andyr Posted January 18 Posted January 18 1 hour ago, rantan said: IIRC the current output is 30a. Power is 20/8ohms and 40 /4 ohms (Class A ) Sounds like it should do the job, well! 1
Ooogh Posted January 19 Posted January 19 Bryston. The later the model the better in terms of refinement and detail , the cubed series are fantastic but a 4BSST 2 will do the job very nicely. If you want real power move up to a 14B but the price point also rises and they hit the market far less often. Given your budget a 4B should leave enough change to pick up a nice simple valve preamp and a DAC if you are looking to stream music, (the smartest, cheapest option if you don’t own a garage full of records or CDs). Used by professionals and audiophiles alike they come with a twenty year transferable warranty, unheard of in the world of hifi. @Tony M owns a shed full of Gales and has put almost every conceivable amplifier in front of them but has settled on a 14BSST2. 3
zenikoy Posted January 19 Posted January 19 Most discussions on suitable amps for Gales usually escalate to the following suggestion...... But seriously, as a former Gale 401C owner, I was happy with the performance of my Accuphase E202 and later 2x Burson Timekeepers run as monoblocks. Granted, in a Perth summer the fans in the Bursons did often activate and only a couple of times did the safety shut off trigger. 4 1
Tony M Posted January 19 Posted January 19 On 18/01/2025 at 3:14 PM, rantan said: As everybody here knows I have a Luxman Class A, which despite the wattage is very high current, but several times lately I have put off buying Gales until I can hear them with my amplifier. Hey @rantan, you can hear them with your amp anytime it suits you. We could probably involve a few other locals for extra opinions/perspectives as I think it would be an interesting exercise. 2 1
-Prince- Posted January 19 Posted January 19 (edited) On 18/01/2025 at 12:37 PM, rantan said: current being more important than watts How about a class A amplifier like Sugden, Pass Labs or Luxman 590 @rantan Edited January 19 by VJ. 2
Capgun Posted January 19 Author Posted January 19 12 hours ago, Ooogh said: Bryston. The later the model the better in terms of refinement and detail , the cubed series are fantastic but a 4BSST 2 will do the job very nicely. If you want real power move up to a 14B but the price point also rises and they hit the market far less often. Given your budget a 4B should leave enough change to pick up a nice simple valve preamp and a DAC if you are looking to stream music, (the smartest, cheapest option if you don’t own a garage full of records or CDs). Used by professionals and audiophiles alike they come with a twenty year transferable warranty, unheard of in the world of hifi. @Tony M owns a shed full of Gales and has put almost every conceivable amplifier in front of them but has settled on a 14BSST2. Amazing information. Cheers. @Tony M I am looking at a Rotel RA 6000 as they are half price. Will this get me off to a good start? 1
Grizzly Posted January 19 Posted January 19 11 hours ago, Tony M said: Hey @rantan, you can hear them with your amp anytime it suits you. We could probably involve a few other locals for extra opinions/perspectives as I think it would be an interesting exercise. I'll be in on that one, time permitting! @rantan 2
Tony M Posted January 20 Posted January 20 13 hours ago, Capgun said: Amazing information. Cheers. @Tony M I am looking at a Rotel RA 6000 as they are half price. Will this get me off to a good start? I've always regarded Rotel power amps highly in the "bang for bucks" stakes. I do have a vintage Rotel Michi RHB-10 which drives the Gales very well indeed. The one you're looking at probably shares a lot of DNA with the old Michi and looks like a sound option. As the others have noted, it will probably "do the job well". Of course, the proof is in the listening and a home trial or at least an audition with your speakers would be recommended if you can arrange it. However, hearing the Gales with a 600WPC Bryston was a revelation to me and everyone else in the room at the time - so much so that I bought the next one that showed up in the classifieds. They are solid, reliable beasties and a good used one is an enticing proposition as they are pretty exxy new. So, that would have to be my No 1 recommendation. I think it's one of those rare and exciting instances where a particular amp/speaker combination just seem to gel like they were designed for each other. I suspect that, once you hear that combination, anything less will feel like a compromise. That said, this game's all a compromise anyway and the new Rotel could just be the right one for you - it's a nice-looking, feature-packed unit and the price is very attractive. 1
Capgun Posted January 20 Author Posted January 20 10 hours ago, Tony M said: I've always regarded Rotel power amps highly in the "bang for bucks" stakes. I do have a vintage Rotel Michi RHB-10 which drives the Gales very well indeed. The one you're looking at probably shares a lot of DNA with the old Michi and looks like a sound option. As the others have noted, it will probably "do the job well". Of course, the proof is in the listening and a home trial or at least an audition with your speakers would be recommended if you can arrange it. However, hearing the Gales with a 600WPC Bryston was a revelation to me and everyone else in the room at the time - so much so that I bought the next one that showed up in the classifieds. They are solid, reliable beasties and a good used one is an enticing proposition as they are pretty exxy new. So, that would have to be my No 1 recommendation. I think it's one of those rare and exciting instances where a particular amp/speaker combination just seem to gel like they were designed for each other. I suspect that, once you hear that combination, anything less will feel like a compromise. That said, this game's all a compromise anyway and the new Rotel could just be the right one for you - it's a nice-looking, feature-packed unit and the price is very attractive. Tony, Thank you so much for the feedback. I suspect I'll have to keep an eye out for a second hand one for the price range. I can't wait to hear what these things do. A guy that I have been speaking to that owned a pair of 401's said that he removed the fuses and attenuator to improve the overall performance. Have you heard of this? Cheers, Adam. 1
Grizzly Posted January 20 Posted January 20 (edited) 48 minutes ago, Capgun said: Tony, Thank you so much for the feedback. I suspect I'll have to keep an eye out for a second hand one for the price range. I can't wait to hear what these things do. A guy that I have been speaking to that owned a pair of 401's said that he removed the fuses and attenuator to improve the overall performance. Have you heard of this? Cheers, Adam. The attenuators were never meant to be an end user adjustment- they were set at the factory to ensure frequency response characteristics- removing them and replacing with a judiciously chosen resistor makes some sense (though new, quality potentiometers is another option and allows some tuning to taste). Fuses were to protect the associated drivers from being cooked and, considering the difficulty of finding replacements these day, I'd leave them in place. For my money the risks outweigh any potential benefit. Edited January 20 by Grizzly spelling.... 3
Tony M Posted January 21 Posted January 21 @Grizzly summed it up nicely. Two of the 3 pair I have were extensively refurbished by @Peter_F in Perth and he left the attenuators and fuses intact. 1
Capgun Posted February 5 Author Posted February 5 On 03/02/2025 at 4:47 PM, Darryl said: @Capgun this might be suitable? Yeah that would be good, I just bought a Rotel so I'll see how that goes when it arrives. Thanks again for all the support. I can't wait to get these running. The Bryston seems to be a running theme though, good to know for when I need to upgrade.
Grizzly Posted February 5 Posted February 5 25 minutes ago, Capgun said: Yeah that would be good, I just bought a Rotel so I'll see how that goes when it arrives. Thanks again for all the support. I can't wait to get these running. The Bryston seems to be a running theme though, good to know for when I need to upgrade. I know a chap who may be inclined to part with his Rotel RHB-10 and matching preamp. If they'd be of interest I can ask for you. @Tony M can provide feedback on the pairing, I'm certain!
Desap Posted February 6 Posted February 6 On 18/01/2025 at 3:07 PM, rantan said: @POVit's all fine mate and no issue here. My sarcasm may be taking a front seat. The other thing is that you are 100% correct about current being more important than watts and this is one of my pet causes which I should have mentioned before. Cheers. I had a pair of 401s back in the 1980's and I remember trialing a few amps and one of the best was only rated at 70 watts rms into 8 ohms but had enormous current delivery - I can't remember the brand except it wasn't a "main stream" brand - sounded better than some 200 wrms amps. 1
georgehifi Posted February 11 Posted February 11 (edited) On 06/02/2025 at 12:57 PM, Desap said: I had a pair of 401s back in the 1980's and I remember trialing a few amps and one of the best was only rated at 70 watts rms into 8 ohms but had enormous current delivery - I can't remember the brand except it wasn't a "main stream" brand - sounded better than some 200 wrms amps. Yes 401's ( we all had them back then, they were a very over damped speaker design) not to sound bass light, to get those cones moving, they loved amps with good current behind them, don't listen to those that say they don't, they haven't heard them at their best then, (they are low impedance & very low EPDR) but they didn't demand that many watts ( because they were high efficiency). They really sounded good with the early ME amps like the ME75/50/150 which were around that wattage you mentioned (probably one of those, they were a popular pairing) yet the ME's at only half or less wattage had far more continuous current ability than most 200watt amps from Japan/US had. This cheaper pairing was also popular if funds didn't stretch out to the ME's Pre/power https://tinyurl.com/24fgujzm also a high current amp https://tinyurl.com/2ar7q33g JA: "the modest-looking Rotel proved a powerhouse, delivering 281.5W into 8 ohms, 539W into 4 ohms, 974 W into 2 ohms, and 1615W into 1 ohm. The latter corresponds to an RMS current of 40A by the way! " PS: to make the 401's sound better bypass the fuses, make sure you clean up the hf/mf wire wound pots, they get crusty very quickly. Even better I found you get the resistance settings you like on both pots and sub them both for 5w series on the tweeter and 10w series/shunt on the mid, wire wound power resistors. Cheers George If you don't want to measure these are the approx values to get to give you center position sound of the pots Edited February 11 by georgehifi 1
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