Why We Love Mono Block Amplifiers So Much?

[Robin]

Brilliant!

They look cool but you need a seperate dedicated 20amp circuit for each amp. That basically means an electrion needs to come out to your house before you can plug them in. I have heard them and they sound great!

Diamonds,

That's cool! I did the same thing after purchasing my Anthem Statement P5..., I had an electrician come out and installed four separate 20 amp circuits to my HT room and that was in addition to the boosting up the one 15 amp circuit to a 20 amp circuit that was already serving the room. So, I have a grand total of count them..., "Five" 20 amp circuits for my HT room with five wall sockets, two of which (two separate 20 amp circuits) service just my (duel plugged) Anthem Statement P5 amplifier exclusively... Enough juice, yeah.... and I love it! The music is lovely as the power flows freely...

 

[Diamonds]

Diamonds,

That's cool! I did the same thing after purchasing my Anthem Statement P5..., I had an electrician come out and installed four separate 20 amp circuits to my HT room and that was in addition to the boosting up the one 15 amp circuit to a 20 amp circuit that was already serving the room. So, I have a grand total of count them..., "Five" 20 amp circuits for my HT room with five wall sockets, two of which (two separate 20 amp circuits) service just my (duel plugged) Anthem Statement P5 amplifier exclusively... Enough juice, yeah.... and I love it! The music is lovely as the power flows freely...

I also have four of them in my house. They are one of the biggest improvements I made in my system.

 

[Robin]

The Very Pretty Pass Labs X1000.5 MonoBlock...

Pass Labs x1000.5 is signal ended baised Class "A" 1000 watts of pure power... It will draw some ampheres that is for sure...

 

[Charliemike]

It will draw some ampheres that is for sure...

Kinda like Clark Griswold's house on Christmas?

 

[Robin]

The Large Plinius SA250 is Hot Hot...

The Extra Large power house Plinius SA 250 all 160 pounds worth....

 

[Robin]

Kool Krell Master Reference 2 ~ Mono-Block...

Well, just when I thought the Plinius was the heavy weight class king along comes this Krell Master Reference 2 for $120K and weighing in as 450 pounds... Amazing... Simply Amazing... :wow: :drool:

 

[Dreamer]

OK. I'm new to this forum, but not new to Martin Logan. I bought a second-hand (but LOW-hour) pair of original Sequels about 15 years ago, and have been in love with Martin Logan speakers ever since. I've driven them with a LOT of different amps over the years (Carver Silver7t's, Audio Research D110, Krell KSA 150, Carver M-200t, Carver M-500t), but my favorite was the first amps I owned with the Sequels--the Carver Silver7ts.

These were just the most authoritative, crystal-clear, and mellow amps I've had hooked up in my system. nfortunately I had to sell them a while back, due to being unemployed for an extended period (but I've kept the Sequels!)

I recently bought a pair of Carver M-500t's and am running them bringded mono to drive the Sequels. Not nearly as sweet in the mids as the S7t's, but they still sound pretty darn sweet. And contrary to the popular belief on the Carver forum I'm also a member of, the M-500t's are perfectly stable and cool-running into the 4-ohm load presented by the Sequels, even in bridged mono mode...

I know a LOT of you folks are probably going to think I'm nuts, being a Carver fan AND a ML fan, but I'll tell you, the folks writing for the big stereo magazines must not have heard the same Carver amps that I have, because I think my Carvers sound better with my Sequels than just about anything I've had them hooked to (except maybe the Krell, but it was a little too cold and analytical for my taste).

Mono blocks? Heck yeah!!!

--Richard C.

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
Dreamer's System:
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
-Carver C-4000t preamp
-Technics SL-1350
with Sumiko Headshell
& Blue Point Cartridge
-Sony DVP NS3100ES DVD/SACD player
-Carver M-500t (2 bridged mono)
-Martin Logan Sequels
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

 

[JohnP]

Dreamer/Richard,
I could've sworn I saw a pair or Carver Silver 7's on Audiogon a couple of days ago. Just thought I'd give you a heads up.

When I was stationed in Japan (mid 80s)

Tom,
Was going to ask where in Japan you were stationed but then saw you were in Yokuska in a later post. I was stationed in Sasebo back in the early/mid 80's! I sure loved Japan, great place and great people. Plan to take my wife and child over there to visit soon.

John

 

[Robin]

Carver Silver Seven Amplifier...

Richard,

Welcome to the ML Club!

Yes, It is my belief, as well as Bob Carver's, that the Silver Seven was the very best tubed amplifier he ever built. It was his swan song or Statement / Reference tubed amplifier... As we all know Bob Carver went on do many, many great and wonderful things such as starting the 'Sunfire' company all the while continuing to create many more wonderful amplifers, processors, ribbon speakers as well as subwoofers... But the Carver S7 tubed amplifier is very special to audiophiles everywhere. I know WardsWeb has a pair he aquired and fixed-up. I wish, I had a pair as well. I wish, I had them connceted to a pair of ML Statement e2's as well. :drool:

Oh well..., I have my dreams anyway...

It is good to have you here.

 

[Robin]

Vitus Audio SM-100 Mono-Blocks Connected to Sound Lab Speakers... Amazing...

These Vitus Audio SM-100 mono-blocks must sound fantastic with the Sound Lab U1's... :cheers: :drool:

 

[Diamonds]

Pass Labs x1000.5 is signal ended baised Class "A" 1000 watts of pure power... It will draw some ampheres that is for sure...

I have the x600.5s and they have plenty of power. 600w a side at 8ohms should be enough to drive any speaker. Did I mention they sound awesome!

 

[Dreamer]

Yes, It is my belief, as well as Bob Carver's, that the Silver Seven was the very best tubed amplifier he ever built.

Oh, no I don't mean the Silver Seven tube amps. If I had a pair of those, I would never have gotten rid of them.

I meant the Silver 7t, which was a solid-state version Carver made for those of us of more modest means. It was basically a mono version of the M-4.0t, and was "t-modded" to sound like the original Silver Seven tubed amps (if you believe in that sort of thing)...

They were rated at a conservative 375wpc, nd even back then, in my "rock-n-roll" days, I was never able to get them warm to the touch, even driving the Sequels. Man did they sound sweet...

The tubed Silver Sevens, however, had about a bushel of KT88s on each chassis, and generated almost enough heat at idle to make you want a seperate air conditioner in the room. Driving them hard, they would get Krell hot. :devil:

Oh, I only WISH that I'd owned a set of those beauties. Of course, if I could afford THAT amp, I wouldn't have been driving a pair of Sequels--probably would have gone with the Monoliths.

--Richard C.

 

[Pcar928fan]

Well, just when I thought the Plinius was the heavy weight class king along comes this Krell Master Reference 2 for $120K and weighing in as 450 pounds... Amazing... Simply Amazing... :wow: :drool:

And I thought the MBL stuff was expensive! YEOW!

 

[Diamonds]

And I thought the MBL stuff was expensive! YEOW!

I don't know if you went to CES but did you hear the MBL room on the third day after they got everything to work right. OMG!!! It was like live music. Just amazing!!! I better get to work and make a lot of money if I want to own any MBL reference equipment. Yikes 300k in that one room.

 

[Robin]

Krell Standard Reference Mono-Blocks... Blast From The Past...

And I thought the MBL stuff was expensive! YEOW!

James,

Yeah, I know.... But check-out this Krell Standard Reference mono-block circa 1990's... Still cool and only costs $14K each (used) on Audiogon...

 

[Pcar928fan]

I don't know if you went to CES but did you hear the MBL room on the third day after they got everything to work right. OMG!!! It was like live music. Just amazing!!! I better get to work and make a lot of money if I want to own any MBL reference equipment. Yikes 300k in that one room.

I did not go...would have LOVED to have been able to enjoy that set up though! Anyone get pics of it or have they already been posted?

 

[Pcar928fan]

James,

Yeah, I know.... But check-out this Krell Standard Reference mono-block circa 1990's... Still cool and only costs $14K each (used) on Audiogon...

A bit over the top for me...they are crazy looking (like the MBL 101's) but not quite to my taste. And not to mention still to expensive for my poor little budget at the moment!

 

[Robin]

Pass Labs XA-160 Class "A" Mono-Blocks...

Nelson pass designed this XA series mono-block amplifiers to be purely class "A" all the way for more beautiful musical sound. Lovely amps. but I hear Pass Labs makes a XA-200 mono-block as well...

 

[Robin]

Pass Labs XA-160 Mono-Blocks... Continued...

It is nice to accually see this XA-160 mono-blocks used in a system, so here they are....

 

[Robin]

Plinius SA 250... Continued...

The Plinius SA 250 is a wonderfully hefty smooth sailor but inside..., Deep inside reveals a thing of electronic beauty... :drool: :clap: