Pro Amps - What have you tried?

I've listened to some decent Crown power amps as well as some Bryston gear - the lowest output pro power amp, the 2B is particularly nice sounding and I have a pro version (the only difference being no power switch as they are intended to be ganged in a rack and switched on remotely) in my dining room mini-system.

2 of my favorite amplifiers are a Smart Theatre Systems TA 242 ( modified ), and a Yamaha P 2160 ( modified ). Both sounding different, as the STS is a mosfet / Hafler design. Both sound excellent with my Klipsch Lascalas ( modified ). They " follow " the music very well ( prat ), better than many audiophile amps I own, and have owned. They also have input level attenuators, which I have not removed from the circuit, as I go direct from the source into them ( most pro amps, if not all, that I am familiar with, have these attenuators ). The Yamaha is as neutral as I have heard from an amplifier, while the STS adds a bit of warmth. 

Hi Mr Decibel!

Funny, I worked for Smart, possibly during the period those amps were being assembled.  Smart bought the Hafler modules in bulk and supplied their own toroidal power supplies.

I'm glad you like them, but I always thought they were a little thin. I brought my Sumo Andromeda one day, slightly less power, and it smoked the Hafler on dynamics and guts. I have read some believe it depends very much on which Hafler's we're talking about.

Best,


E

I use Crown XTi-2 power amps (3) to power my system. Class AB, negative feedback, extra digital conversion step and all - but with all the power treatment I have on hand to throw at the whole system, they’re sounding better than great. What attracted me to them were the built-in crossovers. You just type in the values (laptop) and you’re there - meaning any value you want from 20-20k and slopes from 1st to 5th order, plus gain and delay. They’ve let me kick all my passive crossovers straight to the curb where they belong without having to pour cash into trying to upgrade them all...grateful forever since for that option as it’s turned out. No going back for me.

They also happen to be Very neutral, both in perspective and, wonder of wonders (sooo elusive in the hifi world), tonally. The power treatments give them the needed inner warmth which lends them a full complete sound without having to increase real warmth just to keep them from sounding threadbare or sterile. Overall now a very authentic sound with very real-sounding color, timbre and musical detail.

@erik_squires  to each his own. Through my ML CLS at the time I owned the Andromeda, I did not like the combo as much as with other amplifiers. Did not like it through the Lascalas either, tubes were preferable with them. It was a good mating with Gale 401s though. Enjoy ! MrD.

Hi
I'm new to this forum. I hope you all have a happy 2020 :-)
Mrdecibel, it was very interesting to hear about your Yamaha p2160.I have been using it for mastering for years. The last years I have used some other hi-end amps, but just today, I wanted to check if it still worked, and after getting warmed up, it sounds very nice.I have been thinking of making some modifications on the amp, and I'm very interested in hearing what changes you made. I saw this post when I was out looking for schematics for the p2160, and joined . Seems like a fantastic community :-)