Good mono power amplifiers

[wiggen]

Hello,
I suddenly came across this forum searching for information about good Sony mono amplifiers for my Gradient Revolution loudspeakers.
I have seen a pair of monoblocks entitled TA - M1a, which made me curious as to whether these could eventually be a good match.
At present I am using a dual mono Gamut amplifier delivering approximately 200 watts per channel at 8 ohms impedance, however for years I have had Sony in mind and would like to know of superior models in this regard.
I am looking forward to your respons. Best regards,
Margido

 

[Mikem53]

According to the website, Minimum impedance: 5 ohms. Sensitivity: 86dB/W/m. Recommended amplifier power: 50-250Wpc into 4 ohms. This info is helpful to post so others can have a better idea of what might be a good match.
Don't know about the Sony, but I a bit of a Pass Labs fan, they make nice sounding reliable amps that drive difficult loads. A class D amp might work well for you. Plenty of available tube amps with grunt as well from ARC, VTL, Atmosphere, etc.. all depends on budget, sound desired.. etc..

 

[wiggen]

Thanks

According to the website, Minimum impedance: 5 ohms. Sensitivity: 86dB/W/m. Recommended amplifier power: 50-250Wpc into 4 ohms. This info is helpful to post so others can have a better idea of what might be a good match.
Don't know about the Sony, but I a bit of a Pass Labs fan, they make nice sounding reliable amps that drive difficult loads. A class D amp might work well for you. Plenty of available tube amps with grunt as well from ARC, VTL, Atmosphere, etc.. all depends on budget, sound desired.. etc..

Thanks a lot for your reply. A pair of ARC tube amplifiers, e.g. M300, came to mind. I would be glad to give it a try should I succeed in obtaining such a pair.

 

[Hear Here]

Hello,
I suddenly came across this forum searching for information about good Sony mono amplifiers for my Gradient Revolution loudspeakers.
I have seen a pair of monoblocks entitled TA - M1a, which made me curious as to whether these could eventually be a good match.
At present I am using a dual mono Gamut amplifier delivering approximately 200 watts per channel at 8 ohms impedance, however for years I have had Sony in mind and would like to know of superior models in this regard.
I am looking forward to your respons. Best regards,
Margido

Which GamuT amp? I had a D200 Mk III for a while and found it an excellent sounding amp and would have kept it if it had better manners! On switching it on and off it would seriously startle my speakers and anyone nearby! Granted GamuT does mention a "slight surge" on powering on and off, but my speakers are very sensitive. After experimenting with a dozen amps, I changed to Class D - NAD M32 recently changed for M33 - great amp that does a lot more than amping.

 

[wiggen]

Which GamuT amp? I had a D200 Mk III for a while and found it an excellent sounding amp and would have kept it if it had better manners! On switching it on and off it would seriously startle my speakers and anyone nearby! Granted GamuT does mention a "slight surge" on powering on and off, but my speakers are very sensitive. After experimenting with a dozen amps, I changed to Class D - NAD M32 recently changed for M33 - great amp that does a lot more than amping.

Which GamuT amp? I had a D200 Mk III for a while and found it an excellent sounding amp and would have kept it if it had better manners! On switching it on and off it would seriously startle my speakers and anyone nearby! Granted GamuT does mention a "slight surge" on powering on and off, but my speakers are very sensitive. After experimenting with a dozen amps, I changed to Class D - NAD M32 recently changed for M33 - great amp that does a lot more than amping.

I have a Gamut D 200 Mk. III apparently in good working order, it sounds very good. At the same time, I am curious about an optimalization to the Gradients regarding the sound, to get the finest from those loudspeakers. Tube amplifiers have come to mind, as e. g. Audio Research, which sound impressed me many years ago

 

[Hear Here]

I have a Gamut D 200 Mk. III apparently in good working order, it sounds very good. At the same time, I am curious about an optimalization to the Gradients regarding the sound, to get the finest from those loudspeakers. Tube amplifiers have come to mind, as e. g. Audio Research, which sound impressed me many years ago

Not the same Mk III that I sold last year? I doubt the Sony monos you're considering will sound better though you don't say which model of Sony. My opinion of the GamuT is that it sounds exceptional for its price. My reason for selling (the on - off thump) wouldn't be a problem with lower sensitibity speakers - mine were 104 dB! I hope they've now added a simple relay to delay connection with the speakers so that surge thumps are avoided - simple enough. Peter

 

[musiklab]

Gamut D200´s go back to the 2001-3 era, so are getting a bit worn around the edges.
So the clicks or thumps may indicate instability and seem to appear with 20+ years of service age.
Maybe a good time and cause for an upgrade, restoring and extending the service life of a great amp to many more years? They were great performers, widely praised , and keep commanding good 2hand prices.
I was then ( 2000´s + ) designing the final mk3 version, as used by GamuT ( D200i, M250i , DI150, until 2019 when they folded. Later GamuT "i" models also benefit from a rebuild , removing premature ageing issues.
I make new amps MusikLab D220 and the new brilliant companion preamp D1 ( users say: "fast and clear as light" ) Naturally, the amps have a speaker protect relay and extensive protect circuits, and hurt no dainty speaker coils.

 

[Long Live Analog]

Gato PWR 222 mono blocks.

 

[Hear Here]

Gamut D200´s go back to the 2001-3 era, so are getting a bit worn around the edges.
So the clicks or thumps may indicate instability and seem to appear with 20+ years of service age.
Maybe a good time and cause for an upgrade, restoring and extending the service life of a great amp to many more years? They were great performers, widely praised , and keep commanding good 2hand prices.

In fact my GamuT D200 was the Mk III and I bought it around 2020. However what you say about aging is only part (if any) of the story because the User Guide for the D200 (all versions including the i one) had a paragraph advising that the start up and shut down thump (I think they described it as a "click") wouldn't harm your speakers. So this was a known feature that could have been (and in my opinion should have been) worked around at the design stage by introducing a simple relay that isolated the speakers from the amp until it had finished its destructive bad manners! As my speakers were 101 dB sensitivity, they (and I) objected to this unwelcome thump.

The other rather unfortunate feature of these amps is the positioning of the Gain setting switches. At that time I also had the Accuphase A-36 that had a gain switch on the front panel - the ideal place for it. I also had a Benchmark AHB2 with its gain switch on the back panel, but GamuT use fiddly little dip switches on circuit boards inside the case, so a dozen or so screws need to be removed (after disconnecting the power cable), then the switched changed (a set of switches for each channel), the power restored to check the result, then cable removed again and top panel screwed back! What a palaver!

Apart from that, I'd probably have kept the D200 as it's presentation of music was excellent.