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Small, powerful, relatively inexpensive, efficient amplifiers

jamesd

jamesd

pfm Member
looking for a small form factor 2 channel amplifier...half width case at the most...to use with a Pro-ject Pre Box S2 Digital preamp/DAC. 100 watts per channel would do it. I'd like something pretty efficient that I could leave on all the time without feeling guilty about it.

What's out there?
 
Small, powerful, and relatively inexpensive is going to be tough. The Rega Brio does 50W or so, but I think you're looking for something with a chip amp given your power consumption concerns as well. The NAD D3045 does 60x2.
 
jamesd said:
thanks. just to be clear: I don't want an integrated amp.

I know Schiit makes these but I don't know how efficient they are:

http://www.schiit.com/products/vidar
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That’s a class A/B amp, if it’s idle power consumption you’re worried about then maybe an email to Schiit could glean the information you’re after. Class A/B designs don’t necessarily consume a lot of energy when sitting idle, however they’re much less efficient than class D designs when they’re actually delivering power. Class A designs are the least efficient topology and consume a lot of energy even when sat idle due the fact that their output devices are conducting constantly and give off a lot of heat. All Linn power amps after the LK100/Klout have signal sensing and use very little power when in standby. Not sure if they’re small enough, an LK85/140 has almost the same footprint as an LP sleeve and they’re about 8cm tall. The Majik and Akurate models are about 6cm wider.

To be honest, even with an LK85, the Pre Box would be the weaker link, someone was selling one on here for £150.
 
it's idle consumption i'm interested in

this little Pre Box is replacing a Nakamichi receiver, a full width DAC and a Chromecast in a second system, so it doesn't need to be the best preamp in the world. it's mostly to listen to while cooking/hanging out. I'll be happy to get rid of all those cables.
 
jamesd said:
it's idle consumption i'm interested in

this little Pre Box is replacing a Nakamichi receiver, a full width DAC and a Chromecast in a second system, so it doesn't need to be the best preamp in the world. it's mostly to listen to while cooking/hanging out. I'll be happy to get rid of all those cables.
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It has to be class D then but I strongly recommend not leaving any equipment on all the time.
 
It seems like a matching Pro-Ject Amp Box DS2 would be perfect. 100w x2 class D. It has a trigger in/out facility so your preamp switching on/off could also power up/down the amp from standby.

https://www.project-audio.com/en/product/amp-box-ds2/

Looks like it's 499€(?)

producto-26228-63.jpg
 
jamesd said:
well how about that. thanks. I only saw the Amp Box S2 when I first looked.
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Heh, I had a more thorough look at the Pro-Ject website and realized I could probably swap my old integrated amp for a Pro-Ject S2 pre, amp, dac and tuner and break even. Hmmm.
 
Why do you need 100 watts?

I have a Amptastic Mini-1 amp which is only about 20 watts but carries a big old punch into Wharfedale Diamond IV speakers in my office system.
 
pjdowns said:
Why do you need 100 watts?

I have a Amptastic Mini-1 amp which is only about 20 watts but carries a big old punch into Wharfedale Diamond IV speakers in my office system.
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As far as I can tell Amptastic is no longer. The website still exists, but the "Buy Now" buttons don't do anything, and nobody answers at the contact email address

But yeah, if lower power is ok then a tripath amp would be interesting.
 
Arkless Electronics said:
It has to be class D then but I strongly recommend not leaving any equipment on all the time.
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The Linn LK85/140 have signal sensing and actually power down the output stages after a few minutes of inactivity, hence my suggestion of one of those. I agree though, it’s best to power any amp down when not in use.
 
The most important thing with your speakers is current delivery capability, it’s a 4 ohm nominal design with an internal bass driver arranged in an isobaric configuration iirc... so a good strong linear power supply would help.
 
jamesd said:
looking for a small form factor 2 channel amplifier...half width case at the most...to use with a Pro-ject Pre Box S2 Digital preamp/DAC. 100 watts per channel would do it. I'd like something pretty efficient that I could leave on all the time without feeling guilty about it.

What's out there?
Click to expand...
@jamesd Can I be so cheaky as to suggest a look at my new range.

Hypex ncore based.

https://www.marchaudio.net.au/power-amplifiers

@Purité Audio stocks them in the UK

In terms of efficiency they are class d so up to 90% efficient. 0.12 watts in standby. They are 10 to 12 watts on at idle. Balanced in compatible with single ended RCA. Easily driven directly from your dac, in fact thats exactly how I recommend they are used.

Tough anodised aluminium case milled from solid block and of course sound superb :) The P122 would work out about 385 GBP, but Keith has precise pricing.

Any questions please ask.
 
Can I query the logic of wanting something with low idle power consumption so it can be left on all the time? Is this so it will be always 'warmed up'? If the idle power consumption is tiny, it will produce neglible heat and so will just be at ambient temperature. It will only start to get warm when its amplifying music. So leaving it on achieves nothing. (Apologies if your motivation for leaving it on is something different).
 
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