Power Amp upgrade ideas

Crunchynut

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Hi all,

I’m thinking of my next upgrade and in the direction of my amp. Currently I have a Musical Fidelity M3si which I use in power amp mode by virtue of the HT input. I’m wondering whether swapping this out for a dedicated power amp is worthwhile. And if so, what are the options in the £1k to £3k price band.

This would also allow use of xlr inputs. I know nothing about these and their merits so your thoughts and advice appreciated on both fronts.

Btw - driving Kanta No1.
 

uzzy

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My question would be, what is it about the sound you are getting from your system that you do not like? If you have identified shortcomings then you can look for solutions.

If you are just searching for "improvements" without knowing exactly what you are looking for then it is a dangerous game and leads to lots of box swapping in my experience.

As to XLR connections .. if the amp and the item being plugged into it is not truly "balanced" then there is no advantage at all - and if your inerconnects are less than two meters long, then it is improbable that there will be an remarkable changes in sound quality (if any at all).
 

Crunchynut

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Good points, thank you.

I guess it’s more a question of ‘what am I missing’ than ‘something needs fixing’.

Your comments that phono to XLR won’t make any difference on a short interconnect is just the kind of advice I was looking for.

I wonder if others can describe the difference they have experienced by moving from integrated to power amp set-ups?
 

uzzy

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I guess it’s more a question of ‘what am I missing’ than ‘something needs fixing’.
This is the problem - I call it the search for the Holy Grail. In life systems can always be better but the art of being content is just asking yourself are your ears happy?

As I have said many times, I only change things in my system when I have heard something else that when I come to listen again on my system I am left disappointed. That is why my changes over the years have been few (but usually very expensive).

Find some local wammers and go listen to theirs and have them come listen to yours. Even better they may even bring their amps over to try on your system.

The technical advantage of separate pre power combinations is separate power supplies for pre and power (with an active preamp). Your speakers are of average efficiency (88db) so personal view is you need 75 or more watts a side to drive them. Your MF seems to be an ideal match so until you hear anything better I would just sit back and enjoy what you have.
 
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Andrei

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Hi all,

I’m thinking of my next upgrade and in the direction of my amp. Currently I have a Musical Fidelity M3si which I use in power amp mode by virtue of the HT input. I’m wondering whether swapping this out for a dedicated power amp is worthwhile. And if so, what are the options in the £1k to £3k price band.

This would also allow use of xlr inputs. I know nothing about these and their merits so your thoughts and advice appreciated on both fronts.

Btw - driving Kanta No1.
No specific advice but just a note on XLR connectors. They are just that - a species of connector. Usually, however, they are used when a 'balanced' connection is thought desirable. It is a bit of a generality but by and large balanced connections are preferable. I say 'preferable' but to be precise what I mean is that in some cases balanced connections are preferable but in others 'single ended' will give exactly the same result. Single Ended just means there is one end of the of the input rather than two. So while Balanced is sometimes better (and this typically means less induced noise) Single Ended is never better than balanced. So if you have a choice, go Balanced. Single Ended connections are typically terminated with RCA plugs. Hence Balanced vs Single Ended is often expressed as XLR vs RCA.

In practice the differences, if any, are small. Often the measurable differences make no audible difference because the induced noise is below the noise floor - just lower in Balanced rather than Single Ended - but still inaudible in any event.

The time to take Balanced Connections seriously is where your interconnects are subject to an electrically noisy environment or where the interconnects are very long.

There are tons of nice YouTube videos on the subject. A good one is here
By all means search the 'Tube for guidance because it is an interesting subject in any event; especially the concept of Common Mode Noise Rejection. This is an ingenious concept.

Typically preamp manufactures will make disparaging remarks about balanced connection - and this always seems to correlate with the fact they do not offer balanced connections.

Takeaway: don't stress about it. There are many variables in choosing equipment and the type of connection is one of the less important ones.
 

Jezzer

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Nice speakers. I have the same but I use a pre/power set up (Hegel and Bel Canto - fully balanced with XLR connections). There’s no easy answer to your question on the benefits of moving from integrated to pre/power as not all things are created equal.

You’re welcome to pop in to Chez Jezzer’s for a listen and a cuppa.
 
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Crunchynut

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Which part of the country are you, i have…some amps..none of which are for sale, but if you are local it may be beneficial to have a listen to something different and may help with your search.
I’m in Uttoxeter - Staffs. Thanks for the offer - I may take you up on it when I have a bit of time.
 

Rockchild

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Using RME ADI-2 DAC FS as DAC/Pre-Amp
Ok, can I be honest? Your amplification isn’t up to it. The Kanta’s deserve the best possible amplification affordable.

It’s no good people firing options at you without knowing the full facts. It amazes me tbh.

What is the rest of your system?
 
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Crunchynut

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Ok, can I be honest? Your amplification isn’t up to it. The Kanta’s deserve the best possible amplification affordable.

It’s no good people firing options at you without knowing the full facts. It amazes me tbh.

What is the rest of your system?
I don’t feel as though anybody has fired any options at me. Just useful food for thought and generous offers of listening to other gear.
 
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Crunchynut

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Question - a dedicated power amp will obviously help with preserving and supporting dynamics through abundance of power. But, will the fact it may be more precisely designed / built / lower SNR etc mean that it preserves more detail as well? What virtues do Power Amps bring?
 

Nopiano

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Question - a dedicated power amp will obviously help with preserving and supporting dynamics through abundance of power. But, will the fact it may be more precisely designed / built / lower SNR etc mean that it preserves more detail as well? What virtues do Power Amps bring?
No, not necessarily.

My Pass power amp is an example of a not-very-powerful, not extremely quiet amp, that just happens to sound stunning. No balanced inputs either, so confounds all your preconceptions!

Probably not up your street unless you listen to smaller-scale music in a compact room. But if that’s you, I got mine used for around £3k.

Straying away from Pass, several amp designers deliberately allow more (white) noise that they can engineer, because subjectively it sounds better. d’Agostino amps, for example.
 
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Rockchild

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I don’t feel as though anybody has fired any options at me. Just useful food for thought and generous offers of listening to other gear.
What I was getting at was… knowing your complete system, music genre and perhaps room layout would lead to more constructive answers especially if you were looking to spend up to 3k.
As I said before, your speakers require decent amplification to truly demonstrate their ability.
As your amplification stands (inc your DAC/pre) is a total mismatch. Your far better off buying a decent integrated or pre/power combo.
 
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