The Best Amp for the Price of Dirt

This thread should have been entitiled " Best Mono-Block Amps for the Price of Dirt ". My fault.

The A-500's are best configured as 500W mono blocks with specs that can go down the page. They can be compaired Mono-Blocks costing 100 to XXX as more ; mine cost $198.00 ea. , including an additional 2 year, "No Questions Asked", warranty. The bite on them is that "Hi-Fi World" yawned in their review & Robert Hartley declined to review them for "Stereophile". "The Audio Critic" highly recommended them but some just love to hate the Editor and his recommendations : I view that behavor as unethical even if Peter is hard-core in his views. I have been reading his views for 30+ years. My view, he is more correct than not , even if he's a nut on a rare few issues.

The A-500's can hande almost any speaker from 2-16 Ohms with grace. Here's the rub ... Should you get a superb pair they work that way right out of the box. I am told a few % points of stock sold is terrible, Ergo the need for a modest cost extra protection warranty. I purchased mine from musican's friend web site , wonderful folks to do business with.

I'm certan lots of superior equipment exists but 0-500W @ 8 ohms ???? My only rub ... I only listen in 8 ohms & all should do so as mono-blocks.

Docdan50: I reside in Maryland, land of 4 seasons. Here, the summers are getting hotter & more humid. In MD, A/C is very expensive , up near 500 % from the time when I purchased a tube amp. Thanks Gov'.

As in Texas warm weather relates to a change-over from tubes to solid state.

This year Dave Cocklin's S.O.B.'s;they are 84-90W,use 6550's or KT-88's Test-Beds , serial #'s I & II sneezed ; the iron plates in the chokes started to create a slight mechanical noise . Doc, these amps have been good to me. Besides unparalled sound, I have had no break-downs in 18 years of ownership . I am the second owner to David who is no longer with us.

Eric Falkenhan (410-467-3620) is to replace the Chicago Standard Collins R-63 Chokes with drop-in replacements. The alternative would be a mucho-buck rewinding & potting or re-dipping of the plates, not kind things to a bank account in hard times.

The A-500's have been returned to service in the "Big Rig". In my view they stand on their own merits with any speaker source & are of course "cheap as dirt".

Doc, the best to you & your amp source. Pleas keep us informed of your listening experiences.

Milen007, Thank you for stopping bye. I did go to the web site and the T Switching Amp named "charlize" did look interesting, but Oh Charlize is a beauty ... her picture depicts a true motion picture star. I have watched all of her films.

As for the Amp it certianly qualifies as a DIY'er and for someone that feels 10W is what they need to create beauty... Go For It ...

Recently, I purchased a beautiful pair of Mageplaner 12OR's that I mated with the A-500's and Mapleshade Double Helix Speaker Cable. A match made in heaven. I have used several front ends all sucessfully. For far-less than 1K using a digital front end including Sony HD Radio, anyone can have a mono-block system with planar speaker that competes with just about everything out there , deep bass exempted. A Hi-End life anyone can afford without going broke.