Right geeks , I'm gonna boost the amp section to double the output from 70 watts per channel to 140 .
I know this is gonna make my system sound better cos everybody says it does so it must do.
But I want to get sone solid info on why and how it's gonna make it sound better ? Maybees other mere plebs will find it useful also ?
I now ask you oracles of audio on mundo to tell me the likely effect it will have , and WHY ?????
My speakers in case you don,t know are B&W CM7s. 3 way floorers and they have , in case it matters a jot something called a ' first order crossover ' ( whatever that is....I think I put unleaded in it ? )
And does the pre amp go to the treble and the power amp to the bass or vica verca ?
And will I plug the seperate power supply into the pre or the power amp .......? .....or get two ......derrrrrrr

Put it this way, I have two amps A huygens MHz2 a 200W mono block, then I have a Huygens MH4 400w mono block, they are the same a apart from power, so they sound the same right? wrong, they sound completely different, more power equals better bass control, better separation, more bandwidth, just a far superior sound all round, good power rules, I don't know technically the answer but the proof is in the hearing, I wire my set up differently, 1 mono drives one speaker and the other mono the other, Kudos have now gone over to single wire speakers.

But really I don't think you can beat power, the bass control is just so good.

err....I'm the one who said to go with PSX-R instead of power amp right? So not everybody says you should go the power amp route. Anyway, if you DO go the power amp, how you hook it up depends a bit on which power amp you choose/find.

If you get one of the more powerful options such as th X Power or the Monos, then I wouldn't bother with the power amp in the integrated at all. Just go with the power(s). Why? 3 reasons. 1. Because not using the power amp in the integrated reserves all the power in the supply for the preamp stage which allows it to drive te preamp better. 2. Because the separate power amp(s) have less weaknesses overall than the integrated's power amp while offering more and better power to thespeaker as a whole. 3. Because you would then need to match the lengths of the speaker cables and ensure you're using the same cable in order not to introduce phase issues at the speaker end thereby ruining the timing. (OK, answer 3 is a typical Naim dealer's response but I've heard this answer elsewhere too, by Martin Colloms most notably).

If you go for one of the less powerful power amps then this will have similar weaknesses as your integrat3ed's power section and so it makes sense to double up on the power and try to optimise the strengths.

A 1st order crossover is the simplest form of crossover there is. A crossover splits the bass/midrange/treble frequencies for each drive unit, so the treble unit doesn't try reproducing 100hz and blow itself out of the speaker cabinet when you push all that power through it. Typically the 1st order crossover is just one component, a capacitor (if memory serves). That's what the famous EPOS ES14 used and was one reason for such transparency (in its day).

Hope this helps...

adam told you what you needed to know, and I don't know why 2 120 watt momoblock sound better than a 120 watt 2 channel, but they do.

Usually the reason is that the 2 120w amps have bigger stiffer power supplies in them than the single 120w stereo amplifier. So although the output devices are the same, the quality of the juice that flows through them is better.

Cheers all. Great post Frank . How much power do those monos give ?
Ät the mo it looks like
1- psx-r
2- mono's
3- ditch the 8vs2 and get a pre .
That sound right everyone ?

GULP ! - Just been pricing the mono's up.
I presume they blow the x powers to bits ?

Not really knowing Cyrus, but In my own mind I don't think I would put the power supplies over the amps, as I say I don't know Cyrus well enough but I would live with what you've got, enjoy the B&W, then save for the Pre and monos, again I don't know the price, but once you've got them your off the upgrade path, either that or the Pre power, I would put power supplies last, personally, do they bring the same benefits to the sound as going to a dedicated pre with better power amps? by getting better power amps surely your upgrading the power supply at the same time as they have stronger transformers in them anyway, if that makes logical sense.

Mark,

The Monos (or more accurately - the Mono X's which are better than the original Monos) are rated at about 150wpc 'only'. That said, they are immensely powerful and are one of the few amplifiers which I rate for difficult loads, the others being Electrocompaniet which are excellent value for money and Chord Electronics which are serious money! And yes, with 150w into 8, 240w into 4 and burst power capability of 1500w, they are substantially better than an XPower, or 2XPowers , although I haven't (and can't) tried 2XPowers with PSX-Rs...I suspect even in that case the Monos will be better simply becaue they have a larger power supply than is available in either the XPower or the PSX-R.

As I keep saying, the PSX-R regulates the preamp beautifully, providing a substantial improvement to the basic signal. Adding a power amplifier after the preamp stage is goign to improve control at the speaker stage but it can't improve the signal from the preamp so that's why the PSX-R comes first in my view, especially considering that the power amp you have is already capable of driving those speakers well - but I accept mine is the voice from the madman in the wilderness.

I would stick with a pre and 2 monos mate, it is gunna be plenty enough for ur speakers and for a future more expensive set of speaks.

I have heard the original monos with an 8 pre I think it was an 8?
With a 6 cd and all chord sig cables on a set of the kef £6000 refs and it was pretty intense and powerful!

Ur speaks will cream their pants on the pre and monos ur thinking of, I wouldnt go too over the top and if ur after some decent speaker cables to make the most of it I have a £2500 set of Deltecs and jumpers for sale @ £350 u could even borrow them to have a try dude at ur postage expense.
I dont need them now as my focal actives are singing their lungs out!

Aye but for how long ?
I mean you are the original Mr Discontent dude !
You ditch gear like Jermaine defoe ditches his birds .
Next year yer'l want em back for your new bestest ever valve set up cos studio gear is not as good as you first thought !

Cheers anyway dude but I ain't even gonna spend 350 on cables yet as I've not heard anything I like more n me chord cheapies . I agree cables make a difference and I can hear it but I know through demoing that more cash don't allways mean nore sound. I've heard £1700 nordosts that let less detail through than my humble old cobras ...strange but true. Cables matter , but I reckon they're the biggest thing ever invented for snakeoilers to rip folks off !
Anyhow thats a different subject I suppose.

Good to see you back dvv, I hope you had a good rest and a nice holiday!

Your right, I probably miss understood him as his English is poor, maybe he meant the layout, parts used etc, but with different ratings for the increase in power making them sound different, yes, you can give me a detailed explanation it's good to learn why things sound different and by just making a few changes here and there the sound changes quite wildly at times.

Well Marky I have had Nordost and it is top end obvious and crap IMO, ive used cardas, chord, VDH, LFD, atlas, transparent, silver sounds, abbey road, and many more and these Deltecs are by far the most weighty dynamic and involving cables I have ever used!

P.S I am thinking about going all valve with my active focals and poss all valve hifi in the future, considering some custom quads monos at the mo with some Tannoy Golds and maybe an E.A.R pre but then I may wanna eat sometime soon also!