Please tutor me on some integrated amp basics.


I’ve recently purchased Magico A3 speakers and a VPI Classic 2 SE turntable with an Ortofon Black 2M moving magnet cartridge. I have a Marantz SA 8005 CD/SACD player to play the few (maybe a hundred or so) CD’s in my possession.
I’ve mostly vinyl albums and no streaming sources. I’m next going to upgrade my old amp/preamp purchased back in the late 70’s with a new, probably integrated, one and am starting to do some research.

Here’s where I need some tutoring. A lot has changed since the seventies with the advent of digital technology. As well as I need to learn more about amplification components in the high end of audio technology. I keep running across terms I don’t understand. I’ll give you a list and if someone would be kind enough to explain these basics I’d be obliged.

For instance I was reading about the Hegel H360 integrated amp that Magico’s Alon Wolf recommended for their A3’s. The review mentioned they were a Class A/B amp, another person commented Class A’s were better, and a third person said he didn’t care for Class D amps. What do these classes signify? 

A second question is about DACs. I generally understand their purpose of the DAC, converting a digital to an analog signal. However my only digital device, the Marantz SA 8005 already has a DAC, ostensibly of good quality. The turntable ’s Ortofon cartridge would not need to play through a DAC, I presume. Would I bypass the CD’s players DAC if I purchase the higher quality Hegel H360 integrated amp?. Or could I find an equivalent integrated amp without an integral DAC?

On the other side of the equation I understand the turntable’s cartridge cannot play through the Hegel without first going through a phono stage. My old Phase Linear 4000 preamp you just plugged the turntables RCA cables into the back of the preamp and you were done. What’s that about? Do they make equivalent integrated amps to the Hegel H360 with integrated phono stages already in place, so I can just plug my turntable in as I’ve been able to do before. The amps don’t seem to be well integrated at all if you have to add a pricey phono stage to make them work, and end up having an extra DAC. That’s just me whining.

Third question is what are monoblocks, how are they used, and what are their advantages to a system? They were used at one of my speaker auditions.

I figured out the answer to what amplifier damping was myself, so I’m sparing you that one, but what does the term impedance mean? I keep coming across that.

Thank goodness I don’t have to figure out the cabling nightmare yet. Thanks for any help.

Mike
skyscraper

Showing 3 responses by djones51

You say you just plugged your TT into your old Phase 4000 and it worked then that old amp had a phono stage so if you want the same ease of use with your new one it would need a phono stage. The stats on the A3 show a min 50w and max 300w with 88db sensitivity at 4ohms. You say you want simplicity just something to drive the speakers with ease have a phono input and cd input and are not particluarly concerned about a dac and aren't looking for specific amp recommendations. Taking that I would look for an integrated amp with a phono stage, at least 200w into 4ohms or higher they will all have  line level inputs for cd and one with a dac for future use. As mentioned above integrateds with dual mono design would be a good thing as well. There are a lot of choices out there a lot will have more functionality than you want but that could come in handy someday. Good luck. 
The Anthem STR Integrated is built in Canada. Not sure how well it goes   with Magico but it does 200w at 8 ohm , 400w at 4ohm , 550w at 2 ohm. It runs $4500 new. They also have power amps in your price range with more power. There should be Anthem dealers in your area might be able to get a home demo with your speakers. 
Not sure  what cables Magico uses at the shows but I did read a review about 3 years ago in stereophile where they went to their factory and they used MIT cables and Soulution Electronic mono blocks  on their high end speakers. I have seen MIT speaker cables from around $1000 a pair to over $50,000 a pair. In my opinion copper wire of an appropriate guage and insulation with good connectors are all that one needs.