Pass/musical fidelity for focal scala

Thx zd542 for ur exp sharing.. Nope, nowhere near my place... How about the heat?? Mf/pass.. Is it really hot so i cannot touch with the bare hand?

Just put my hand on my Pass INT-30A, which had been playing at reasonably loud volumes for an hour. Warmest part of casework warm, but I could leave my hand on it for a minute without discomfort. I have heard that class A will affect your electric bill, but I didn't compare b/f and after.

A blown fuse, for which I don't blame the amp for, has been my only issue in 3 years. I think the amp sounds lovely.

Are the Scalas rated at 92b? I think it is worth asking how much power you need, and I doubt the 30 series Pass will be enough. Mine did not work optimally with 92b Montanas, and fits better with a higher efficiency design.

If you do not have a dealer in your area, Mark at Reno HiFi is the man for Pass, and I highly recommend giving him a call.

J

Thx jdoris.. Btw, is there any chance that a new beginner like me can hear the difference between class A or a/b one.. Regarding the heat, is it safe to use the Class A all day long? My city here don't have any audio specialty brand.. So i must prepare the time and narrow the list..

You can read that your insight in audio is very limited. I will tell you one thing. In the 16 years I am in this business the most common mistake is that people spend a lot of money on speakers and not enough to amps. sources and cables. Often people get 30-40% out of their speakers max.

You make the same mistake. It is not that unique. You need to understand first of all the properties of the focals. They are able to give a wide and deep stage. They use great crossovers. But they need room to breath. And room to get the low freq. tight and controlled.

The Oppo is a great player, but there is a big but. They are not stunning in giving timbre in the mid freq.

When you go to these speakers these kind of details are needed for the level this speaker is capable of.

I owned and sold the best MF gear. I even gave MF demos at audio shows. They make great stuff. But in the world of Highend they miss the last needed details. They are not the best in depth either.

I also think the 350.8 will be a great combi with the Scala.

But.......don't forget you need a stunning source, stunning cables as well to get a good result out of the Scala's. these cost a lot of money as well.

You Always will listen to all parts togheter including the acoustics. At the end audio is about making the right combination. I call it the art of sound.

You will get the best endresult when you understand all the properties of each individual tool.

"07-12-14: Didi1606
Thx zd542 for ur exp sharing.. Nope, nowhere near my place... How about the heat?? Mf/pass.. Is it really hot so i cannot touch with the bare hand?"

"07-12-14: Didi1606
Thx jdoris.. Btw, is there any chance that a new beginner like me can hear the difference between class A or a/b one.. Regarding the heat, is it safe to use the Class A all day long? My city here don't have any audio specialty brand.. So i must prepare the time and narrow the list.."

I don't want to sound like a broken record but you did ask for advice and said you wanted to go slow getting into this hobby. By the looks of it, you are going as fast as you can go. I see one of two possible outcomes here. You will either get very lucky and pick components that you will be happy with for a long period of time, or you will spend a lot of money and have a train wreck. With equipment this detailed, a train wreck is the most likely outcome. There's no way to bypass the experiences that end up shaping your personal tastes. Its going to happen. The only variable is how it is going to happen. The choice is yours, so I'll leave it at that.

I don't recall the heat from my Class A Pass amps to be any type of problem. Yes, they get hot, but it was never something that bothered me. I don't recall whether I could touch the amps without getting burned, or not. If you live in a hot climate and don't have A/C, that may be cause for concern. Otherwise, no.