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Amp recommendations (new or old) for HPM 100

UncleBingo said:
Nope, but the Adcom's he mentions would drive the Pioneers very nicely. Only drawback (for me anyways) is no protection relay for the speakers iirc.
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You mean bridging them?

Not in the budget right now. Also, I'm trying to have as small a footprint as possible...
I'm having a really hard time tracking down a 125, 140, 150wpc power amp....can find plenty of SAE 2200 but not one 2300, etc.

If anyone's got an suggestions to look into, I'm all ears.
 
Nope. Not bridging them. You probably won't be able to tell the difference between 100 wpc and 125 (or even 150 for that matter). The HPM's will get pretty loud in a small/medium sized room with 60 watts.
 
IMO/E 100WPC is more than adequate for driving a pair of HPM-100's. It's not necessary to match the amplifier output with the speakers maximum amplifier power. Actually you can use amplifiers from 10WPC to >500WPC and no harm will come to anything as long as you pay attention to the resulting sound. IOW, if it starts to sound bad, turn it down.
 
JoeESP9 said:
IMO/E 100WPC is more than adequate for driving a pair of HPM-100's. It's not necessary to match the amplifier output with the speakers maximum amplifier power. Actually you can use amplifiers from 10WPC to >500WPC and no harm will come to anything as long as you pay attention to the resulting sound. IOW, if it starts to sound bad, turn it down.
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Yeah, I've been told this many many times and have read as such, I'm just a stickler for following instructions to a T.

In this case, I'm leaning back towards the SAE 2200 or Adcom previously mentioned, only because they're tanks.

I wish so badly that Carver had made a cube amp under 200w! The size is perfect for my needs.

Between the SAE, Adcom and Hafler, does anyone have any final thoughts?
 
Drugolf said:
Yeah, Adcom GFA, but the 5400.
But man, HPM's want a nice big Pioneer receiver like the 1050!
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Oh, a 1050 would be a beautiful thing! Maybe one day. I have a set of KG4s that currently use the nice big receiver I own. The HPMs are going in a different room, different purpose. This is for the party set up =) I just need a nice sounding, not too big power amp to tuck away.
 
@UncleBingo @JoeESP9 Hey you two

The Halfer DH220 sounds like what I'm looking for, warm and bright and full...but I'm reading things about how at this point, components usually need replacing/restoring.
That is both not in budget or wheelhouse. I usually pull covers off things, give them a dusting, check the solders and for loose bolts, etc., but nothing else.

I need this thing to work well out of the box for a long while.

Would you still recommend the Halfer? Am I worrying too much about condition? Or will the Adcom's tank like build probably better suit me?
With the HPMs and the set up I'm going for, I'll take the more neutral sounding amp if it's not going to break down on me...

*Edit* I've also just found a ONKYO M-501...I think Joe is right, I don't necessarily need those 50 extra watts, but in terms of build, I know the Onkyo isn't going to break down on me.
 
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I bet if you did a blind sound test with amps with the same wpc, you would be hard pressed to hear any difference. There may be some small differences but the speaker is the biggest part of the sound you are hearing. The HPMs have a very distinctive sound and will have that sound pretty much whatever amp you use.
 
Bodyblue said:
I bet if you did a blind sound test with amps with the same wpc, you would be hard pressed to hear any difference. There may be some small differences but the speaker is the biggest part of the sound you are hearing. The HPMs have a very distinctive sound and will have that sound pretty much whatever amp you use.
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That is exactly what I was thinking with these speakers. Like I said above, sometimes stating/hearing the obvious is still helpful.

Every time I come on here, I learn a lot so I figured a few amp recommendations would be nice.

As strongly as people are recommending the Hafler, as much as I'd probably like it, I keep reading over and over how sparse some parts are. And I see how expensive upgrading/refurbishing it is. I'll likely go with the Adcom or Onkyo, simply because I know these two will just keep going and going.
 
As far as older gear a Pioneer 8500 II or its big brother the 9500 II would be good options. They're dual mono designs, sound great, and are built like tanks. The 8500 II I have is just plain pleasant and detailed. There's pretty much no background noise until it's cranked it to levels you probably wouldn't listen at anyway. The turnover switches for the bass and treble are nice as far as fine tuning goes. But the amp also sounds great with tone off. Also they're just plain good looking amps.
 

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Brian Bee said:
That is exactly what I was thinking with these speakers. Like I said above, sometimes stating/hearing the obvious is still helpful.

Every time I come on here, I learn a lot so I figured a few amp recommendations would be nice.

As strongly as people are recommending the Hafler, as much as I'd probably like it, I keep reading over and over how sparse some parts are. And I see how expensive upgrading/refurbishing it is. I'll likely go with the Adcom or Onkyo, simply because I know these two will just keep going and going.
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Sales numbers of the item you are considering are your friend. The more they sold most of the time means easier parts availability today. there are a lot of people that love a lot of the smaller brands and I totally respect that but sometimes the big guys are a great choice.
 
There are numerous places that have Hafler and Dynaco parts. Some also repair/modify them. One of the best for Dynaco/Hafler is Van Alstine. Adcom parts does pretty good with older Adcom parts. Both Hafler DH-200/220 and Adcom GFA-54xx models were big sellers. They are widely available.

For me it comes down to the ability to drive difficult loads. Hafler and Adcom amplifiers fit this requirement.
 
@JoeESP9 Thank you, and the mosfets don't really concern you? I truly can't afford to spend $500+ restoring a <$300 amp...even if it'd be worth it. It's just in my budget.
 
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