Stereo or monoblocks

@ghdprentice

your post got me thinking...

people will post asking ’hey, what about this one factor in hifi?’ (e.g. stereo vs mono amps... r2r vs d-s digital conversion... single ended vs balanced... metal vs soft dome tweeters... 6dj8 vs 6h30p... fine line vs elliptical styli... belt drive vs dd )

people then chime in, we have lengthy discussions... but this is talking ad nauseum about one particular variable... in a pursuit where multiple multiple variables are constantly at work, to produce the end result of the music playing

so all else equal, sure, we say this or that... but the key to remember is... all else is never equal... and the better question to ask is just how important is this particular factor among all relevant factors in the whole result being achieved?

perhaps a useful framework here may be something like maslov’s hierarchy, but applied to hifi..."mono vs stereo amps" to me have got to be several levels down below ground, deep in the ol’ basement...

Back in the 1990s I was using a Naim based system 72/Hicap/250, and decided to try a pair of Naim’s 135 monoblocks (based on the 250). The differences were noticeable immediately. The Naim house sound remained but all sonic aspects improved. Most notably, separation. The 135s also had better control of the bass, improved sound staging: depth, width, layering of instruments. In other words, everything that I liked about the 250 and more.

I read posts by others to try to gather information and get educated on a variety of subjects. I own two mono blocks, but I don’t know how to use them. They are Bob Latino brand, and I would like to use them, but I don’t know how. I have  JBL speakers and they all have internal crossover’s.

@ rbrantlysteele

One per speaker. A mono block is the same as stereo only each amp is on a single chassis. One for right and one for left. Many moons ago before stereo you only needed one amp and one speaker. When stereo came out you needed two speakers and two amps. Hence the stereo amp. I don’t know when the mono amp was coined mono block?

It really depends on the designer/builder and your budget. For example the better stereo amps are "split down the middle" designs- isolated R &L channel amps on one chassis and often with separate transformers. Cheaper stereo amps share power supplies, caps, etc. 

I have a buddy with no budget at all and he has  4 monoblocks. I can't really hear the difference at all. He can't either. He just likes the cool factor. 

ARC's Reference line of stereo amps is so good you'd be hard pressed to hear the difference between them and their monoblocks. 

Put another way there is a law of diminishing returns.  80% more money for 20% more improvement - but over what baseline? If your quality baseline is already a 9 out of 10 $50,000+ more for monoblocks is just tinkering and geeking out- not really a transformative action.  

FWIW I wouldn't use a non-Mac upgrade if you're into the Mac sound. You could change the personality of the system and not for the better. Demo at home before you buy ALWAYS.