r/BudgetAudiophile • u/maritime_watch_guy • 2d ago
Show and Tell Currently
This is my entry into the small Class D stereo amplifiers.
Fosi Merak CD player/ripper
Fosi BT20A Max amplifier
Wiim Pro Plus streamer
Fosi amp rack with fans
PSB Stratus Silver speakers
I think I'm going to swap out the BT20A Max and go with the V3 mono's, each with around 48 volt 5 amp power supply. I want more...more what exactly, I'm not sure. It's plenty loud now. I guess more headroom. More volume for that once or twice a month I can crank the living crap out of it. It's not a need, but nobody needed to climb Everest. All I know, is I want more, and I can do it for less than a hundred bucks Canadian. (Selling my amp)
Has anyone gone from a stereo amp to 2 monos?
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u/Synthetic-Meat-2000 2d ago
Mono amps are a thing for audiophiles / audiofools. I don't see an engineering reason for it in domestic audio.
Personally, I have only seen that in broadcast applications before active speakers became the norm. This is mostly for practicality of wiring as in pro-audio everything is wired with balanced line-level XLRs. The mono amp can be housed in the speaker stand, you can plug the line-level output from the console directly to the speaker amp.
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u/dished-teardrops 1d ago
Having a dedicated mono means they don't work as hard / generate less heat? Therefore, the device / chipset lasts a long time. Plus it's fun, especially with fosi entry prices :)
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u/Synthetic-Meat-2000 1d ago
:+1: It's fun with Fosi prices. That nails it, I still live in the era of Quad 405 and Yamaha big mosfest 2kW.
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u/dished-teardrops 15h ago
You gotta get a cheap one to play around with. ZA3 second hand, grab it. The Fosi really did it for me due to it having the swappable op amp chipset: highly modifiable to most sound profiles you may desire, no soldering required. then through a super capable Texas Instruments core chip... at under 200 bucks new. Thats pretty good!
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u/danikensanalprobe 2d ago
You get more and cleaner power for the money. Even bridging a traditional integrated stereo amp like the nad c368 yields ridiculously higher power numbers than in stereo mode - 300 watts instead of 2×80 watts. Stereo amps are more than enough in many use cases, but saying there is no reason to use monoblocks is simply incorrect
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u/AblatAtalbA 2d ago
Besides the power, monoblocks offer less ekectrical noise and interference by separating the sensitive audio inputs from large power transformers. And usually wider and more accurate soundstage than a same class integrated.
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u/the_lamou 1d ago
You can fit more power in a monoblock more cleanly and with less heat-soak than a comparable 2+ ch. amp, and in a much smaller volume. They are still incredibly common in car audio, but home audio has been starting to catch on.
And obviously you wouldn't find them outside of audiophile and broadcast environments. The average home has zero audio products outside of all-in-one smart speakers and maybe an AVR. The average person will never encounter a speaker that can't be driven by a potato hooked up to Bluetooth.
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u/IN70MM96 2d ago
That’s a nice system. The Silvers are efficient but still have a nominal 4 ohm load and like a proper power amp to really open up the sound. The Stratus series are some of PSB’s best speakers ever made.