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Dynaudio Focus 110.....Integrated amp????

Over the last year I have had several pairs of reasonably good Hi Fi speakers, Merlin's, Fritz Carbon 7, and Dynaudio Focus 110. The Focus 110 is my favorite based on my room size and listening habits. I have run into a bit of a problem though....amplification. For two years now I have been happy with the entry level Nad 356 Bee. It's musical rather than clinical, has heavy bass, and decent sound stage, and it does a good job driving the 110's. I have decided though that I want more transparency, tighter bass, and bigger soundstage with better highs. Recently I bought a Marantz PM 8004 and was blown away by the huge soundstage, warm detailed midrange, and extended highs. Up until this amp I have hated an extended upper range. I though I had found the perfect amp until I started to pay attention to the bass....it's just not there. After trying out several T and class D amps, the Virtue M9001, 30 Watt Nuforce, and Nad D7050 I am convinced that 110's need a lot of power or an amp that has a large damping factor. The Virtue, Nuforce, and Nad have very large damping factors and control the 110's very we'll putting out lots of tight bass at moderate listening levels. What I am hoping for is that maybe there is a Marantz PM 8004 type amp with the bass control of a class D amp. I'm open to any suggestions, would maybe upgrading to the PM-14S1 do the job??
djverne
13 responses Add your response
ryder
1,690 posts
 
djverne OP48 posts06-27-2016 11:32amwanted to add to this thread even though its almost 3 years later. I have found my amp zen. I moved up the ladder to the Exposure 3010 S2 and paired it with the a LDR Passive Preamp from Tortuga Audio. I am very happy.
Thanks for the update. The Exposure 3010 S2-D has been getting some really good reviews everywhere. I think this is the one to beat at the moment. Certainly an upgrade from the 2010S2 in all departments. The dynamic and punchy sound of the Exposure would suit the Dynaudios well. Since the Dynaudios are not the easiest speaker to drive, I presume the extra power of the 3010S2 will make a difference with the Focus 110.

Interesting that you matched the LDR passive pre with the 3010S2. As a standalone unit I believe the 3010S2 should be quite good on its own.

Enjoy.
djverne OP
77 posts
 
wanted to add to this thread even though its almost 3 years later. I have found my amp zen. I moved up the ladder to the Exposure 3010 S2 and paired it with the a LDR Passive Preamp from Tortuga Audio. I am very happy.
djverne OP
77 posts
 
This amp is so punchy and fast... The best way I can describe it with the 110's is snappy and extremely dynamic. Forward sounding is another term that comes to mind. As you turn the volume up the sound stage grows in width and height, but the sound also crawls to you dynamically in depth.... No so great if ya have a sleeping 10 month old : ( I have heard the the term hard sounding used to describe this amp...I think this is accurate with some source material, speaker dependent, and room acoustics sometimes. The sound is liquid smooth but can be hard if the source material is laking in micro dynamics. I can't help to think how well this would pair with Merlin speakers if you are not wanting to go the tube route. Punchy and rhythmic at lower levels.. can't see imagine Naim Xs being more rhythmic. I"m on the fence.... I miss the high freq detail and warm midrange of the Marantz pm 8004,but the exposure is so punchy and gripping as you turn the volume up. Maybe I will use the Marantz pm 8004 as a preamp to the exposure and see what sound I get .... : o
djverne OP
77 posts
 
Got a Exposure 2010s2 a few days ago....wow. This is definitely a different type of sound. Tons and tons of low end control.Review to follow!!
valinar
473 posts
 
I had a pair of dyn focus 140 in the past. I used a mf a308 integrated and a308 cd player. That was a very good combination. At the time I had a sim i5 in another system. I set up the i5 with the 140's just for a listen. At lower levels it was ok, but at medium to higher volumes the i5 ran out of steam. I think the mf a308 series of components was one of their best, build quality and sound. If found used at a reasonable price, it is a hard to beat match for the dyn 110's.
xti16
1,525 posts
 
When I had my Dyn C1's I had a Bryston B100sst - Naim XS - Octave V40se V70se and a V110. I've also listened to the Naim Supernait. All extremely good matches for Dyns. Even though the Bryston had the highest power rating (180W @4ohm) it was my least favorite. Somewhat musical but dry sounding. The Octave and Naim have better 'control' of the music. With the Octave being a tube integrated I can swap some tubes and change up the sound (more musical to more linear like almost SS sounding).
ejlif's avatar
ejlif
1,375 posts
 
Creek Destiny and Simaudio i5.3 sounded great with the Dynaudios I tried them with. I have not listened to my Krell s300-i with my Dynaudios but I would guess that would be a good match as well. I think the Simaudio and Dynaudio had a pretty great synergy
tls49's avatar
tls49
1,351 posts
 

Another thought about damping factor is that if you do the calculations to see what damping factor is actually achieved at the woofers' terminals, it is much less than the amps' specification due to speaker wire and speaker crossover. There will be a very slight difference at the woofers' terminals between an amp with 100 DF compared to an amp with 2500 DF, but in each case the DF will be well under 50.
donjr
1,335 posts
 
Hegel H200. 2x200 and a damping factor of over 1000. Of course I'm suggesting this because I own and love one. I haven't a clue if it will work well for you.
tls49's avatar
tls49
1,351 posts
 

I agree the MF A308 is a great amp, however the DF is 140, and not 1400. The amp just has plenty of muscle due to its power supply. Also, damping factor is just something you do not need to be concerned with. Read this thread,

http://forum.audiogon.com/cgi-bin/fr.pl?aamps&1283928090&openfrom&2&4#2

and this article,

http://www.trueaudio.com/post_013.htm

IMHO, I don't like Class D amps because as you said, they sound artificial. I'm sure the MF A308 would give you the desired performance, or look for something with that type of build quality, an amp that is very stable with the speakers 4 ohm load, and will double power, or close to double, with the 4 ohm rating compared to the 8 ohm rating. The A308 is 150w into 8 ohms and 300w into 4 ohms.

Since you say moderate listening levels, and with the speakers sensitivity being 84db, I doubt that you could have too much power, unless you went way beyond the speakers capability.
mogelsvs
29 posts
 
I have driven Contour 1.4s with a Musical Fidelity a308 for the past few years. In my setup, this combination has plenty of control, and a sound stage both wide and deep. The more muscle, the better the Dynaudios seem to perform. If you are fine with getting a used amp, I would recommend the a308. I think it is rated something like 150W in 8 ohms and a dampening factor of 1400.

djverne OP
77 posts
 
I have the Nad D 7050 which is suppose to have the same sound signature as that amp but less power. It has oodles of tight bass and big sound stage but the Highs are rolled off and it sounds artificial, not much of sound upgrade over the Nad 356 BEE which I actually like alot for the price. The Marantz however is much more refined, detailed, and pleasant, just lacking in low end control. I had originally considered the Nad 390dd but went with the 7050 first to see if I would like the sound.
maplegrovemusic's avatar
maplegrovemusic
1,113 posts
 
I would try the NAD 390dd
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