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Advantages of monoblocks

Hey all,

The merry-go-round, which had stopped for a while, is now showing signs of a slow circular movement. In nautical and financial terms this is usually never a good sign.

Anyhow, I'm running a quite good LSA Statement integrated now, powering de Capo BE monitors. I was wondering if monoblocks and a good pre-amp would be a better way to go?

I last had monoblocks when I ran Rogue M120's about a decade ago befor moving on to an ARC VS-110.

Would monoblocks present a significant advantage over a single amplifier or over the tremendous LSA?

They would have to be used and my budget is $4K max.

Cheers,

simao
128x128simao
bvdiman
432 posts
 
I'd focus and put more emphasis on quality instead rather than get caught in the stereo/mono thing.
simao's avatar
simao OP
656 posts
 
Well said, Bvdiman. That should be a truism of hi-end audio, along with being happy with what you have as long as it's making you happy.
georgehifi's avatar
georgehifi
4,966 posts
 
No one has said anything about the disavantages of monoblocks. Here's a couple of main ones.

1: You have a greater chance of (hum) earth loop problems with monoblocks, and the powercords will both have mains earth conections, and most like be pluged into different mains wall outlets.
2: You need long interconnects if they are positioned next to the speakers, so you preamp needs to have good low output impedance and drive so some tube pre's and passive pre's will have ? put on them.

Cheers George

buconero117
2,311 posts
 
Why not go all the way, mono blocks x two. Yes that would be a bi-amp approach. I have used Marantz MA 22's to create such a system. The highs are clearer, the lows tighter on my ProAc's. The MA 22's are bridgeable, and I have tried this dual monoblock approach to a single channel, but the bi-amp approach worked best. Since the design of all amps, including mono blocks, needs to be 'mated' to actual speakers to tell if mono is better, trying is the only way to determine. Yes, audio is complicated.
arnettpartners
312 posts
 
Biamping mono's worked the best for me, too--dual monos x 2. Also mono'd pre's with this system. I think if you mono the pre's you don't have the output impedence issue. I just used two identical stereo pre's but used one pre for each channel.

Of course, monoing everything can't mitigate poor SQ as Bvdiman points out.
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