JJJeffries Posted April 24, 2004 Share Posted April 24, 2004 Hello Posters: Beautiful day. In your power department, what brand of amp and why? Anyone using the Monarchy SM-70 power amp? Comes highly praised for horns. I am considering ordering one. Best, Craig Broadcast Standard Equipment. Too many to list! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hoggy Posted April 24, 2004 Share Posted April 24, 2004 McIntosh MC352. Lots of power (350WPS, THD .005 maximum @ any power level from 250 MILLIWATTS to rated power per channel from 20-20k. Intermodulation distortion .005 max if instantaneous peak output per channel does not exceed TWICE the rated output 20-20k) and for SS is closest to tube sounding from what I have been told. Think it's the autoformers but maybe others can answer better than I. Of course a lot of folks will argue no way SS can sound tube like. Either way I love this amp. hoggy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jt1stcav Posted April 24, 2004 Share Posted April 24, 2004 I believe Kelly (mobile_homeless) used the SM-70 with his Cornwalls. He swears by the lil' amp...check it out! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
edster00 Posted April 24, 2004 Share Posted April 24, 2004 Actualy, I sent one of my Monarchys to mobile homeless so he could do a Monarchy SM-70 review (click the link to open his review in a new browser window). I first bought a single SM-70 and liked the amp so much I bought a second one to run as monoblocks and to take advantage of their 'balanced' option. I had them hooked up to the Monarchy Model 33 preamp/dac. I eventually sold one of the Monarchys and the Model 33 to help finance the purchase of my Moondogs. I still have one Monarchy left that I use as a backup if I need to perform some type of maintance on my Horus amps. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TBrennan Posted April 24, 2004 Share Posted April 24, 2004 A pal of mine was using Monarchys to power a JBL Pro 3-way horn system. Damned fine sound, damned fine. Now he uses DIY gainclones on the speakers but the Monarchys were certainly very nice. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chops Posted April 24, 2004 Share Posted April 24, 2004 I'm using an Aragon 2004 Mk II for my KG 3.2s. This is just a very clean and smooth sounding amp with excellent imaging and soundstaging capabilities most likely due to it's dual mono design, and only 100 watts p/c @ 8 ohms. One other thing I love about this amp is the way it looks. It has that huge "V" groove going down the right side of it on the top, and the super thick front panal. Also, this thing runs extremely cool at all times! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
minn_male42 Posted April 25, 2004 Share Posted April 25, 2004 i use a carver professional ZR1000 digital amplifier based on the tripath chip to power my KLF-30's.... very low noise floor and 225 watts per side when i need it...... http://www.carverpro.com/2003/products/zramps.html http://www.tripath.com/tech.htm cheers! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jdm56 Posted April 26, 2004 Share Posted April 26, 2004 ok, get yer drool buckets handy, cause when you see what I'm drivin' my big ol' horns with, the slobber will be slung: A Panasonic SA-HE200 receiver. That's right, a sub-$400 A/V receiver! And it sounds danged fine. Now that I've completely obliterated whatever audiophile standing I may have had remaining around here, let me expand: My Pioneer Elite VSX55TXi, which would be powering the horns were it not STILL(!!!) in the shop, really has little more in the way of audiophile cajones than the lowly Panasonic anyway. It (the Pioneer) set me back $1125, while the Panny was merely $320 from J&R. And, call me crazy, deaf or just plain silly, but I swear that the extra features of the Pioneer (acoustic calibration, better x/o and time delay, etc. not withstanding, the Panny sounds as good or perhaps better than the big Elite receiver. The conventional wisdom seems to be the big horns are ultra sensitive to amplification differences. IOW, cheap solid-state need not apply. In my experience, yes, they are sensitive to amplification differences, but the main thing to beware of is amp noise and distortion. This, the horns will mercilessly expose. And this, the Pioneer and Panasonic receivers do not have. Is the sound hard or forward? I dunno. It ain't lush or laid back; that's for sure. It sounds good to me. What you hear is what you get! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TBrennan Posted April 26, 2004 Share Posted April 26, 2004 JDM---Good fer you. I admire a fella that defies convention and comes to his own conclusions. It's my experience that electronics have become pretty much a done deal and that one can get excellent amplification very cheap. And the nature of Khorns is that they sound good driven by damn near any amps. The formidable virtues of the speaker will overcome most flaws in the amplification. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnnyp Posted April 26, 2004 Share Posted April 26, 2004 JJJeffries (Craig): I, too, have considered purchasing the little Monarchy amp. Having not heard it, my only comment is please note that it comes in a "Pro" version too. That's the model I'd be interested in owning. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Colin Posted April 26, 2004 Share Posted April 26, 2004 Serious auditions, in my home, with the same equipment and the same music, for EnjoyTheMusic.com with my classic Klipsch corner Khorns and review loudspeakers (currently Aperion 522D powered towers) includes these amplifiers: One) $150, 48-pound, 70s, solid-state, Class A, 22-watt (@ .0001 THD, 60-watt max.), Pioneer M-22 dual-monoblock amplifier; accurate, clean, powerful control of the bass Two) FREE, Wifes vintage solid-state Nikko receiver; very smooth sounding, with good bass control Three) $550, custom Bottlehead 2A3 Paramour tube monoblocks; wonderful mid-range and high tone with big ole horns Four) FREE, vintage solid-state harmon/kardon 330B receiver; fantastic for the price with classic Klipsch corner Khorns Five) review equipment, currently 85-watt Roksan Caspian integrated solid-state amplifier; elegant with remote control Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ki Choi Posted April 26, 2004 Share Posted April 26, 2004 IMO, one of the best performing amps for Khorns are the vintange Heathkit W5Ms (~25W/ch) - preferably reworked with modern parts (nothing special) with original irons (no changes to the circuit other than increased voltage rating on two of the electrorytic caps). I get different sound from a Bel Canto SET 40 (~35W/ch SET) and the HK Citation II (60w/ch PP) but for everyday listening, it's hard to beat properly working W5Ms. You can get them for around $200 ea. in decent shape, maybe less on ebay. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Royster Posted April 26, 2004 Share Posted April 26, 2004 I am using the Canary Audio CA-301. Currently with 4 WE 300B's (but changes evry now and again to try new valves). It is a 22 watt per side unit (7~8 watts is normally max that I use). But have had good results with cary cad-572-se mono blocks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
toomanyspeakers Posted April 26, 2004 Share Posted April 26, 2004 Several persons on the forum suggested tubes for my new Lascalas. I found a VAA model 100 in a used shop and have been using it for a couple of weeks. They we correct, tubes are better with these speakers. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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