My buddy has been telling me for years that new amp technology makes a huge difference in the sound I can get from my speakers, and I never listened to him.
I figured a great quality amp is a great quality amp, how much could the tech possibly have evolved from the 90’s? Also, I was super hesitant to go with something that’s not Class A, heavy caveman power.
The stellar is sexy and well built, but it’s so light…how can it possibly make my speakers really sing? Isn’t the rule for amplifiers that it has to be able to double as a boat anchor to be considered audiophile grade?
Well today I learned how right he was by switching from a big luxman M117 to a stellar S300.
Wow…I’ve really been missing out by not having a good modern amplifier, and this new amp isn’t even “burned in” (if that’s really a real thing)
I’m using Schiit DAC and Pre into the S300 and out to my dynaudio focus 160. Source is tidal.
The separation of instruments, gigantic soundsage, blackness of the background, American company…unbelievable, especially for the price.
Totally agree-- just received my S300 a few hours ago and already it sounds better than my krell kav and parasound hca. Neither is a slouch, but the S300 has clarity and power that really suits my maggies. Let’s see if it sounds any better after a week or two, but already it’s a keeper. Now I’m tempted by the S700s…
ONE QUESTION: what happens if I have inputs going into both the xlr and rca inputs? (what happens if both inputs are receiving a signal?)
Thanks and delighted to read how well this great amp is working for you. Both XLR and RCA inputs are active at the same time so you don’t want two signal going in. You can use the inputs as a Y connector for the same signal, but not two signal from two different sources.
Thanks and delighted to read how well this great amp is working for you. Both XLR and RCA inputs are active at the same time so you don’t want two signal going in. You can use the inputs as a Y connector for the same signal, but not two signal from two different sources.
My Teac 501 DAC has RCA and XLR outputs, but only one output is active at any given time. Can I connect both to my S300? (Rationale: Would like to use XLR outputs for PCM with Jriver volume control, but want to use RCA output for DSD bitstreaming, since Jriver can’t attenuate volume for DSD, and therefore will place a stepped attenuator between DAC and S300)
Thank you (and btw thank you Paul for all the excellent posts and youtube videos, which certainly helped me when I decided to go with PS Audio… already planning to get those S700s next)
I’m not sure how Teac has this circuit configured to allow switching between the two outputs. The risk is that the disabled output is disconnected from the signal path and tied to a low value resistor. This would load down the output you were using and degrade performance.
Perhaps its worth a call to Teac to see whether they approve of this configuration.
Thanks. BTW the Stellar S300 is unbelievably efficient. I attached a Kill-a-Watt meter to it and it seems like it uses less juice than my DAC, which uses under 20 watts! By contrast, my Krell KAV usually uses 200-300 watts with spikes above 500 watts during heavy orchestral passages.
I echo windandsea’s comment’s. The wattage on my P10 used to live in the 500-600+ watt area with my old McIntosh MC205 5 channel amp with any activity. Now it’s rare for my system to peek over 400 watts running my 3 M700’s for the front and center speakers and an S300 for the rears. Not to mention that my room no longer resembles a sauna with the door closed!
