Quest for power

sir_lagzalot

I was just wondering right now I'm using my Onkyo 805 as a preamp for my Sony 330es amps, both running bridged at 300wpc driving my Rti10s. My question is I bought these amps when I was stationed in Guam back in 1989, will I see an improvement buying a newer or used higher/cleaner power amp (without being bridged of course) or should I just continue using the Sonys or can I use a tube amp to drive Rti10s forgive my ignorance.

BlueFox

Hi-fi technology improves every year. It certainly is logical to expect an improvement by replacing 20 year old technology with newer technology, so long as the new technology is equivalent or better.

AudioGenics

"Ho hum; another major breakthrough."

apphd

BlueFox wrote: »

Hi-fi technology improves every year. It certainly is logical to expect an improvement by replacing 20 year old technology with newer technology, so long as the new technology is equivalent or better.

I have to disagree with this on some level. While technology does march on, and most times to our benefit, I do not believe that amp technology has made huge gains. That is one of the nice things about a good amp, it can stay with you for a long time without the need to replace for improved technology. Not familiar with the Sony 330es amps but there are bound to be "cleaner" amps out there. 300wpc is a good amount of power, could the OP benefit from higher and cleaner power? We all can benefit from this improvement, just a matter of what it would cost to achieve this over what we have. While 20 years is a long time, I would take a guess that some component degradation has occurred and the amp could benefit from a trip to the shop for a check up. What would be most cost effective would be a call I can't make.
Just my $.02

heiney9

Probably look at a nicer, higher end design. I have 30wpc and it's more than enough and it's one of the most musical and best sounding amps I've owned and heard (in most cases). Power isn't the be all and end all. Running any stereo amp bridged is a compromise and running bridged is not the best if SQ is your main goal.

If you want power with finesse and probably one of the best sounding amps around the X series from Pass Labs. They aren't cheap, but you can find them used. That would be a huge improvement but then your weak link is using a receiver for a pre-amp, so that would need to be repalced as well, or you're throwing money out the window with a better sounding amp.

H9

thuffman03

If I were you, I would have a repair shop take a look at those amps and see if they would benifit from a tune up. Being 20 years old there are pots and caps that might be on their last leg.

I don't think you will be able to find a good replacement unless you are willing to pay quite a bit of $$$. Plus 300 wpc is a lot of power. To really get a bump how loud it can go you would need to be in the 600+ wpc range. Even then that would not be close to doubleing the max db output of your current setup. It takes 10x the power to double to volume.

sir_lagzalot

heiney9 wrote: »

Running any stereo amp bridged is a compromise and running bridged is not the best if SQ is your main goal.

That would be a huge improvement but then your weak link is using a receiver for a pre-amp, so that would need to be replaced as well, or you're throwing money out the window with a better sounding amp.
H9

That's what I was concerned about thanks for the reply.