Volunteer sir sanders zingmore Posted January 23, 2019 Volunteer Posted January 23, 2019 Saw these guys on another forum. Nice looking stuff at what seems to be good pricing. And they are Australian Just wondering if anyone is familiar with them? https://www.marchaudio.net.au/
Suopermanni Posted January 23, 2019 Posted January 23, 2019 Not yet. I'm currently thinking of trying out their DAC and their P122 power amp. Never heard a Class D amp before so could be interesting!
Guest Posted January 23, 2019 Posted January 23, 2019 They are using B&W in the promotion, so they must be legends.
mattd2308 Posted January 23, 2019 Posted January 23, 2019 Impressive looking gear, he, Alan March, has an impressive resume too from what I've googled. Was at Rolls Royce in the UK. Reasonably priced also. 1
powerav Posted January 23, 2019 Posted January 23, 2019 About time a company like this has appeared without the ridiculous over inflated prices. Well done to them, the 250w power amp will be my next purchase 2
powerav Posted January 24, 2019 Posted January 24, 2019 And the fact that they mention that their DAC is compatible with LibreELEC is a winner for me. Compatibility: Windows (driver-less in Windows 10) Mac OS Linux Android LibreELEC Volumio
powerav Posted January 24, 2019 Posted January 24, 2019 8 hours ago, powerav said: About time a company like this has appeared without the ridiculous over inflated prices. Well done to them, the 250w power amp will be my next purchase Oh I better back track there, just noticed all prices on website are U.S dollars. Why would an Australian manufacturer state U.S. prices? has turned me off. 1
frankn Posted January 24, 2019 Posted January 24, 2019 3 hours ago, powerav said: Oh I better back track there, just noticed all prices on website are U.S dollars. Why would an Australian manufacturer state U.S. prices? has turned me off. Perhaps they see a bigger market in the USA so it’s easier to price in their currency. Saves hassle of currency fluctuations etc.
Suopermanni Posted February 1, 2019 Posted February 1, 2019 Well, I'll be purchasing some of their stuff beginning from March (excuse the pun) to compare with what I have. Will be interesting to see the Klein DAC III compared to the DAC1.
rantan Posted February 1, 2019 Posted February 1, 2019 IME there isn't a lot of difference between similarly priced Class D amplification so it would be nice if it has a better story to tell or something unique to the brand. 1
March Audio Posted February 7, 2019 Posted February 7, 2019 (edited) On 24/01/2019 at 4:12 PM, powerav said: Oh I better back track there, just noticed all prices on website are U.S dollars. Why would an Australian manufacturer state U.S. prices? has turned me off. Hi there powerav, There are a couple of simple reasons for this. Firstly, as Im sure you can appreciate, with the internet the market is global. In fact most sales have indeed been to the States so far. Secondly the WIX ecommerce facilities only allow one type of currency to be used (although you can choose what) so US $ is going to be the most globally "friendly". For domestic sales bank transfers or EFTPOS can be arranged. Hope that helps regards Alan Edited February 8, 2019 by March Audio 2
March Audio Posted February 7, 2019 Posted February 7, 2019 I f anyone has any questions about the kit, please fire away cheers Alan
March Audio Posted February 9, 2019 Posted February 9, 2019 (edited) On 01/02/2019 at 4:42 PM, rantan said: IME there isn't a lot of difference between similarly priced Class D amplification so it would be nice if it has a better story to tell or something unique to the brand. Hi Rantan Im a bit wary about not trying to turn this into a marketing exercise as thats against forum policy, but the story about the brand is really that I became very disillusioned with the very significant amount of psuedo technical nonsense and often total foo that appears to surround the domestic audio industry these days. Im a major contributor to another forum that technically tests equipment, and it has become very clear that some manufacturers, whilst telling a very convincing marketing story to their audience, produce some very mediocre equipment. There are differences in build and attention to detail which do make differences to the performance between mine and other similar Hypex ncore products, but it would be difficult to go into detail without bashing other manufacturers, something I dont want to do. As such I wanted to produce a range of equipment that has solid technical performance that is proven with published independent measurements. Its no accident that as a result the equipment also sounds fantastic. I also wanted a very simple, small elegant aesthetic look, milled solid aluminium enclosures and basically operation from phone/tablet. So independent measurements for the DAC1 are on the website already with measurements of the power amps coming soon. I will also be publishing customer feedback on the subjective sound quality soon. Other products coming soon: HPA1 headphone amp (my own design) STR1 streamer plus towards the end of the year an active DSP speaker. Hope this hasnt gone too far with the forums guidelines. HPA1 performance into 33 ohm load 100kohm load Edited February 9, 2019 by March Audio 6
Zaphod Beeblebrox Posted February 9, 2019 Posted February 9, 2019 (edited) 1 hour ago, March Audio said: HPA1 performance into 33 ohm load Wow! Very impressive. Also, kudos on avoiding those horrible IEC mains connectors. Edited February 9, 2019 by Zaphod Beeblebrox
AudioGeek Posted February 9, 2019 Posted February 9, 2019 Nice! I have been keen to see a local active dsp speaker - will this be full range? Also, the power supply and input buffers for the hypex modules made a difference in my subjective experience. What do you use/implement for your power amps?
Pops110 Posted February 9, 2019 Posted February 9, 2019 40 minutes ago, Zaphod Beeblebrox said: Wow! Very impressive. Also, kudos on avoiding those horrible IEC mains connectors. You might be thinking of the wrong manufacturer Zaph.
Zaphod Beeblebrox Posted February 9, 2019 Posted February 9, 2019 2 minutes ago, Pops110 said: You might be thinking of the wrong manufacturer Zaph. Oops. You are correct. I was thinking of those Herschel Audio amps.
March Audio Posted February 9, 2019 Posted February 9, 2019 1 hour ago, Zaphod Beeblebrox said: Wow! Very impressive. Also, kudos on avoiding those horrible IEC mains connectors. Have to ask, what do feel is horrible about IEC connectors?
March Audio Posted February 9, 2019 Posted February 9, 2019 (edited) 23 hours ago, AudioGeek said: Nice! I have been keen to see a local active dsp speaker - will this be full range? Also, the power supply and input buffers for the hypex modules made a difference in my subjective experience. What do you use/implement for your power amps? Depends what you mean by full range Final Spec is undecided, if I go the "full hog" it will be based on the design I made for myself, 3 way AMT tweeter, dome mid. However it could be a 2 way stand mount variation...or I suppose both would be the sensible solution Oooohhh op amp rolling... controversial Swapping op amps is only going to make a significant difference if it significantly changes the technical performance. Now dont take the following the wrong way, its just a comment on what I have seen done by others. Unfortunately people who indulge in this sport often have no technical equipment to measure if it has made a change. This is compounded by sighted uncontrolled and delayed listening comparisons which almost certainly leads to faulty conclusions. I will try and dig out a link to a test with op amp rolling in a Topping DAC where it made bugger all difference. So in answer to your question, with the amps that are available now (p122, P252 and P502) the Hypex modules have fixed input sections so you cant change them. The P701 monoblock available in Q2 can have different input buffers, however I see this as more of a marketing ploy than something of any real benefit.........and that's precisely why Hypex sell the amp without input buffer. Its to allow manufacturers to deliberately shape the sound away from neutral as a marketing differentiator. My amps are designed to be neutral. Adding a "sound" to it by using an op amp that isnt anything but neutral (ie has worse performance) doesnt make much sense to me. Edited February 10, 2019 by March Audio 1
Zaphod Beeblebrox Posted February 9, 2019 Posted February 9, 2019 (edited) 21 minutes ago, March Audio said: Have to ask, what do feel is horrible about IEC connectors? Another amplifier was promoted in this group at about the same time as yours. It uses the vastly superior Neutrik Powercon™ mains connector. I mistakenly thought it was your product. I am sorry for the confusion. If you wish to know why the Powercon™ is superior to all IEC connectors, examine the specs: https://www.neutrik.com/en/products/audio/powercon As to what is horrible about IEC connectors, well, pretty much everything. They are not locking. They are not wiping contacts. They are not fully and completely specified (such as insertion numbers). They are not available (AFAIK) in silver plated contact variants. They require a non-round hole to be fabricated. And, of course, none of this reflects on the quality of the product, just the mains connector used. And yes, I understand that many companies use the sub-standard, IEC mains connector. Doesn't make it the right choice, just the popular one. Edited February 9, 2019 by Zaphod Beeblebrox
March Audio Posted February 9, 2019 Posted February 9, 2019 (edited) 1 hour ago, Zaphod Beeblebrox said: Another amplifier was promoted in this group at about the same time as yours. It uses the vastly superior Neutrik Powercon™ mains connector. I mistakenly thought it was your product. I am sorry for the confusion. If you wish to know why the Powercon™ is superior to all IEC connectors, examine the specs: https://www.neutrik.com/en/products/audio/powercon As to what is horrible about IEC connectors, well, pretty much everything. They are not locking. They are not wiping contacts. They are not fully and completely specified (such as insertion numbers). They are not available (AFAIK) in silver plated contact variants. They require a non-round hole to be fabricated. The powercons look like good connectors, but being totally non standard is not a good choice considering the likely benefits they offer, which is pretty much nothing relevant. Im really sorry, this will probably upset you (hope not), but nothing in that list is anything that is really relevant to product performance. IEC is a fit for purpose connector, it does what is needed. Going back to the question above, one of the things that differentiate March Audio is that is engineering led and does not indulge in...well... how shall I put it....audiophile foo. You wont see Cryo treated silver woven by virgins mains leads with cable as thick as your arm. Edited February 9, 2019 by March Audio 7 1
Eggmeister Posted February 9, 2019 Posted February 9, 2019 (edited) Oh dear, Zaph has been hanging his hat on "IEC is crap" for ages.. He's not going to be happy Edited February 9, 2019 by Caelian 1
Recommended Posts