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Power amp for AR-3a?


davidro

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G'day I hear I need a very powerful amp to drive my AR-3a well. I'm not sure what improvement can be really had but there's a Yamaha M-70 with 250W @ 4 ohm 'clipping power'. Will that be an improvement over my Marantz with 50W @ 4 ohm? If so, how so? I don't feel as if I'm having some lack of volume problem. Cheers.

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G'day I hear I need a very powerful amp to drive my AR-3a well. I'm not sure what improvement can be really had but there's a Yamaha M-70 with 250W @ 4 ohm 'clipping power'. Will that be an improvement over my Marantz with 50W @ 4 ohm? If so, how so? I don't feel as if I'm having some lack of volume problem. Cheers.

Hi David

As you know, the absolutely important thing here is that your amp must be capable of driving a 4 ohm load. But remember that when the 3a was manufactured many amps were tubed and all were underpowered by today's standards. The AR amp was built to match the 3a and IIRC it was rated 60 watts RMS. Your 50 watt Marantz "should" be powerful enough. You did not mention the model but assuming it is vintage gear there could be all sorts of problems unrelated to power rating. For example, I have a Marantz 4270. Beautiful looking receiver but it's in the shop being checked out. They were notorious for bad speaker relays and THAT could certainly be a problem.

That Yamaha is well reviewed. Rated 200 watts RMS. Here is the owner's manual:

http://www2.yamaha.c...h/SepA/M-70.pdf

But again, this unit is 30 years old. Any vintage electronics should be thoroughly checked out by a competent repair shop.

I'm driving my 3a's with a MAC4100 (100 wpc). Before putting it in the system I had it checked by a McIntosh repair shop, Later, I replaced every electrolytic in the thing (recounted in this thread: http://audiokarma.org/forums/showthread.php?t=176380 ), then had it checked again. It drives the ARs beautifully.

Hope this helps. Good luck.

Kent

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JKent, my Marantz is a modern one and I bought it new a few years ago. PM5003. I've read the spec again and it says 55wpc @ 4 ohm. It's rather pretty (especially with its matching CD player), trouble-free and remote-controlled. The only downside really is that it's not supposed to be 'powerful' enough by apparent general opinions.

I don't quite understand the concept of an amp being 'powerful' as opposed to 'loud'. If the two concepts are the same thing I don't really need another amp. What does it mean really? Stronger bass? Will that be different from turning up the bass control? But I prefer having it source-direct most of the time...

I know the usual answer is go try one for yourself but unless I actually pull the trigger and buy one there's no way for me to experiment.

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The PM5003 is a very nice amp (according to Stereophile) and should serve you well. The danger with under-powered amps (which yours is not) is that if the volume is cranked up to ear-splitting levels the distortion and clipping will certainly fry the delicate old tweeters in your AR3a's. Power refers to clean power, not decibel level. If I were you I would stick with the Marantz and enjoy the music. You did not mention any complaints--just looking for something "better." IMHO your money will be better spent on records or CDs.

cheers

Kent

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Thanks Kent. There's certainly no distortion at the 'neighbour-complains' volume and I live in a smallish flat anyway. I'm thinking of sticking with my Marantz until such time I can afford one that is aesthetically pleasing, trouble-free, remote-controlled and capable of driving at low-impedance on high watts. My only concern was that perhaps I'm not making most of the 3a which I really like.

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I had my 10pi's hooked up to a Yamaha M-85 amp for a while. It seemed like a really good combination. The M series amps and most of the better yamaha amps are known to handle 4 ohm speakers really well. I've heard of the M-85 and M-80 being stable down to 2 ohms. I bought the M-85 locally and resold it on ebay to make a little coin so sadly it's gone. I hate to admit it now but my AR-10pi's are sitting in the living room hooked up to an early 90's Onkyo receiver. It's no power house but does OK with the 10pi's. Someday I'll find a better amp to bring them back to life.

I have a Yamaha A500 integrated amp running my office ar-2ax speakers. It's a really nice combination too IMO.

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  • 1 month later...

I found my Sansui gear to be very synergistic with my AR 3a's - as well as 2AX. Have a Sony 6065 (60 WPC 8 ohms) that's been racapped and does well but not the same grasp of that woofer as my Sui 890DB (Euro 8080DB). I also have a 9090DB and 881. Sansui + AR is match made in heaven! I think the secret to Sansui is in the PT's - at least these vintage,

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