Originally Posted by Dpro ➡️

I came across this post when I was checking into bridging Adcom amps to run then in mono.

The guy was running an Adcom 555( which by Jim Williams account and analysis is not as good as the 545) vs the older crown DCh300 which is considered to be better in the stereo world than the new XLS series.

https://gearspace.com/board/5189180-post60.html

P.S. There are a lot of Adcom users in that thread reporting them favorable over a lot of other well regarded amps.

Oh and ya I will come out and say I am a big time modded Adcom fan and given the cost vs other amps it's a smart choice.

Originally Posted by xj32 ➡️

I know this is an Amphion thread, and trust me I LOVE mine!!! But don't count the Trio6 out just yet.

...but my best advice is that before you make a major decision like this is don't just listen on them, do a mix or two or three on them. Even if its recalling a couple older mixes and start from scratch eq and level-wise and do a ground up mix.

I did that and found that I could totally trust the Trio6 BE monitors as long as I trusted them. I know that sounds weird but speaking for myself. I went to the Trio 6 BE, and Amphions after a decade of using KRK E8 originals and the later E8b, so I had to get past trying to make the Trios and the One18s try and sound like my mixes on the E8s did. Once I stopped that and learned each monitor and to trust what it is giving me I found that both did a great job at mixing.

I will say that if you send back the Trio 6 and try the Amphions, even the Two18, they are quite different and you will be starting from scratch again. They sound nothing alike.

Honestly I have both because I like what each did in its own way and at the end of the day could not decide...

Originally Posted by murphythecat87 ➡️

id really like if this thread would feature more guys trying different amps to find the best amp for the Amphions!

Originally Posted by hornyhornyhorny ➡️

Has anybody tried Hegel amps? There's supposedly high synergy between them and Amphion Hi-Fi speakers, but how about the pro series?

Originally Posted by audioguy714 ➡️

My room is 16' wide by 23 deep with 10' ceiling. i'm setup on the 16' wall. I've had the One18's with the amp 500 in this room and could really hear everything this thread has been talking about. I'd like to mix on these but wondering if the Focal Trio's would be better to start on then later get the One15's. I've also demo'd the Focal Solo's and liked how easy i could get a good sounding kick drum.

Originally Posted by Dpro ➡️

Never heard of them perhaps it's worth looking into except I am assuming they are European and if they are that common with the hi fi group. Well then one would think Annsi has tried them, my conclusion could be wrong though.

Originally Posted by hornyhornyhorny ➡️

I know that Hegel has used Amphion speakers in their R&D and they have done shows together. But I don't know If they are available in USA.

Hegel Music Systems - Home

Originally Posted by audioguy714 ➡️

My room is 16' wide by 23 deep with 10' ceiling. i'm setup on the 16' wall. I've had the One18's with the amp 500 in this room and could really hear everything this thread has been talking about. I'd like to mix on these but wondering if the Focal Trio's would be better to start on then later get the One15's. I've also demo'd the Focal Solo's and liked how easy i could get a good sounding kick drum.

Originally Posted by Dpro ➡️

Well I started off with a recommendation to use the Adcom. For what it cost me to do that it was an easy thing. I only got the itch because I thought my Adcom only put out a 100w's a side. Which is what it says on it. Hence the desire to check out the amp 500.

I only discovered recently that the Adcoms were severely underrated which I verified by being able to run mpr3's Two18's with my amp and being quite impressed.

With Amphion test we did it was clear that while the amp100 and amp500 are really good there were some contenders that could edge them out.

Annsi has mentioned on several occasions to people the number of amps he tried out before deciding on basing his off the Anaviews.
I have no doubt he tried a lot of the usual suspects, Bryston,Hafler,Crown, etc....

Which led me to the conclusion that if I was going to search out amps to use it was most likely going to be more towards hi end vintage rather than modern current. Why you ask? See what I wrote above.

Now we do have a few amps singled out to test still. Though I will not lie it will happen when Mark and I can coordinate all of it.

I will say that I only have two or three I want to test based on who was behind their design. I am focused on amps designed by great amp designers.
As those amps or amps designed by those designers are the ones I see repeated mentioned in the vintage amp world.
Forgive me if you don't feel amps up to 18-20 years old are vintage.

Yes it's been said the Adcoms mentioned here were designed by Nelson Pass and quite a few in the Stereo amp world consider him to be one of the greats.
You may not but he does get that respect in a pretty widespread way.

So I will not name amp names yet, but we will round them up and test them.

None the less, like I said earlier Adcoms modded by Mr Williams definitely are a great choice and no one should be ashamed or feel they are lacking by going down that road.

I doubted and our tests showed my doubt was untrue.

Originally Posted by DR Music ➡️

Hmmmmmmm.. Thinking of just picking up some Dynaudio bm6/12'a with a sealed sub from them as well and calling it the day!!
:(
So fustrating not being able to audition 3 nice sets all at once..

Originally Posted by murphythecat87 ➡️

ive found only two guys comparing focal trio with amphion:
Amphion One18 (driven by a £2K amp) - Lovely sound, but not enough grunt for me. Distorted (dramatically) at slightly loud listening levels. Would have liked to have heard the Two18s. Quite hifi sounding; musical. Good soundstage. A solid choice for a small room that doesn't need louder volumes.

Boulder MK2 - Bass driver went bats**t crazy (in a bad way - total distortion) at louder (but still sane) listening levels on tracks with deep bass (Jay-Z - Holy Grail and Lorde - Royals being examples). Considering the size and price of them it was an instant turn off. Sound was very good - both musical and revealing, but felt as if it had a slight veil over it; a sticky texture to the sound. Very good soundstage, second largest, but not the best.

Focal SM9 - Not a fan. At all. Compared to the Boulder and Amphion they sounded entirely scooped/recessed in the mids. Harder top end and more sibilant compared to the others. Very revealing but at the expense of musicality. Bass was good, but a bit bloomy at times. I was expecting (a lot) more from them.

ATC 25As - As with the SM9s I had very high expectations. Which were not met. Again, hollow sounding mids. Yes, they were very detailed, but they sapped any life out of music to my ears. Bass was tight, but lacking (the room was good). Possibly my least favourite of them all. Sounded much better with a bass boost, but still couldn't live with them.

Focal Trio 6 Be - BAM! Great Fun to listen too; punchy and energetic. Fuller, more aggressive mids (still very revealing - Jeff Buckley's breath on Hallelujah was very pronounced). Deeper bass, but a bit bloomy and bled into the range at the sacrifice of clarity. Contracted soundstage (one of the smallest). Most certainly more hi-fi than monitor in my opinion. Fantastic value for money and my second favourite for playback. Would pair well with a dedicated mixing monitor. I would personally not use these for mixing.

PMC TwoTwo 8 - These weren't even on my radar, and in fact after reading some comments here I wasn't expecting much. How wrong was I. The bass is seriously tight, controlled and deep (but with less impact). The soundstage is enormous and accurate. The mids and treble are incredibly detailed/resolving/realistic while being smooth and non fatiguing. Very balanced throughout the range and go seriously loud with zero distortion (a clear winner, really impressive). While the bass was tight and extended it felt like it needed a bit more oomph, so we boosted it by 1.5dB. Lots of impact then (surprisingly close to the Trio6), but it seeped into the lower mids a little. Tweaking to +0.5dB fixed that. Going from the boulder to the TT8s was like removing a veil; the sound opened up and became far more clear and spacious. Loved them.
"

and


"
1. Yamaha HS80m
The Yamaha's are with me for like 5years... They are of course inferior to all other models but a/b-ing them showed that they are really good for what they cost! (Best monitor in it's price range and even beyond that!) . They do have a learning curve to them so referencing on other systems will be a must with these! It will make you work to get a good sound and it will translate adequately to other systems once you get to know them.

2. Neumann KH310A
The Neumanns are a huge step up from the Yamaha's on imaging, clarity and depht for sure but i felt they still impaired some ear fatigue rather quickly cause of their clinical nature(brutally honest like they say). Transients are really sticking out to you! Also i have to say i found them the least musical of all monitors in this review and even prefer listening to the yamaha's since they sound rather artificial (not natural)to my ears! THis is very obvious when you switch back to them. (first seconds your think something is wrong/broke)
It also craps out very quickly in the bass with loud volumes! Overall i didn't spend to much time with them since i knew from the first seconds i didn't like their sound to be listening to for the next couple of years. They also have some holes in their spectrum that makes it difficult to adress surtain freqs ranges...

3. Focal Trio6be
Very nice sounding monitors, very musical while giving you detail, clarity and depht...
The focals are really really nice and inspiring! For my ears a bit to nice for mixing but for sure they will make many producers smile! I found them a bit to strong/hyped in the highs and the bass isn't that correct to my feeling. Low mid range is not so revealing. While upper mid range are so detailed i find myself cutting freq that are not needed. Also getting the balance right on these is a bit of a challenge! Has a learning curve to it for sure! I found that i love these for listening to the mixes i did on other monitors! I have the feeling they are colouring the mix a tad. The focus option they have is very usefull to see if your mix hold up on smaller speakers! Check your balance and to check overall bass in the mix.

4. Amphion one18 and two18
Those are some great monitors! The one18 lack a bit of low end but are one of the fastest en detailed i came across with. Imaging super wide, instrument placement overly clear! Super detailed in low mids and hi mids! (a bit mid forward i guess). Highs are just beautifull. Those have almost no earfatigue even in super long and loud sessions! Beautifully honest, very musical they are indeed! You can hear the upper harmonics of the bass and kick so good that i feel you don't really need a sub to be able to make decent decisions in the low end! Everything the one18 is... the two18 brings and steps it up a little. A better bass extension, you see a bit deeper into the music, they go louder... They are super similar sounding just a bit more of everything! Only negative thing i have to say about them is that i feel they are not so good in letting me hear the delay and reverb tails... Focals and PMC are better in that area!
That brings me to the last review....

5. PMC twotwo8
Those are for my ears the most amazing monitors i have ever worked with!
I clicked with them form the first second i started working with them! So easy to get the right balance, detail and clarity all day, super imaging (amphions do a bit better in the mid's and are a bit wider too), Wide sweetspot, no earfatigue and super accurate and deep bass. Delay and reverd tails can easily be heard and they have a great depht. Setting up a compressor is super easy you can hear the beginning and end of your notes so clearly! (same goes for the amphions btw)


Guess i 'm gonna stop here.... Conclusion: The amphions and the PMC's are incredible and amazing tools! PMC just gives me everything i'm looking after need in a monitor!
"

Originally Posted by noah440 ➡️

The guy talking about the distortion on the One18 in the first comparison is odd -- in the three rooms I've heard the One18 in there was no distortion even at pretty loud volume levels...

Originally Posted by dangerousben ➡️

Well thanks again, so I'll start any future testing with the two18s and see how far that gets me.
What problems did you have with the baseamp?

Originally Posted by cowboycoalminer ➡️

I tried the Amphion 500 recently and didn't mix well with it. The curve it set (or lack thereof) didn't suit my ear at all. Every mix I did on it came out bright and thin.

Originally Posted by mpr3 ➡️

If I hear distortion then I know 100% it is in the track or the chain. Rest assured Amphions will show you distortion better than most, but it will not add any.
I should be clear that there were no inherent problems with my BaseAmp, but instead I found a slight anomaly with how the BaseAmp accepts the floating balanced output from my mastering console (Crookwood M4).

I confirmed the issue was related to the Crookwood's outputs by hooking the BaseAmp directly to my primary mastering DACs (Dangerous Convert2 & Benchmark DAC2 HGC) where I noticed that the issue was gone. Anssi's techs came up with a solution that will prevent me from having to mod the Crookwood.

I am not doubting your ears, but I am doubting the breaking in of the Amphions (with the Amp500) if they produced mixes sounding 'bright and thin'. Did you give them 10-20 hours of music playback (or pink noise) before you started mixing?

Originally Posted by cowboycoalminer ➡️

Yes. I mixed on them a week before I tried the amp. It's a good amp, it just isn't for me.

Originally Posted by mpr3 ➡️

10-4

So you preferred the $200 Behringer A500 Reference over the Amphion Amp500?

Originally Posted by mpr3 ➡️

10-4

So you preferred the $200 Behringer A500 Reference over the Amphion Amp500?

Originally Posted by Sanlky ➡️

Hi, i dont know much about passive monitor's amplifiers, but i am looking for some Amphion one18.

I dont think i will be able to get Amphion Amplifier 500, so.. i read Emotiva XPA 2 or 200, would do the job. But... my 2 questions are:
1. XPA 2 delivers 300watts per channel at 8ohms, wouldnt that damage the speakers? (i dont know if you can set the gain for the amplifier or it just amplifies)
2. XPA 200 i read that they doesnt do the job well at high gain so i would have less headroom. Would they be a good option as well?

Thanks!

Originally Posted by cowboycoalminer ➡️

To question 1..

No it won't harm them. You'll run your amp wide open to full power. The attenuation comes from whatever you are feeding the amp with such as a console, interface, monitor controller, whatever.

To question 2..

I obviously haven't tried them all nor ever will, but I'm guessing from what I know about them, these speakers would be impossible to make sound bad with any amp. That class amp I tried was really good. Most people will love it I'm guessing. It was so clean and clear that it was disconcerting to me. I like a little more gush and melding so to speak. I do better work that way. The Amphion 500 amp was so pristine that it was like a hundred extra mix decisions to make. It's clinical and when listening to a well mixed record like Gregory Porter's Liquid Spirit, (try that one for a reference album BTW), It was stunning.

But again, not for me.

Probably couldn't go wrong with a class A or A/B design for everyday mixing. There's plenty of Bryston amps to be had on the used market.

Originally Posted by noah440 ➡️

FWIW: If you search online for Adcom GFA-545 vs. 555 you will see about equal amounts of posts on various forums of people saying they sound as good as each other, or that one sounds better than the other. Seems to be a bit of a toss up, the only fairly consistent difference I've read is that the 555 has a little more bass extension. But I can't compare, so it's all hypothetical for me! The 555 sounds incredible here, with detail for miles. Lots of differing opinions on almost everything in forums -- it can make ya crazy. Anssi recommended that I get a higher-powered version of the Adcom for the One18s and my particular needs, which is why I went for the GFA-555. I'm sure the GFA-545 is also great, and I would definitely have primarily looked at that if I were getting the One15s.

Originally Posted by Karloff70 ➡️

Guys in this thread seem to have happily driven two18's with a 545....

Originally Posted by noah440 ➡️

I'm sure! I just went with what Anssi recommended to me for my own setup, and am saying that for all intents and purposes the 545 and 555 are both really great, from all the things I've read.

Originally Posted by Sanlky ➡️

Thanks for the answer! but a stereo amplifier of 100 watts, would be enough power? I dont go so loud, i use my CMS 40 generally at its peak(and it has 25watts in the woofer) or it would be better another one with more power to get more headroom?


noah440 interesting that you liked One18s more than , i tested them few months ago and i didnt like them so much(but they sounded good enough).