2. amps-preamps
  3. 135777-10185

Mono Blocks on a Budget, is it possible?

I’m really struggling with the direction to take my system. I have the following:

Legacy Classics speakers
Aurender N100H media player
Schiit Freya tube pre-amp
Schiit Yggdrasil DAC
Schiit Vidar x2 (in mono block mode)

I will be replacing speakers at some point but the rest of the system I love... except the Vidars. Before them, I had NAD 356BEE that was used for the amp. Very clean and I loved it, except it was only 80 Watts. I decided to upgrade to the Vidars. They cost twice as much From a good manufacturer like Schiit so they must be better right? Not really. They are more noisy than the NAD amp and I’m finding myself less in love with them that I though I would be. I was planning the Vidar purchase for about a year and now that I got them I don’t know which direction to take in replacing them. I want to get cleaner mono amps but don’t want to spend more than $3k MAX for both. The Vidars are 400 Watts into 8ohm, are there any options out there for me that are close to the Vidar specs? I’m open to used but mostly I want the amps to sound almost completely clean with practically no distortion. 
xerotrace

Showing 2 responses by viber6

viber6
2,454 posts
 
ricevs,
I’m with you all the way about how the best amp shouldn’t cost much. Maybe you can purchase the AVA monos, tell us how they really sound compared to your reference amps and your own product. Then do your tweaks on the AVA and tell us the result.  Better yet, go for the lower power AVA stereo, which at $2200 may sound as good as the monos within its power range, because it is the same circuit.  I wouldn’t spend $5000 for the monos when great class D using Bruno’s module for possibly less money is coming soon.
viber6
2,454 posts
 
stringreen,
Totally agree that a SOTA stereo amp will beat monos with inferior technology for absolute performance.  Since ricevs is advocating for best sound per dollar, we are looking forward to stereo amps with Purifi modules.  The corresponding mono amps will probably be better, but is it worth spending double when another designer will implement the module in a better stereo design?  And what about more powerful modules sure to come from Purifi?  Get a stereo SOTA amp that is 90+% as good as the mono version for 50% of the price.
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