Seg with power amp?

[meBob]

Hello Gary (Stryder5),

There's a good chance you know a lot more than I do. I'm grateful for you help!

Thanks

[meBob]

Hello Geoff (Sherwood),

Thanks for the confirmation it works, this gives me options of both intergrated and power amps.

[meBob]

Hello Jim (monkfish),

I've Googled the A500, there's not many people with anything bad to say about it when considering the price it's sold for.

There's a review on What HiFi where someone compares it to my amp (Sony F770ES) and at £170 it compares well (considering the Sony was a flagship, remarkable!) but the reviewer also says it's a nudge on the bright side compared to the Sony, I wouldn't be able to live it. It would also be going through KEF Reference speakers that tend to highlight the good and the bad.

Many thanks for the help though.

[twotone]

Hello Jim (monkfish),

I've Googled the A500, there's not many people with anything bad to say about it when considering the price it's sold for.

There's a review on What HiFi where someone compares it to my amp (Sony F770ES) and at £170 it compares well (considering the Sony was a flagship, remarkable!) but the reviewer also says it's a nudge on the bright side compared to the Sony, I wouldn't be able to live it. It would also be going through KEF Reference speakers that tend to highlight the good and the bad.

Many thanks for the help though.

Hi Jim, I've heard Jim's amp with his Beresford Caiman and laptop, I sold him a pair of Dynaudio speakers earlier this year, and the sound from his set up was astonishing I was Gobsmacked quite frankly.

Tony

[monkfish]

Hello Jim (monkfish),

I've Googled the A500, there's not many people with anything bad to say about it when considering the price it's sold for.

There's a review on What HiFi where someone compares it to my amp (Sony F770ES) and at £170 it compares well (considering the Sony was a flagship, remarkable!) but the reviewer also says it's a nudge on the bright side compared to the Sony, I wouldn't be able to live it. It would also be going through KEF Reference speakers that tend to highlight the good and the bad.

Many thanks for the help though.

I am using the A500 with a first gen Caiman with the Gator board mod, I also have a Caiman Seg which works equally well , speakers used have been Tannoy Cheviots, Kef Reference 3 and now Dynaudio audience 72.
Sound has been outstanding throughout, never a hint of brightness or any other nasty traits, I have since bought another A500 and would like to purchase a third to run an active Linn Isobarik system where there were Naim amps previously.

[Stryder5]

Hello Gary (Stryder5),

There's a good chance you know a lot more than I do. I'm grateful for you help!

Thanks

We all learn, there are lots of people on this forum who know far, far more. Always willing to help!

[Sherwood]

Hello Geoff (Sherwood),

Thanks for the confirmation it works, this gives me options of both intergrated and power amps.

No problem, but do make sure that you have the volume control set to zero and the Caiman SEG set to preamp mode. If you have it set for DAC mode or the volume set too high on start up you may damage your speakers.

Geoff

[robtweed]

If you go for a pro power amp, they usually come with gain controls you can set to suit your output, only problem I had was trying to use a naim power amp with a Caiman, couldn't get enough gain so sounded quite weedy.
I'm using a Behringer A500, cheap as chips, clean and powerful, 120w into 8ohm.

I use an SEG directly into a Naim NAP 100 with exceptionally good results. Only thing I had to do was to earth the SEG to the Naim Amp to remove an earth loop hum. I don't think I've ever pushed the SEG's volume control beyond 50%. Sound quality is amazing - crystal clean quality across the spectrum and deep, clean solid bass. The SEG is powered by a Chinese 15V linear power supply, but even with the standard power supply there was never any problem with gain levels.

I previously used a Behringer A500 - I've actually had several of them, and, disappointingly they all ended up with intermittent crackles and noise from the potentiometers which was so bad it risked damaging my speakers. I kept getting sending them back and getting them replaced until I gave up after the 3rd one which ended up the same way. I've tried various things to figure out how to stop this happening, but with no long-term success, so I gave up, bought the Naim and the A500 is just gathering dust in a cupboard now. If anyone has any ideas, do let me know how you think the problem might be solved. It's a shame because the A500 is otherwise a pretty nice, very powerful and very cheap amp otherwise, but this fault makes it too unreliable IMO. Sounds like you have a good one, and I hope it doesn't develop the same fault.

The Naim, by comparison, has been flawless from day 1 and is a fabulous, high-quality piece of kit, and IMO has been well worth the extra money. It gets my 100% recommendation if anyone else is considering a power amp to use with an SEG.

[Stryder5]

Hello Geoff (Sherwood),

Thanks for the confirmation it works, this gives me options of both intergrated and power amps.

Hi Rob,

What was the solution?

Gary

[monkfish]

I use an SEG directly into a Naim NAP 100 with exceptionally good results. Only thing I had to do was to earth the SEG to the Naim Amp to remove an earth loop hum. I don't think I've ever pushed the SEG's volume control beyond 50%. Sound quality is amazing - crystal clean quality across the spectrum and deep, clean solid bass. The SEG is powered by a Chinese 15V linear power supply, but even with the standard power supply there was never any problem with gain levels.

I previously used a Behringer A500 - I've actually had several of them, and, disappointingly they all ended up with intermittent crackles and noise from the potentiometers which was so bad it risked damaging my speakers. I kept getting sending them back and getting them replaced until I gave up after the 3rd one which ended up the same way. I've tried various things to figure out how to stop this happening, but with no long-term success, so I gave up, bought the Naim and the A500 is just gathering dust in a cupboard now. If anyone has any ideas, do let me know how you think the problem might be solved. It's a shame because the A500 is otherwise a pretty nice, very powerful and very cheap amp otherwise, but this fault makes it too unreliable IMO. Sounds like you have a good one, and I hope it doesn't develop the same fault.

The Naim, by comparison, has been flawless from day 1 and is a fabulous, high-quality piece of kit, and IMO has been well worth the extra money. It gets my 100% recommendation if anyone else is considering a power amp to use with an SEG.

Hi Rob
I can only give my findings with a Nap 250 which has had the full Avondale treatment, there just wasn't enough gain when used with the Caiman, the sound was good but not loud enough to enjoy any dynamics.
I didn't mean this to sound like a Naim bashing exercise, unfortunately it may come across like that, they do have a good reputation for longevity and I used them for many years myself.