stuff.

I have to pick up this evening a couple of power amps that my father has in a old storage, one is a Yamaha with 200W per channel but Im afraid its has a noisy fan, and the other one is a old hifi Onkyo amp with 80W per channel, I was thinking about to get one of those Hypex made in Holland, supose to be a good option, I like clinical listening BTW, but economy now is not good enough so I might have to spend a couple of months with a temporary amp, I was wondering me if you guys now what´s the minimun wattage that would be good to use with these monitors, I guess 80W per channel is not good in terms of THD, and if you think that the Onkyo of the Yamaha could be a decent temporary option or will destroy the sound of these monitors.

I always had active speakers, you know, Event, Fostex, Dynaudio... so I have no clue about amps, I know some sound a bit warmer, which is nice but I perfer hifi, flat, fidelity, you probaly know what I mean ;-)

How about PMCs own DS 001.

Monoblocks rated at 200 watts a piece, voiced to sound like Brystons and under £1300 pair.

If that is a a bit pricy, then try this....

http://www.studiospares.com/power-amplifiers/crown-xls-1500-drivecore-power-amp/invt/243110

Any of the amps from this series will do the job, this one is 300watts per channel for about £395. Fan cooled but fairly quiet.

 

[Maxdb1]

so u think 80W per channel is not good enough for this PMC? I probably try this Onkyo but not sure about it, I guess 150 would be the minimum?

 

[Electro]

These pro T series amps from MC2 maybe what you are looking for , they are a UK company based in Devon with a very good reputation for building quality sounding amps .

http://www.mc2-audio.co.uk/t1000.html

Price list .

http://www.batmink.co.uk/resources/product/MC2%20Price%20List%20-%20January%202012.pdf

The T500 at £660 or the T1000 at about £ 750 should do the job nicely

 

[bluedroog]

I use a Quad 909, plenty of power and built like a tank, it really is a fit and forget unit. These were replaced with a newer version about a year ago which, as the 909 retails around £1,200. You can pick up end of line or very little use 909s for around £500.

Older models like the 606 or 303 can be picked up cheap.

 

[MattSPL]

The DB1i's aren't hard to drive, but have a low sensitivity. I used a Krell Kav300i integrated amp with mine. It sounded good, but you need to remember the DB1's are only small speakers and have limited loudness ability.
I melted the voice coils on both my speakers after playing playing loud for a few hours then leaving the speaker sit while we went to the pub for last orders. When we arrived back, the bass driver coils were melted solid, so there is that risk if your using a powerful amp.

 

[lejockey]

I too write music, and can safely say, avoid anything with a fan! Even a quiet fan, is too much. Some old Yamaha studio amps on eBay that would do the trick.

 

[bluedroog]

I’d second that, dare I admit it but one of my favourite things to do after work is play a bit of FIFA on the Playstation and listen to some tunes before the Mrs gets home and the fan noise on the PS really detracts from the music, it’s amazing how much difference it makes to the performance. When I turn the PS the music sounds significantly better.