Another data point from experience to share.
Having run a few integrated, stereo, and mono amps over the years, my best experience was with tube mono amps (Primaluna PL7), by a large margin. However, those tube amps were superior to anything else I ran, so is it the tubes, the mono, or the quality that really made my system boogie?
Fast forward a few years and kids and such have relegated the tubes to but a distant, sweet memory. I did manage to scrounge up a pair of Bel Canto Evo 200.2 bridgeable amps on the cheap since both were broken. One worked fine in stereo mode, so other was sent back to Bel Canto for a little love. The BC crew hooked me up, and I was lucky the tri-paths were still good (unobtanium now...). Swapped ’em out and sent the other back. The newly repaired unit sounded pretty much the same, not enough difference for me to notice.
It’s a pretty good amp, especially considering its 20 year old digital switching technology, but my system was dark, lifeless, and just generally not even close to my old mono tubes. Frustrating since the rest of the system is more or less the same.
Yesterday I got the second one back, and was like a kid in the candy store, excited to see what was waiting for me. I turned it on low and sat at my desk, not wanting to listen too much for an hour or two while the one channel warmed up from its deep slumber.
Well, I didn’t have to wait that long. After about 5 minutes my listening room began to fill with the punch I remembered from my mono days. Even at a low listening level the sound was ’jumping’ out of the speakers. Okay, time to listen.
Its hard to describe, but that effortless sound that could seemingly come from cutting the mass of the moving components in the speaker in half emanated forth like a freight train of power. Heavy metal saturated the room with concussive power, yet delicate music sprang forth from the blackness with a new found resolution, especially at lower volumes.
Paired with LS50s the stereo amp was always a pretty good at imaging, but the pair of monos noticeably sharpened up the edges, and made it easier to hear the difference between a natural soundstage and artificial stereo effects.
The character of the sound did not change when switching to mono. However the difference in presentation was dramatic. I really can’t explain it better than saying it felt like a dramatic increase in dynamic range.
Doubling power helps, of course, but my tube monos at half the power had it too...so I think its more than just a simple wattage number.
With my tube monos, I had feeling mono made a difference. But now that I’ve experienced back to back with similar equipment, I have no doubt. Mono amps just give a dramatically better presentation.
Having run a few integrated, stereo, and mono amps over the years, my best experience was with tube mono amps (Primaluna PL7), by a large margin. However, those tube amps were superior to anything else I ran, so is it the tubes, the mono, or the quality that really made my system boogie?
Fast forward a few years and kids and such have relegated the tubes to but a distant, sweet memory. I did manage to scrounge up a pair of Bel Canto Evo 200.2 bridgeable amps on the cheap since both were broken. One worked fine in stereo mode, so other was sent back to Bel Canto for a little love. The BC crew hooked me up, and I was lucky the tri-paths were still good (unobtanium now...). Swapped ’em out and sent the other back. The newly repaired unit sounded pretty much the same, not enough difference for me to notice.
It’s a pretty good amp, especially considering its 20 year old digital switching technology, but my system was dark, lifeless, and just generally not even close to my old mono tubes. Frustrating since the rest of the system is more or less the same.
Yesterday I got the second one back, and was like a kid in the candy store, excited to see what was waiting for me. I turned it on low and sat at my desk, not wanting to listen too much for an hour or two while the one channel warmed up from its deep slumber.
Well, I didn’t have to wait that long. After about 5 minutes my listening room began to fill with the punch I remembered from my mono days. Even at a low listening level the sound was ’jumping’ out of the speakers. Okay, time to listen.
Its hard to describe, but that effortless sound that could seemingly come from cutting the mass of the moving components in the speaker in half emanated forth like a freight train of power. Heavy metal saturated the room with concussive power, yet delicate music sprang forth from the blackness with a new found resolution, especially at lower volumes.
Paired with LS50s the stereo amp was always a pretty good at imaging, but the pair of monos noticeably sharpened up the edges, and made it easier to hear the difference between a natural soundstage and artificial stereo effects.
The character of the sound did not change when switching to mono. However the difference in presentation was dramatic. I really can’t explain it better than saying it felt like a dramatic increase in dynamic range.
Doubling power helps, of course, but my tube monos at half the power had it too...so I think its more than just a simple wattage number.
With my tube monos, I had feeling mono made a difference. But now that I’ve experienced back to back with similar equipment, I have no doubt. Mono amps just give a dramatically better presentation.