AR90’s vs Paradigm Sound

[ar_pro]

On 12/17/2019 at 3:33 PM, ka7niq said:

Amen! I currently own 5 pairs of high end speakers, and a pair of Magnepan 1.6's are one of them. My room is 20 by 24, with 4 large bass traps, in the corners. Powered by the awesome sounding Mackie 1401 "Pro Sound" amplifier with over 500 watts RMS into 4 ohms, they can be stunning. 

Yes, 500 watts sounds about right! These are among the most power-hungry speakers I've ever encountered - they're like a sponge for wattage.

[ka7niq]

4 minutes ago, ar_pro said:

Yes, 500 watts sounds about right! These are among the most power-hungry speakers I've ever encountered - they're like a sponge for wattage.

I discovered Pro Sound Amplifiers years ago, and never looked back. There are some real deals to be had on the old school boat anchor type of Pro Sound amps,  because many of the Pro Sound Guys have went to smaller and lighter Class D amps. 

[DavidR]

I have 500wpc current pusher into 4 ohm amp in a Class AB, dual mono design and modern. High damping factor. Killer with the 9s and 90s

 

 

[ka7niq]

1 hour ago, DavidR said:

I have 500wpc current pusher into 4 ohm amp in a Class AB, dual mono design and modern. High damping factor. Killer with the 9s and 90s

 

 

I bought the amp I use from a Guitar Center for 150, with a 30 day money back warranty. It will do 425 rms into 4 all day long https://www.ccisolutions.com/StoreFront/jsp/pdf/MAC-M1400I.PDF

[PT Doug]

I worked as a salesman for Pacific stereo.  I listened to a lot of speakers in the high end room. I loved the warmth of the AR90 above all those speakers.  unlike almost all the salesmen I listened to drop off when a speaker was played at low volume and how harsh the highs and how muddy the lows where at high volume.  to my listening ear within that $1200 price range there wasn't a speaker that came close. I liked my AR90 over the AR9 which where a power hungry animal.   Today after almost 40 years I am rebuilding the low and high crossovers to bring back the mid highs.Speakers are subjective, let no one talk you out of the speaker you like regardless what the specs say. My opinion 

[johnfalc]

Yes, 9's in the VB room were always my favorites then too.  I now have 9's and 90's.  What region of PS were you in?

[PT Doug]

39 minutes ago, johnfalc said:

Yes, 9's in the VB room were always my favorites then too.  I now have 9's and 90's.  What region of PS were you in?

 

[blanddawg625]

I have to agree totally with how well the AR90s sound being pushed with a professional amp. I push mine with a fully restored Yamaha P2200, with the big vu meters and 350 watts @ 4ohms. I believe the weak link has been a little Aiyima pre/DAC that is surprisingly quite, but I think lacking in soundstage and imaging. I am currently awaiting the delivery of a Classe SSP25. Everything I have read about the Classe' tells me that it is a superb 2 channel performer. Can't wait to find out.

[Stimpy]

On 8/19/2023 at 1:20 AM, blanddawg625 said:

I have to agree totally with how well the AR90s sound being pushed with a professional amp. I push mine with a fully restored Yamaha P2200, with the big vu meters and 350 watts @ 4ohms. I believe the weak link has been a little Aiyima pre/DAC that is surprisingly quite, but I think lacking in soundstage and imaging. I am currently awaiting the delivery of a Classe SSP25. Everything I have read about the Classe' tells me that it is a superb 2 channel performer. Can't wait to find out.

Good luck with the Classe preamp.  I know a little Acurus L10 preamp really did wonders for my system, so I would think the SSP25 would be much better...!

[frankmarsi]

Doesn't anyone use the standard 'WPC' anymore? It's industry standard to give 'WPC'.  What about giving a Continuous Power Rating instead of making folks do the math.

It's helpful to know an amp's brand name when speaking of it  How about noise and distortion ratings, I mean if we're going to talk amps, noise is an important number or is the term the newer generation is using 'Metrics'?  In my time 'metric' always meant European standards be it measurement or distance it's a name of measurement.

A few years ago there was a novice discussion that did the same whenever I listed my amps at 700RMS WPC @ 4 Ohms before any clipping and 550RMS WPC Continuous Power Rating @ 4 Ohms the novice responded by and not being specific stating his amp's total number with both channel's rating together. Is it blinding envy or miscommunication?  Electronics is a area/study that uses exacting numbers. Power ratings have always been a nebulous area of discussion across the masses however, Continuous Power ratings is all that really counts. 

P.S. As nice  as it is and I would be happy to own one or two. Though designed for heavy use,  the Yamaha 2200 isn't powerful enough for my needs, read it here @ 200 WPC Continuous. https://www.manualslib.com/manual/197290/Yamaha-P-2200-2201.html?page=8#manual

P.S. II, I speak this way because I go back to the days when the most popular and only 'hi-power' amp around was the Crown D-300 @ 150 WPC and as it was, most folks didn't know about cause few were into the hobby.  Back in the late '60s early '70s there weren't any real high voltage transistors available that would economically work in a consumer amplifier. As it was, Phase Linear used some of the only available transistors which they had bought from GM's A/C Delco division that were being used in heavy duty truck ignitions. Even in 1971 for the general public transistors were still not common place.  The only amp I knew that had more wattage was an amp we were taught about in naval electronics school of 700 watts RMS total. It was a multi-tube monolithic huge monster almost 6 feet tall that was used in WW 2 Essex class carrier's PA systems.

Already being years prior immersed in 'Hi-Fi',  I recall by the time Phase Linear first came out with their PL-700 monster it was unheard of at any time before, anywhere. That was 1971-72 and that revolutionary first step led practically every manufacturer to introduce their own high wattage monsters.

FM

 

 

 

 

 

3

[genek]

The 1974 FTC amplifier rule states that power should be rated at continuous wpc over a specified frequency range with a specified distortion. Like this "100 WPC, 20-20kHz, 0.05% THD). This seems to be widely ignored by retail advertisers (though most manuals do comply), and offhand I can't recall the last time I heard about anyone getting dinged for violating it.