“These guys know how to build amps, no question.”
They sure do…Coda #16. Beautiful parts and workmanship!
And the 07x pre…
You will miss the tube input stage of the BHK…
The X250.8 does not get that hot. Not near what some of the pure Class A stuff does. I’m not sure why a 250 would not do well in a cabinet with a little headroom and ventilation. A superb amp with power and detail.
Here’s what I learned from Pass Labs:
- In an open space with the X250.8 being driven at reasonable levels - yes this is relative, I get that, it will get 59F/15C over room temp. This lines up with @Baldy 's comment up above.
- The X250.8 will shutdown at 140F/60C.
- Ideal operating temp is 100.4F/38C. This if course is going to be hard to do, You’d need your room to be in the 50F range.
- It doesn’t need a dedicated 20Amp circuit, it will run happily on a dedicated 15Amp circuit. That’s good to know depending on your panel load.
Well I guess if you have cabinet that is a real consideration. That would mean in a 70 degree room, it would be operating at 130F?
All I can say, and hence my post is that even doing my rock and roll listening, the amp was merely warm to the touch. However maybe the core is hotter? And of course I’m open air.
Great amp. My Mac 462 was hotter to touch- on the heat sinks anyway…
How much are you asking for the 1200s ?
You’re not running your amps in a spare refrigerator??? For shame…
My cabinet is closed on three sides. I have an ultra quiet fan in the cabinet with the 250. The fan easily keeps that cabinet bay at 95F. But the 250 runs cooler then the X250. I turned off the fan today and pushed the system pretty hard for two hours. The maximum internal temp of the cabinet was 112F.
The current fan unit exhausts to the rear. I am thinking about getting a very quiet 4" fan and installing it in the vent in the bottom of the cabinet. I would set this fan as an intake vs exhaust. I am hoping with the lower fan pushing and the fans above pulling, there should be a better draft out the back.
It’s just one. I used it for 300 hours or so as a Center channel. I bought it as NOS from an ex-dealer.
If you are interested, PM me. I will post it later in the week.
Current amp that I am considering is the Roland Model 625 S2. It’s sweet. Extraordinary build quality.
If the second fan works out, I will reconsider the X250.8.
I love class A. Class A produces heat.
Class AB can produce somewhat less heat and that depends on how deeply into Class A the amp is biased. Higher biased into A sounds best to my ears. But again, more heat.
But remember that if you listen at lower levels, say, 70-75dB, with peaks to 90 dB, that X250.8 will never leave Class A.
Nelson Pass has some great papers on the subject. In one article, he explains that going deeper into Class A effects sound at every level. Go to his website if you haven’t already.
I have an INT250 that is one month old. It is biased to approx 20 watts Class A. It will be going up for sale soon. I’m going back to pure Class A (XA60.8). It just sounds better to me.
BTW–Even this INT250 needs 3 or 4 inches free space all around it. I would never put it into a closed cabinet.
Super clean, beautiful set up, Vince.
Congrats.
BTW, have you ever tossed a (needs to be pretty thick) blanket over the flat screen when you sit down for some “serious” listening and noted a difference (for better or worse) during your listening sessions?
Cheers.
One more (unconventional?) suggestion for your new amp(s):
Check out the specs on the Emotiva XPA-1 monos (first or second generation models ONLY).
I have MK Is driving my main channels. They pump out a few watts in Class A and then switch to Class A/B when driven harder.
The MK IIs can pump even more Class A wattage out before they automatically switch to A/B.
Anyway, my experience is these amps are nice combination of high current/power and moderate heat.
They are also very well reviewed and specified.
On the used market (neither are in production anymore), you can give 'em a spin without much of a financial commitment/outlay.
Regards.
Thanks. Obviously, I am interested in two units.
Good luck !
You know you want one for a Center!
Also you can buy just one from PSA. Perhaps mine will save you some money for fancy fuses and tubes ;-).
A new pair is $6598. One is $3299. What if one was $1750?
Vince,
If you’re looking for great class A/B amps check out Sanders Sound Systems Magtech. I have two stereo units driving my SSS Model 10e 'stats and they are clean and sweet sounding with loads of power.
Good Luck,
Kurt
Good advice.
I’ll pass as I just received a $5k dental bill. Teeth come first, my friend !
The Magtech amps are built and co-designed by Coda…They gotta sound great…
I didn’t get the email, any indication how long the promo is good for? The main page says August 2022. If it were just the whole month of August, that would be too easy…
This is the email from Scott McGowan:
I’ve got some exciting news I’d like to share with you. Now through the end of August we are hosting an awesome sale on all products in the PerfectWave Series. If you’d like to check out the details, please click here: https://www.psaudio.com/product-category/perfectwave/
Please come to me with any questions and thanks!
All the best,
Scott