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What type of Amp for Ohm Walsh F-5015s?

AudigoN Team,

Looking for some thoughts on amplifier choice for Ohm Acoustic F-5015 speakers that I will be getting shortly.  Would these sound better with a class D amp or a class AB amp? 

I have some space restrictions (17 inch deep open wood shelving with a back wall) that are limiting my amp choices absent a furniture change and I don't want to do that unless totally "painted into a corner"  John, the owner of Ohm told me that I should have at least 200 watts at 6 ohms to power the F-5015s.  The powered subwoofers built into these speakers come with class D IcePower amps with line level inputs, so the amp that I obtain must have two line level subwoofer outputs.

The two units (2 line level subwoofer outputs, 200 watts around 6 ohms, less than 17 inches deep, don't run hot) that have come up in discussion with John and Evan at Ohm are the class D NAD M32 and the class AB Parasound Halo INT6.  I have read that the INT6 doesn't run too hot, so it hopefully would be ok in a piece of wood furniture.  After my discussion with Ohm, I saw that the class D Peachtree Nova 500 could possibly work based on the specifications, but can't seem to find any reviews on this higher power Peachtree amp.  Another wild-card that would be much more expensive and offer higher power output would be the NAD M12/M22 v2 combo.  I am aware that you likely get what you pay for and that the NAD systems are higher priced, especially the non-integrated combo.

Would appreciate your thoughts / amplifier guidance and any additional suggestions.
michiganbuckeye

Showing 2 responses by michiganbuckeye

michiganbuckeye OP
17 posts
 
A bit more information, my budget is somewhere between $3k to $6k. This includes power amp, pre-amp, DAC and cables, thus the appeal of an integrated solution. Could go new, demo or used, but leary of used unless a significant price discount. Trying to figure out the best cost-effective approach. Not finding local dealers that stock all these options so I can "borrow" them to tryout once I get the speakers. Also, if I so happen to go the used equipment route, I probably can’t "borrow" the unit. Thus, I am looking for those with Ohm experience to help with your wisdom.

I am not looking to include a turntable but would like to hook up my OLED TV and use this audio system that I am starting to piece together. Also I have no plans to add any satellite speakers for surround sound.
michiganbuckeye OP
17 posts
 
Dep14, I am picking the rosewood finish and the version that has the smaller upper grills and the wood veneered middle portion above the large veneered tapered base (not the other available version with large upper grills like on the original Ohm Fs). I am having a pair of Ohm F’s that I inexpensively obtained remade into these by Ohm Acoustics, as the discount for reusing old speakers is significant.

Of the amps that I listed, 2 are class D and 1 is class AB. The amp you use is class AB. I have read that class D amps work best with "warm" sounding speakers and I have seen some Ohm speaker reviews that use the term "warm" in the description and some that do not include this word. How would you or anyone else reading this classify the Ohms that you have?

You may be amazed by this, but this is a totally blind purchase by me, so I don’t have any experience with Ohms other than a few minutes listening in an aisle way in a used audio store to a very old smaller pair with dated drivers. I am going off of online recommendations to my past posted topics, so all of you that have responded in the past collectively have picked these for me. Thus, keeping up with the spirit of this, you all can collectively help with the amp selection, which I may or may not, as stated earlier in this topic string, be able to audition prior to purchase.
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