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Seeking Opinions: Which amp to drive Polk SDAs?

Johnny_Law

Johnny_Law

o.O
Subscriber
I just picked up a Legacy Audio High Current amplifier (an early one with no serial #, made by Coda as far as I can tell) with the intention of driving my SDA 3.1TLs with it. I am currently using an NAD 2200.

However, looking at the Legacy published specs (from the paper manual that came with it, as I can't find the specs online - 220 watts into 8 ohms, something like 350 into 4, with 50 amps of current) versus the NAD's dyno specs I've found (see below, 230 watts into 8 ohms, 340 into 4, but almost 1000 watts of burst into 2 ohms), I'm not sure it'd actually be an upgrade.

The Legacy Audio (Coda) (Edit: not cap coupled!) power light stays on for a minute or so after I turn it off (only did a small test on my kitchen table to make sure it works).

Edit: I suppose it's worth mentioning that the Legacy / Coda is class A for the first 10 or so watts versus the NAD 2200 purely A/B.

Anyway - would love any input here. Will probably swap in the Legacy Audio amp tonight and see what happens but any more educated / experienced insight is always appreciated.

Thanks,
Ryan

(And yes, the Legacy Audio amp is common ground.)

The NAD's amp dyno results (screen cap'd from YouTube, check them out, credit where credit's due!)

rpzLiDG.jpg


And the Legacy Audio undressed

B1gj0LTl.jpg
 
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cwh said:
Isn't CC'd, just takes a minute for the amp to bleed off.

Thought you sold that PE Nad?
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Ah thanks, corrected my post. Are you familiar with these amps at all? Like em / hate em?

In a moment of ignorance I listed it for sale, but I realized that it ran circles around the C370 with which I was powering the SDAs. So in went the 2200 and out the door went the C370. :p
 
cwh said:
They're absolutely awful and anyone that.....

Never heard one. They were pretty pricey right? Fire it up tell us what you think!
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Yeah they certainly were a pretty penny, but I'm only cautiously optimistic ... hopefully will have a good update when I get home and swap it into the system!
 
OK the Legacy amp is in, and sounds great! To be honest, this is my home theater setup, so I haven't listened to music critically with it. However I did watch an action movie on Sat night and it performed very well. In terms of horsepower I can't say it's much of a difference from the 2200, maybe a little but I'd have to A/B to know for sure. And I want to say it's a little cleaner but that's probably some kind of subconscious bias going on in my head. Either way it's a good fit so it's staying.
 
I'M using a Kenwood Basic M2a amp, C2 preamp, with SDA 1C's love it, And a Yamaha MX 1000 amp with SDA 1 A's. Both do the job Well.
 
Ooh I'd take an MX1000 any day. I have an MX600U that I loved until the genie got out of, someday find that genie and put it back in. :p

Anyway I noticed that I need to have the volume higher on my preamp to get the same loudness out of the Legacy as I was getting out of the NAD. I suppose they must have different input gain? Something to look up.
 
Johnny_Law said:
OK the Legacy amp is in, and sounds great! To be honest, this is my home theater setup, so I haven't listened to music critically with it. However I did watch an action movie on Sat night and it performed very well. In terms of horsepower I can't say it's much of a difference from the 2200, maybe a little but I'd have to A/B to know for sure. And I want to say it's a little cleaner but that's probably some kind of subconscious bias going on in my head. Either way it's a good fit so it's staying.
Click to expand...

Glad it's working out with the Polks. Coda makes nice gear. I own a CLX pre, and love it.
 
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