Why monoblocks?

Very often the motivation for *buying* monoblocks is that there is no choice if one wants a certain amplifier or manufacturer. There are many great stereo amps that cannot be had as monos and vice-versa.

In very high-power and/or class-A designs, practicality in terms of size & weight is indeed the driver. Imagine a 600W Pass stereo amp, or a parallel-845 SE stereo amp (wait - there really is one of those).

Some of the best amplifiers I've had in terms of stage, imaging, and channel separation have indeed been stereo amps, and not always dual-mono either! (True dual mono, with two power trannies, is extremely rare.)

For people that swap gear a lot (not me - but I know some of them) - going back and forth between stereo & mono amps can be a real pain because of the different speaker cables and rack requirements.

The smartest approach if absolute performance with yet with some salute to economy is desired may be a stereo amp with the HV supply in its own chassis - think ASR.

I agree with Audiofeil's last note completely. Like I said before, monoblocks can be great or mediocre, stereo can be equally great or mediocre, sound quaility is simply not the reason for choosing one format over the other, though there are plenty of ergonomic reasons for doing so - one can't make a blanket statement about whether one should choose one approach or the other for best sound IMHO -- you can find great sound either way.

Well, as this topic applies to my system in my admittedly limited experience running a few stereo amps and a few sets of monoblocks, when comparing the sonic results given a choice between 30 foot balanced interconnects and 6 foot speaker cables, or 30 foot speaker cables and 3 foot interconnects (either balanced or single ended), I have heard clear improvements using the former, which is the monoblock configuration.

Now, I did not compare amplifiers in both stereo and monoblock versions from the same manufacturer, nor did I compare the different cable lengths of the same model cabling. The expense to do so was prohibitive.

Nor did I try uber-expensive cabling of either type for the 30 foot run. Again, this would have been cost prohibitive.

I imagine, given no ceiling on cost, one could likely run 30 foot speaker cabling from an outstanding stereo amplifier with no discernible sonic penalty, but this was not the recommendation of the speaker manufacturer at the time of my decision to go with monoblocks. In fact, the manufacturer was adamant about avoiding long speaker cable runs.

With the constraints of installation and cost, monoblocks became the appropriate choice for my system.

This thread is great! I actually owned a stereo amp, Audio Research Classic 60. I turned around and traded it in for a pair of the Audio Research Classic 120's monoblocks. What surprised me was not only was there more power, the amps were aesthetically easier to place in the room. But for the first time I was able to finally hear 3D imaging with the ability to hear some of the instuments "float in space" depending on the recording.Same room, same equipment just different amps. I do plan on returning to a pair of monoblocks again to complete my system. Just need to sell my stereo amp again!

Statman, your post is a little confusing. Did you get rid of the 120s? It is hard to tell.