Need Help- Studio Power amp: Getting a good amp for around 400 Euros budget

[Masiusima13]

Hello everyone, been following and reading reviews on here for a while so i thought this might be the perfect place for someone to chime in and help me out on this.
Looking around to buy a power amplifier for my studio, Currently running a pair of passive 8ohm Acoustic Energy AE22's on a temporary amplfier.

I am looking for a linear transparent amp with a fair bit of power to drive them, something around 200w or possibly more at 8ohm per side.

Current option im interested in and that i can get in Europe easily is the Behringer A800 which seems to fairly fit what im looking for and is inexpensive but i am wondering if there is possibly a better amp for around 400 euros or a bit more.
Im in Europe and looking to buy new mostly.
Thanks for your help!

 

[staticV3]

Hi @Masiusima13! Welcome to ASR.

Crown has a few models that are worth looking into:

Thomann Power Amps

Power Amps at Europe's largest retailer of musical instruments - fast delivery, 30-Day Money-Back Guarantee and 3-year Thomann warranty

www.thomann.de

The XLS models even come with configurable hardware DSP, which can be very useful.

Unlike the A800, they're actively cooled.
It's temperature controlled though, so no constant fan noise.

 

[Masiusima13]

Ive had a look at the crown offerings before, im really opting to avoid any dsp and keep it purely analog for monitoring latency and keeping it simple, the behringer a800 seems to be my only choice so far, also seems it performed fairly well in the measurements here on the forum, cant really think of any other poweramp that could beat it for the price, or maybe i might have missed something??

 

[Chrispy]

Have you checked out some of the simple hypex module amps? Purely analog otoh is only so meaningful....I have no issues with my Crowns vs other amps

 

[Masiusima13]

I havent really delved too much into hypex yet as there are a lot of manufacturers making amps and kits with their modules so its a bit overwhelming, which hypex based amp would you recommend that fits what im looking for?

 

[staticV3]

I havent really delved too much into hypex yet as there are a lot of manufacturers making amps and kits with their modules so its a bit overwhelming, which hypex based amp would you recommend that fits what im looking for?

Hypex doesn't seem to give you what you're searching for (2x 200+W @8Ω for ~400€ in Europe).

A Hypex Amp in Europe can give you 2x 75W @8Ω for 400€, or 2x 150W @8Ω for 480€:

AUDIOPHONICS MPA-S125NC RCA Power Amplifier Class D Stereo NCore NC122MP 2x125W 4 Ohm - Audiophonics

The Audiophonics PAS-125NC incorporates a Hypex Ncore NC122MP power amplifier module. This is a solid base to build a powerful stereo HiFi system, capable of delivering 2x75W under 8Ω.

www.audiophonics.fr

AUDIOPHONICS MPA-S250NC RCA Power Amplifier Class D Stereo Ncore NC252MP 2x250W 4 Ohm - Audiophonics

The Audiophonics MPA-S252NC XLR is a stereo amplifier based on an amplification module Hypex Ncore NC252MP. This solution is ideal for anyone who wants to have a large power reserve (2x150W) without sacrificing sound reproduction quality.

www.audiophonics.fr

FWIW, both of these come in an XLR version as well.

 

[Chrispy]

I havent really delved too much into hypex yet as there are a lot of manufacturers making amps and kits with their modules so its a bit overwhelming, which hypex based amp would you recommend that fits what im looking for?

I'm not in europe so not familiar with what the various module builders' offers are there particularly....but I'd check with Nord and Audiophonics perhaps.

 

[Chrispy]

The A800 tests fwiw https://www.audiosciencereview.com/...behringer-a800-stereo-amplifier-review.10499/

 

[Count Dacula]

I got a Nord.

NORD VALUE-LINE Archives

nordacoustics.co.uk

Plenty of other amps behind me. No complaints about the Nord, especially the price of the VL.

 

[ZolaIII]

For about 700 € try to find Dynacord L1300FD, it's 2x 250W into 8 Ohms good quality (as in Crown golden days) A-B class with DSP (PEQ & FIR). Beringer is rip off another design and don't expect support for it. I guess you get what you pay for.

Edit: if you use PEQ only latency will be more than fine.