Kit281 + Audiosource Amp Two? (1 Viewer)

[Nick Hallett]

Hello all,

I'm thinking of building a pair of Kit281s but I'm not sure if my Audiosource Amp Two is capable of enough current to keep the 281s happy. The Amp two can work down to 2 ohms supposedly.

thoughts?

Nick Hallett

 

[Cam S]

I would have no doubt that the Amp Two is capable of driving those speakers to insane levels. I have experience with an Amp One at work that I have hooked up to a pair of JBL E90 towers (soon to be Jamo D450 towers), and let me tell you, they just friggin pound! I would imagine the Amp Two would be just as good, if not better.

 

[Nick Hallett]

It's the low impedence that worries me. The kit281's are 4 ohm, and I'm not sure if the a2's power supply is up to the task.

Nick Hallett

 

[Michael R Price]

I used that exact combination, for over a year! (Actually I have an Amp One, and I don't know of any actual differences between that and the new model.) It works great. Clips at around 103db in my small to medium size room. In other words, loud as heck (for most music) and capable of pretty powerful bass.

The Amp Two has a weak power supply but there's not much you can do about that, it's really not bad considering the price. There's a toroid transformer looking to be about 250VA, and two 10,000uf capacitors. I would estimate the peak output at around 100 watts into 4 ohms. Comparing to a better, more powerful amplifier the Amp One sounds slightly less clear/realistic, has weak and boomy bass, and starts to get a "dry" sounding distortion above around 90db. But those are minor faults and I am guessing the Amp Two will sound as good as any other $300 amp with the Kit 281s.

 

[Jerry Parker]

Michael, what is the voltage rating of the transformer? I would think knowing the power supply voltage would be much more informative in determining output power than how many VA's the transformer is rated at...

 

[Benihana]

why not just go for the Amp Three? Usually on ebay for around $230 or so. I have 2 of them biamping my mains, best amps for the price.

 

[Michael R Price]

The supply is +/-40V DC at idle. That means peak output into 8 ohms could be as high as 100 watts. What matters for driving the Kit281s though, is how much those rails drop (and how much supply ripple/noise increases) when loaded down by a couple amps. I did notice that at high levels, using a single channel sounded a good bit clearer than both channels - presumably because adding the load of the second speaker pushed the power supply near its limits. (This does not happen with my DIY amplifiers.)

 

[Nick Hallett]

because I'm selling plasma just to save for the 281s. If I get anything more I'll be hanging out on a streetcorner wearing short shorts, rollerskates, and sucking on a lollypop...