Powering the ProAc Studio 100s

Tragabigzanda · Post by **Tragabigzanda** » Wed Jul 11, 2012 1:27 pm

Hey all. Am pricing out a new monitoring situation for one of the studios I'm working out of. We're looking at the ProAc 100s, and am curious what y'all are using to power them? Ryan @ Vintage King is recommending the Bryston 3B SST2 Pro, though he says that anything with 100 watts and 8 ohms will do (like an older 3B ST). I'm not the most knowledgable guy when it comes to power amps and speaker loads, so I await your education...

The Bryston 3BSST2 Pro is listed at $3299; how much $$ can I shave off if I go with something older or of lesser quality, without getting into a serious compromise of my sound?

Edit: the power amp will live at the studio. I don't anticipate a single remote session, so durability of the housing and whatnot is not a huge deal.

Nick, you seem to be pretty good with this sort of question?

dfuruta · Post by **dfuruta** » Wed Jul 11, 2012 1:58 pm

Old Adcoms are nice. I'm powering my PMCs with a gfa 535 (around $100 on ebay), and I have no complaints.

Nick Sevilla · Post by **Nick Sevilla** » Wed Jul 11, 2012 4:23 pm

Brystons are overpriced.

rhythm ranch · Post by **rhythm ranch** » Wed Jul 11, 2012 5:27 pm

Nick Sevilla wrote:Brystons are overpriced.

+1

Adcom is a good suggestion.

vxboogie · Post by **vxboogie** » Wed Jul 11, 2012 7:16 pm

rhythm ranch wrote:
Nick Sevilla wrote:Brystons are overpriced.
+1 Adcom is a good suggestion.

+2 Adcom 545 powering my monitors for the last 10 years.

Tragabigzanda · Post by **Tragabigzanda** » Thu Jul 12, 2012 9:35 am

Thanks everyone, seems like there's some good deals on used AdComs out there. Will probably go this route...

Tragabigzanda · Post by **Tragabigzanda** » Thu Jul 12, 2012 9:40 am

Seems like the Adcom site doesn't offer much info on past products. Anybody have a good source for specs on their older gear?

dfuruta · Post by **dfuruta** » Thu Jul 12, 2012 10:10 am

The GFA 535 is rated at 60 watts per channel, the 545 at 100. Either will be fine driving 8 ohm speakers.

Tragabigzanda · Post by **Tragabigzanda** » Thu Jul 12, 2012 10:11 am

Thanks. And I'll add that the 555 is rated at 125/channel. I'm sensing a trend here...

cgarges · Post by **cgarges** » Sat Jul 14, 2012 7:39 am

When I got my B&W 805s about seven years ago, I went on a pretty major hunt for an amp. The 805s aren't the most efficient speakers in the world, so I had to be sure that what I got was powerful enough. I heard several Crown amps, a BGW, a few different Haflers, a couple of Yamahas, a few Crest amps, a Carver, an Alesis, and finally bought a Bryston 4B. The Bryston had the best imaging and depth, although the top seemed brighter than some of the other contenders. Probably my second favorite, though, were the two or three Crest amps I heard. The Haflers were good too, but I'm amazed at how many reliability problems I've seen with Hafler amps. The Crown amps I heard with these speakers were downright terrible compared to everything else and everything else was just sort of "okay." Between the time that my Hafler P3000 blew up and when I bought the Bryston, I used a Carver amp for a while and it did surprisingly well.

Chris Garges
Charlotte, NC

cgarges · Post by **cgarges** » Sat Jul 14, 2012 7:39 am

When I got my B&W 805s about seven years ago, I went on a pretty major hunt for an amp. The 805s aren't the most efficient speakers in the world, so I had to be sure that what I got was powerful enough. I heard several Crown amps, a BGW, a few different Haflers, a couple of Yamahas, a few Crest amps, a Carver, an Alesis, and finally bought a Bryston 4B. The Bryston had the best imaging and depth, although the top seemed brighter than some of the other contenders. Probably my second favorite, though, were the two or three Crest amps I heard. The Haflers were good too, but I'm amazed at how many reliability problems I've seen with Hafler amps. The Crown amps I heard with these speakers were downright terrible compared to everything else and everything else was just sort of "okay." Between the time that my Hafler P3000 blew up and when I bought the Bryston, I used a Carver amp for a while and it did surprisingly well.

Chris Garges
Charlotte, NC

Tragabigzanda · Post by **Tragabigzanda** » Sun Jul 15, 2012 10:11 am

Thanks, Chris! Also helpful, will research more...

Jim Williams · Post by **Jim Williams** » Tue Jul 17, 2012 8:31 am

All Adcom here since 1988. I stumbled on them when I bought a new 535 from "Everything Audio", the defunct store run by Brit Arnie Toshner who I toured with when I went out with Stevie Wonder. It replaced a nasty sounding JBL/UREI 6300 power amp.

Since then I've replaced several Bryston rooms with Adcoms, mostly 545's for nearfields and 555's for mains, sometimes run bridged mono at 500 watts each. Every client told the same story: The Brystons have a hard midrange and lack low level high frequency details.

The topology tells the story, each stage is an example of the best topology and linear amp design. Combine that with quality passive parts and excellent Japanese discrete transistors and it's a winner. 555's are now being made again, new.

chorga1 · Post by **chorga1** » Sat Jul 21, 2012 3:44 pm

A Bryston 3BST will be around $1500 used. The ST is a lot of bang for your buck, pairs nicely with Proacs, and a great warranty.

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Powering the ProAc Studio 100s

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