Amps you can't cook an egg on?

[Columbo]

Colombo, you views on the Hegel and Lyngdorf mirror mine. I found them both too sterile for my liking. The IN300 from Atoll really is something special for the price, I can't praise it highly enough. If you want a soundstage you could almost walk into then this is worth a listen. Have a chat with Harrow Audio they were beyond helpful with their support. I am not a serial box swapper so I do try to choose something I want to enjoy in my system for some time. Before the Atoll I have had 2 amps in the last 15 years, a NAP 200 and Teddy ST60. The Atoll is better than both by some margin for my ears in short it rocks!. I listened to about half a dozen or so amps during my search but the IN300 was the only one which made me want to part with my money.

Atoll seem to get a lot of love. I get fatigued quite easily with the wrong gear... How does the Atoll do here? Any hard edges? Cheers

 

[wainwj]

I am/was a serial box swapper extraordinaire.
Then I bought my Norma amp.

 

[marktr]

I am/was a serial box swapper extraordinaire.
Then I bought my Norma amp.

Another box swapper here. We went from a fabulous KONDO integrated (which sounded absolutely glorious) to a norma IPA 70. Never looked back!

 

[Muttley2]

The IN300 is beautifully extended at both ends of the frequency range and non fatiguing to my ears. Its not warm but fast even and smooth. I have sat and listened for hours with the new set up without thinking of the system just impressed by the music that comes out of the speakers

 

[Denis McKeown]

The Nait Supernait is nice looking and lovely to use and quite nice to listen to, but in retrospect I'd go for hot valves. And in the end did.

 

[Columbo]

There's been a lot of Nait recommendations... Is it an amp I can kick back to? Reviews I've read say it's a top drawer amp with a punchy exciting dynamic and a few saying it can be fatiguing over a long listening session?

Just finished the Lyngdorf demo testing out RoomPerfect. For some tracks it sounded good but whether it was better is largely subjective. On other tracks it flattened the soundstage. Overall, net meh. It's a no.

Been an interesting few days with the Lyngdorf and Hegel, been useful to explore unbeaten paths to help get clarity on what is I do/don't like.

Going to try and get hands on...

Exposure 3150
Norma IPA 70
Atoll IN300

Thanks all

 

[Brown Bottle]

In a recent video release by Neat, for the Petite Anniversary model, an Exposure 3010 Pre/Power can clearly be seen. Exposure and Naim have always been considered bed fellows with Naim.

Cheers BB

 

[Muttley2]

Have fun listening.

I have Amphion speakers and the consensus being they work well with Hegel. To my ears this could not have been further from the truth or it was not the sound I enjoy or was looking for. Synergy may be one thing but it has to work for the listener, so I take these kind of recommendations with a pinch of salt. One mans meat and all that!

 

[Columbo]

Any of you spend way to long down the reviews rabbit hole? After all the terrific advice in this thread and seeing Naim pop up time and again, that's the hole I went down...

Initially I dismissed Naim; I had create a bias from old comments, or - more confusingly - people speaking about Naim recently but not hearing the more latest gear, which turned me off the brand. But seems house sounds can change Lesson learned.

One awesome hyperbolic review later and spotting the S3's little brother on Ebay, for over a grand less than RRP, I pulled the trigger on an XS3.

Been putting it through it's paces the last couple of days and loving it...

- That body/weight in the vocals that was missing for the Lyngdorf was there.
- Doubly important, that soul and emotion that was missing in the Hegel, that too. There's got to be goose bumps. I've had a couple of near-religious experiences with the XS3.
- Triply important, you can't cook eggs on it. I can now retire my Aegir, god bless her (ridiculously good amp for the money)
- Zero listening fatigue
- Oh, that's what PRAT is Never experienced drums/rhythm like that before. I get it now.
- Strings and sax sound particularly awesome too.
- All the "hi-fi" stuff is spot on, soundstage and imaging better than all 3 of the other amps in my house.

Did have an Exposure 3150 due for home demo but cancelled it. I'm sure it's an awesome amp but I'll pocket the best part of £1k difference to upgrade my DAC and streamer.

Thanks all for setting me on the straight and narrow. Next pint's on me. Chris

 

[Paul L]

I didn’t feel I could help this thread but was determined to try nevertheless so: According to eggsafety.org the minimum temp needed to cook an egg is between 145 and 160 Fahrenheit, 60c-ish. It’s a warm amp that gets that hot inside, I thought even the Uber-weight power amps manage to stay below that although perhaps some valve amps don’t.

source https://eggsafety.org/faq/what-is-the-best-temperature-to-cook-an-egg/

 

[Sue Pertwee-Tyr]

I didn’t feel I could help this thread but was determined to try nevertheless so: According to eggsafety.org the minimum temp needed to cook an egg is between 145 and 160 Fahrenheit, 60c-ish. It’s a warm amp that gets that hot inside, I thought even the Uber-weight power amps manage to stay below that although perhaps some valve amps don’t.

source https://eggsafety.org/faq/what-is-the-best-temperature-to-cook-an-egg/

The traditional way to cook an egg using an amplifier is to fry* it on the heatsinks though, not boil it (which carries its own risks for amplifier safety and longevity).

*using much the same technique that TV journalists use to fry an egg on the pavement in hot weather.

 

[Muttley2]

you can always add one of these to the XS3 to make it better as well
https://teddypardo.com/product/teddycap-se/

 

[stevec67]

There's been a lot of Nait recommendations... Is it an amp I can kick back to? Reviews I've read say it's a top drawer amp with a punchy exciting dynamic and a few saying it can be fatiguing over a long listening session?

Depends who you ask. One man's punchy exciting dynamic is another's shouty and fatiguing. I tend to the latter view with most stuff out of Salisbury, but not everyone agrees. We don't all hear the same.

In the 90s I listened to Exposure, I found it less wearing than Naim but almost as exciting. Then I bought a Quad that was better than either.

 

[Columbo]

Depends who you ask. One man's punchy exciting dynamic is another's shouty and fatiguing. I tend to the latter view with most stuff out of Salisbury, but not everyone agrees. We don't all hear the same.

In the 90s I listened to Exposure, I found it less wearing than Naim but almost as exciting. Then I bought a Quad that was better than either.

That's exactly why I dismissed Naim initially. But the new stuff, apparently (never heard the old stuff), is a lot more refined. The XS3 compared to my smooth and sweet Aegir holds up well in terms of ease of listening. Not quite as sweet but we're talking very small margins you have to squint for. Plus it adds a whole lot more the Aegir can't do. Happy days.

Oh, and apparently the Exposure house sound has changed a bit too with the new amps, according to reviews. And even the flavour between the new range varies, if reviews are to be believed. It's a minefield out there. Demos cut to the chase.

 

[Brown Bottle]

I’ve not heard the XS3 but the XS1 & 2 are the only Naim amps I’ve enjoyed. Enjoy your new amp.

Cheers BB

 

[Goat]

Congrats on the new amp. Would love to hear a XS3, or ideally SN3. I think it would gel perfectly with my Spendors. But the price of the latter is pretty extreme.

 

[Rockmeister]

Many hours of switching out connections back and forth and level matching later...

Current set-up: Schiit Aegir class-a biasing amp / Schiit Modi Multibit DAC / Schiit Saga+ Pre / Allo Digione Sig streamer. Sounds smooth, organic, beautifully engaging. Can listen to for hours.

Hegel H120 - Immediately cleaner sound, super clear. But after a while noticed my shoulders a little tensed. Just couldn't relax into it. Switched to the external Schiit DAC and A-B'd. The Hegel's internal AKM DAC was adding a significantly crisper leading edge. Not a subtle difference. Some people might like it. But for endless hours of music listening, nah. Not for me. The amp itself was decent if a bit sterile. Probably a bit overpriced at £2,400? Though if you've got pig of a speaker to drive then I can see why a Hegel might be a good option (Dynaudio/Kef folk seem to love the pairing). But yeah, no. Hegel Schmegel.

Lyngdorf TDAI-1120 - Tested the amp without Roomperfect. Not bad. Not bad at all. While it came across fairly neutral it wasn't as sterile/boring as the Hegel. It was super engaging. And zero listening fatigue. Plenty of goosebump inducing moments, zero fatigue, tight bass, solid mids, smooth treble, excellent sound staging. It's a great little bit of kit... the streaming set-up, the voicings, EQ options etc. And it doesn't cook eggs. I also tried it as a pre-amp into the Schiit Aegir and A/B'd. That smooth, organic'ness was back. If I hadn't already heard the Aegir I'd have probably been totally happy with Lyngdorf. But the Aegir can't be unheard, just a richer more organic midrange lushness. Bugger. Tinkering with RoomPerfect; initial impressions significantly cleans up room bass bloat that I didn't know existed. Still testing/figuring RoomPerfect out, could be a deciding factor.

So the Lyngdorf / Aegir was the very best combo but doesn't solve the initial problem of heat and puts me £2k out of pocket lol.

Pondering whether I'll be happy with just the Lyngdorf... love, love, love the simplicity of it and getting shot of 326 metres of cables. But would I miss that midrange? I dunno.

Also spent way too many hours researching all your amp suggestions (thanks) and the one I'd most like to hear is the Exposure, sounds right up my street. "Sweet", "Creamy", "punches well above price" etc.

Options I'm considering...

1. Stick with the Lyngdorf and have an easy life (might add a small sub as Lyngdorf sub integration is supposed to be world class)
2. Lyngdorf as pre/streamer/room correction + Exposure 3150 power amp (£1.5k)
3. Exposure 3150 integrated with external DAC streamer (quite like the look of the Zen gear, neat and tidy and good value)

Argghhh. This hobby. Someone tell me the answer please?

save some and get an exposure 2510. More organic than the 3510

sry I missed you had made a purchase. Great stuff