Jotter: I just spoke to Robert Levy at Sunfire the other day about this. The funny thing is, many of the suggestions that i had made to Sunfire technical staff in the past that they had stated "won't do a thing for the amp" are now incorporated into the newer designs. While i doubt that my suggestions are directly related to the improvements, it's good to see that they are paying attention and taking steps to improve these products in a real world manner.
First of all, the "Architectural Series" make use of a larger transformer and increased power supply reserve / filtration ( bigger capacitors ). Since the power supply is the heart of any electrical device, they started off by improving something that will benefit the entire unit right off the bat.
Bass impact has been improved, which was one of the biggest flaws that i had found in these units. Bass wasn't weak or sloppy, it just lacked the "slam" that i'm used to on some of my bigger amps. The noise floor has also been reduced, which could be directly related to power supply improvements. This is also a "problem" that i had noticed with the earlier models, as they didn't have as "black of a background" as i am used to. So far, so good.
The circuitry has also been altered / improved on these units. Sunfire was able to look at the earlier designs and see how they ran over time. By reviewing what end users had to say and documenting parts failure / circuit anomalies in units sent in for repair, they were able to improve both performance and reliability of the product. Obviously, this is more good news.
As far as i can tell, these "upgrades" are only present in the Architectural Series though. I don't know if they apply to the receivers or not. I do know that there are factory upgrades that Sunfire does to their 2 channel amps that improve low impedance / low frequency performance on very tough loads that are not applicable to their multi-channel amps. I've had what is referred to as the "Apogee mod" performed to my Sunfire Signature that is running my mains and it did make a noticeable difference.
If you are really serious about these products, call up Sunfire Technical support and talk to the folks there. Any of them will be able to help you out, but Robert is the most technically advanced as far as i'm concerned. Sean
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First of all, the "Architectural Series" make use of a larger transformer and increased power supply reserve / filtration ( bigger capacitors ). Since the power supply is the heart of any electrical device, they started off by improving something that will benefit the entire unit right off the bat.
Bass impact has been improved, which was one of the biggest flaws that i had found in these units. Bass wasn't weak or sloppy, it just lacked the "slam" that i'm used to on some of my bigger amps. The noise floor has also been reduced, which could be directly related to power supply improvements. This is also a "problem" that i had noticed with the earlier models, as they didn't have as "black of a background" as i am used to. So far, so good.
The circuitry has also been altered / improved on these units. Sunfire was able to look at the earlier designs and see how they ran over time. By reviewing what end users had to say and documenting parts failure / circuit anomalies in units sent in for repair, they were able to improve both performance and reliability of the product. Obviously, this is more good news.
As far as i can tell, these "upgrades" are only present in the Architectural Series though. I don't know if they apply to the receivers or not. I do know that there are factory upgrades that Sunfire does to their 2 channel amps that improve low impedance / low frequency performance on very tough loads that are not applicable to their multi-channel amps. I've had what is referred to as the "Apogee mod" performed to my Sunfire Signature that is running my mains and it did make a noticeable difference.
If you are really serious about these products, call up Sunfire Technical support and talk to the folks there. Any of them will be able to help you out, but Robert is the most technically advanced as far as i'm concerned. Sean
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