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In Reply to: RE: Power Solid State Power Amp for Avantgarde posted by Mr Peabody on April 28, 2015 at 20:18:40
> I was totally shocked to learn Merrill are Class D and not exactly low power, but they sounded great and had nothing in the presentation to alert my ears I was hearing Class D. Merrill allows an audition and their stereo amp is around $2500.00.
Alas they are $12,000! See http://www.stereophile.com/content/merrill-and-sadurni-most-musical-combo. Well outside my budget.
How odd that these horn speakers were linked up to 700 watt amplifiers. Perhaps they were attenuated to about a tenth of that to avoid wholesale destruction if some careless visitor got hold of the volume control!
Peter
Follow Ups:
The big monoblocks are $12k but he told me he has a stereo amp at $2500.00. At the shows they don't let people mess with things :).
I can't see anything on their site about a new low powered amp, not even in News. Having never heard of this company, I'd be reluctant to take a punt on buying a $2,500 amp - specially if their existing range is in the $12,000 price bracket.
Peter
I think he is the same Merrill that started out modifying AR turntables a very long time ago.
Dave
If you are on Merrill's site products are listed on the front page, look for Taranis. I'm not sure how long he's been designing the products or his history, I just know the amp impressed me with it's sound quality. The site also shows a few reviews of his products. The Thor monoblocks are $4800.00 a pair. Did you see where he fits his amps with Stillpoints, Cardas wiring on inside, Synergistic fuses & high quality power cord? These look to be standard on the monoblocks but add-ons with the Taranis. No other amp company I know offers this type of audiophile tweaks. I think Merrill will do well as it looks to be a work of passion and the quality is definitely there both sound and build.
Thanks again Mr Peabody
Interesting that this amp uses Ncore D class technology. I was planning on getting the Benchmark AHB2 which also uses NCore.
I'm inclined to stick to Benchmark for 2 main resons - much lower power output (I just don't want anywhere near 400 watts connected to my valuable high efficiency speakers) and the Benchmark has switchable gain setting. These will allow low gain to keep their modest 100 watts in check.
The 102 dB Avantgardes I have are currently fed by 28 watt 845 amplifiers but I've previously had them singing with just 5 watts from PX-25s!
Peter
Hi Peter, I haven't heard Benchmark but their DAC's were quite popular. If that's the way you go let me know how they sound.
d
Edits: 07/06/15
> Benchmark AHB2 is not NCore, it's a new design
It seems I've been mislead by a misinformed reviewer! I've also ordered a Benchmark today and will be getting my hands on it early next week. Let's compare notes? What speakers do you use?
Peter
d
Edits: 07/06/15
> Klipsch 280F. Did I made you buy it? lolNo although I received favourable comments from a number of sources.
Someone here (Serge S on Amps Forum) suggested I read the threads on the AV Forums initiated by Blazar who has Trios and seemingly enough cash to be able to experiment with just about any amp he thought may sound great. His tests have included various valve amps, Pass Labs, First Watt, NAD and other SS including the Benchmark that he singles out as pretty amazing considering its price. Let's hope he's right as mine is due to arrive next week!
Peter
Edits: 05/01/15
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