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Power Amp for AR-3a's?


sWilly

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I recently acquired a pair of 1968 AR-3a's that I am currently restoring. I understand that these require quite a bit of power to sound their best. I am looking for suggestions for power amps to pair with a Marantz 2238b or NAD3020. Hoping to keep it under $500. I'm open to vintage or newer amps. What would you suggest for minimum wattage? Thanks in advance.

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Crown XLS 1002 will get you 350 watts at 4ohms for about $400. The amp it replaced, the XLS 1000 can be had for less with similar specs. For just over $500, you can move up in the line to the XLS 1502, which gives you 525 watts. They're considered "professional" amps, but they're very nice sounding, have all kinds of options with them as well. And they're small and light.

 

 

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2 hours ago, samberger0357 said:

Crown XLS 1002 will get you 350 watts at 4ohms for about $400. The amp it replaced, the XLS 1000 can be had for less with similar specs. For just over $500, you can move up in the line to the XLS 1502, which gives you 525 watts. They're considered "professional" amps, but they're very nice sounding, have all kinds of options with them as well. And they're small and light.

 

 

Yeah, the Crowns might work well. Although, I'm not sure I can stomach putting a vintage Marantz next to a Crown from a visual standpoint. Ha. 

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I'm not familiar with the Marantz and couldn't find anything under that model number. What is it?

Cosmetically I understand where you're coming from. But with your budget, a vintage piece with sufficient power for the 3a's won't be as easy to find. Plus you need to factor in possible restoration costs.

 

The Crown's are fairly small, so you can hide  it away in a cabinet and then nobody will see it.

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Woops, typo. It was supposed to be 2238b. There's some NAD's in that price range but yeah, the only way I could get a vintage Marantz, or other power amp in that range would be to find a non-working one and restore it myself. Which is a consideration. 

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12 hours ago, sWilly said:

I'm wondering if the Emotiva BasX A2 Might be a good fit with the 3a's? 250 WPC at 4ohms. 

You have a 30 day return window.

I've owned 2 Emo amps. First the XPA2 Gen2 which I sold and got an SA250 which I liked so much I got a second one.

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24 minutes ago, DavidR said:

You have a 30 day return window.

I've owned 2 Emo amps. First the XPA2 Gen2 which I sold and got an SA250 which I liked so much I got a second one.

Thanks, I appreciate your thoughts on the Emo. I'm leaning towards the BasX A2. Andrew seems like them: 

 

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A vintage Adcom GFA-555 in good shape might be worth considering. It has plenty of power, rated at 325 wpc into 4 ohms. You should probably stay away from the 555II since it reportedly has problems that the original 555 amp did not have. I was looking for one about a year ago but settled on a Mitsubishi DA-A10 with less power to drive my 2Xa's, but the 2Xa's are far less power hungry. You may have to go slightly more than $500 for a 555 in great shape, but there are a lot of them around and you might get lucky.

I think there were a great many Adcom GFA-555's driving AR-3a's years ago. Perhaps someone can chime in on how well 3a's and 555's pair?

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1 hour ago, Norman Nicolai said:

A vintage Adcom GFA-555 in good shape might be worth considering. It has plenty of power, rated at 325 wpc into 4 ohms. You should probably stay away from the 555II since it reportedly has problems that the original 555 amp did not have. I was looking for one about a year ago but settled on a Mitsubishi DA-A10 with less power to drive my 2Xa's, but the 2Xa's are far less power hungry. You may have to go slightly more than $500 for a 555 in great shape, but there are a lot of them around and you might get lucky.

I think there were a great many Adcom GFA-555's driving AR-3a's years ago. Perhaps someone can chime in on how well 3a's and 555's pair?

Thanks Norman. I've been eyeing some Adcoms. I will look closer at the GFA-555. Regarding watts, what might be a good minimum for the AR-3a's? I'm not a super loud listener anymore. I just want them to sound good at low to moderately high levels.

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If you search this forum, you will find that this topic has been discussed more than a few times.  The recommendations range from 60wpc to 400wpc or more.  Unless you have the speakers in a very large, dead room, 120wpc into 4 ohms should be adequate.  My AR-11s are powered by a 200wpc amp, but I have never come close to needing that much power.  Most of the time they draw 2 watts or less.  It is a rare occurrence when they need more than 20 watts.  

 

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My 3a's and 3's have sounded fine in my medium size room with everything from 35 to 400 watts, both tube and solid state. Really comes down to your own ears, how loud you listen, size of room. More watts will provide you with a bit more bottom end at lower volumes. At least that's  been my experience.

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20 hours ago, AR55 said:

If you search this forum, you will find that this topic has been discussed more than a few times.  The recommendations range from 60wpc to 400wpc or more.  Unless you have the speakers in a very large, dead room, 120wpc into 4 ohms should be adequate.  My AR-11s are powered by a 200wpc amp, but I have never come close to needing that much power.  Most of the time they draw 2 watts or less.  It is a rare occurrence when they need more than 20 watts.  

 

Thanks. I did quite a bit of searching/reading last night. Opinions vary but in general it seems like more watts brings out the best in these speakers. 

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