Who is the KING of MONOS?


WHO IS THE KING OF MONOS???

Mcintosh 501:
Big. Heavy. Reliable. Built like a tank. Smooth and pleasing. This chuck of metal will flow liquid sound at you all day and not even get warm. It is Fun to listen to and fun to look at. Arguably the best looking amp of them all. Some accuse it of being too laid back. Others would consider selling an appendage to obtain a pair.

Krell Evolution 600e.
Pretty. Maybe not Mac pretty but still pretty. Unlike lesser Krells it is smooth and articulate. Possibly possesses the best bass of any amplifier anywhere. Expensive. If it can be the King it should be expensive.

Cary SA 500.1
Probably has one of the best reviews ever written. Cary is said to be a perfect middle ground between Krell and Levinson. Not too laid back. Not too harsh or dry. Just perfectly nestled in the middle. Not big or heavy. A little plain to look at. Middle of group price tag. A few complaints floating around about reliability. A few complaints that Cary is cheaply made. Is it worthy of a King’s Crown? 10 Audio thinks so………

Levinson N 53.
It is pleasing to the eye. It has lots of clout. It has cost no object claims. It costs a lot of big American Dollars. It has a non typical switching power supply. Levinson is sometimes accused of being too warm. Is this the case the N53? The company has encountered a lot of turmoil in the recent past. Can it overcome the negatives and beat the rest? Will the new D technology be its demise?

Classe CA-M600.
Aesthetically pleasing but doesn’t match anything else. Another smooth operator. This amp has also been accused of being too laid back and polite. Sometimes polite is a good thing. Can it be the polite King of Monos?

Pass Labs XA600.5
Can anything negative be said for this beast. Another block of beauty that has a glowing meter. A little magic and a little hocus pocus maybe. I can see the others getting a little nervous with the Pass in the mix. If only the company would answer the phone and tell me who the dealers are. I hope the product is better than their customer communications.

Wyred4Sound SX-1000
Can it even fit in with names like this? According to the reviews and the manufacturer it can. Its Class D. Its Light. It looks good. According to a lot of people it does things Class A / AB cant. It is by far the cheapest or cost effective of the group. Can this economical wonder compete or beat any of these brutes? Will it wimper and run away with its tail between its legs? We shall see.

Let us discuss who the King should be. Let us discuss who it shouldn’t be. Who cares about price. This is a Royal group. Who is the best of the best? No one wants to hear “They all sound the same.” Don’t waste our time. These boxes have magic inside. Who has the most? Which one should we all be dreaming of when go sleepy at night?. Who is the King Of Monos?
paimei

Showing 17 responses by roysen

BTW, The Levinson NO.53 does not have a digital power supply like it is claimed in the initial post. It has an analog power supply but a switching output stage.

...and both the ML No.33 and No.33H sounds better.

Krell Evolution 600e is nowhere as good as the Evolution One and even farther behind the MRA.

The mentioned McIntosh model is not in the same league as the Mc2KW.
If we are talking big and powerful, then The Sovereign Audio The Sovereign amplifiers from Germany would probably take the prize. It produces 3KW in 8Ohm and 10KW in 1 Ohm.
It contains three transformers and are made to operate on a 3-phase electrical line of 400V. It will work with only 220V as well and if you put it on a 220V line it is specified to draw a maximum of 100A from your power line. Their weight are 165 kg each.
When it comes to tube amplifiers my pick would be the Tube Research Labs Platinum GTR-800s that Gallant_Diva on this forum is using. 800W, four chassis (amp and power supply for each channel), 24 tubes each chassis.
A list of contenders:
Goldmund Telos 5000
FM Acoustics Resolution Series 2011
Sovereign Audio The Sovereign
Dynaudio Arbiter
Krell Master Reference Amplifiers
Mark Levinson No.33 Reference Monaural Amplifiers
Burmester 909 Mk.V (Internally mono bridged)
darTZeel NHB-458
Soulution Audio 700
Gryphon Audio Colosseum Solo
Jeff Rowland Design Group Model 925
Edge NL Reference Mono Amplifiers
GamuT Audio S600M Mk.III
Halcro dm88
Spectral Audio DMA-360 Reference Monaural Amplifiers Series 2
Audire The New Monarch
McIntosh Mc2KW
Boulder 2050
MBL 9011
Tube Research Labs Platinum GTR-800
Jadis JA-800
Arna-Sphere MA-3
Conrad Johnson ART
VTL Siegfried
Audio Research Reference 610T
Wavac SH-833
Kondo Gaku-On Mk.II
LAMM Industries ML-3 Signature
Convergent Audio Technologies JL-1 Limited Edition
Joule Electra VZN-350 Destiny
Shoreline 800
Ypsilon SET-1000
Pathos Acoustics Adrenaline
Sure, that was just names that quickly came to me. More names should be added to make the list complete. Here are some:

Pass Labs X-10005
Octave Research Jubilee Mono Amplifiers
Horch Power Stage
Zanden Audio Model 9600
EAR M-1000A
Theta Citadel
Classe Omega
Wadia 790 PowerDAC

BAlabo, Audio Tekne, Vitus Audio, Ayre, Chord, Tenor Audios top models should also but I don't remember their model indication.
Nobody as far as I can see have claimed there is one mono amp which is best in all contexts. In my opinion it is pretty dumb not to see that this thread shows so many contenders and candidates to such a title that only personal evaluation in given context can decide what each individual consider the best mono amp out there.

This thread is however a good place to start if you are looking for "the best" because you can draw on other peoples experience and use that as a base for your quest to what is best for you in your situation
When somebody claims a thread is dumb when they simply could have ignored the thread alltogether shows a need to make themselves noticed which is quite unconstructive or dumb if you will.
Why not? ... and who has ever claimed this thread is awsome? Is your repsonse "awsome" too or dumb?
Really? Then congratulations to you on your acheivement. I am truly impressed by your intelectual capacity.
Sorry for my bad English. I am not an English natural. That does not stop me from coming with s hesrtfelt plea. Don't kill enthusiasm from fellow audiophiles by comments like dumb/stupid about someones question or opinion.

We are not all the same and in order to not kill off this hobby which is getting smaller in numbers every day, please be more including than shown here no matter how much you feel your image will grow if you can stamp someone elses opinion or post as unintelligent.

Thanks
I am sure the wording "King og minos" was chosen partly to provlke attention in order to get respones and by that to get more opinions and a wider discussion with more opinions about more products to get more information for the search for threadstarters personal king of monos for his own context.

So why not contribute your own experiences rather than unconstructive negativity.
Well,

Can you point out exactly what post in this thread where it is stated that rated output power is the measurement use to determine the answer to the initial post?

However since we are talking about amplifiers, its quality is related to power as well as distortion and noise.

It is also not quite as simple as the previous poster described because when you decide to upgrade by changing the speakers, it would be great not having to change the amplifier too. By choosing an amplifier able to drive anything the first time you do an amplifier investement, you will not be forced to change the amplifier every time you change speakers.

Objectively the measuring stick for the best amplifier would be the one with lowest noise and distortion which is powerful enough to drive any speaker. The subjective measuring stick but you need to replace the lowest noise distortion with subjective sound quality.

To be able to drive any speaker requires power. So that power is part of what makes the best amplifier should not be a surprise to anyone.
Of course speaker compatibility, room, preamp, source components and even cables have to be taken into consideration when choosing which amplifier to buy which also has to match personal taste.

That however is very different from comparing amplifiers against each other trying to find out which is best.

Are you guys saying that Stereophiles Recomended Components list and TAS Golden Ear Awards are dumb and not worth reading?

I would guess these lists are the most used shopping guides for audiophiles and by that useful even though the evaluation behind the products ln these lists does not take into account your personal context and the buyer has to add that too his/her own evaluation.
Equally crappy? This is not about sharing opinons anymore is it? The seriousness of such a statement is so low there is no need to comment?