P7300 vs A70. your thoughts
 

Hello everybody

I own an A70 but considering switching to AB class P7300.
My setup consists in Wilson Audio Sophia 3, A70, C2420, DP560 (soon to be DP750). Transparent Cable Reference range.
At this moment I wouldn't say that A70 is not already great, but I wonder if P7300 could be an even better choice.
The known data are:
1. I have a pretty big listening room, 73 sq meters (about 700 sq feet).Maybe more power would be better suited to the larger room (even I usually don't turn up the volume too much)
2. I like the warmth of the Class A, but also the precision of the AB counterpart.
3. I mainly like to play jazz/fusion stuff, but I also like classical/large orchestra music. Not too keen on mainly vocals music.

If anyone of you owned or listened these two amps for longer periods, I would gladly wait for your opinion(s).

I have the A70 best power amp I’ve ever owned in all my years in this hobby.
Can’t imagine the P7300 sounding better, just different.

I would stick with the A-70, if it currently fits with your speakers, your room and your listening habits.

For an improvement of your set-up, you should consider to replace the C-2420 by a C-28xx or a C-38xx TMO.

I would second that. I upgraded from the. C2450 to the C2850 and it was a much bigger improvement than when I upgraded from the A47 power amp.

If you're satisfied with the A-70,why change. Its a beautiful sounding amp. Plenty of drive for your room. I agree that a pre-amp upgrade will give you the improvement that you seek.

Or just add another A-70 and use both in bridged mode :)

My room is 550 sq feet and listening distance is about 3 meters from seat to speakers. With P7100 it is good enough to support any type of music.

However, when play at high volume over 85 dbA, I can feel deterioration of sound quality. Guess this due to the characteristic of AB type amp.

For 700 sq feet big listening room I would recommend mono mono amp or bridged.

My understanding is that bridged mode the SQ is not as good as stereo or mono. I agree with getting a better preamp and suggest for the same price as a C2850 you can get a good used Audio Research Ref. 5se, 6 or Ref 10. AR and Accuphase sound great together and the only reason I went with a Ref 3 is I couldn't afford the 5,se,6 or 10.

Hello everybody.
Thank you all for the messages.
Yes, sure that getting a higher level preamp will be a better choice, but the price difference for upgrade will be a lot bigger. (2420 to 38xx especially).
Today I brought a 7300 from my dealer and I'll try to judge for myself.
Bridging two A70 or two 7300 I guess is not the best idea financially wise, if you have enough money for two why not buying two monoblocs from the start (?).

So I will listen to the 7300 and I'll decide between A70 or 7300. I'll also come back to you with my impressions.

Both of you have big listening areas. Would guess that both of you are running out of power to fill those spaces.
Think ktliao has the answer in going to monoblocks.

Having Wilson Audio speakers, normally Audio Research might have been a better match, so they say. But in my area there's a bigger market for Accuphase products, beside liking the Accuphase sound a lot.
I listened ARC setup (with ref6 pre, ref9 CD and a power amp, guess it was 150, I guess) just once, I liked it but I'm more familiar with Accuphase.

...And I thought that class Ab deliver bigger soundstage and more power, better suited to larger rooms...

Im not sure I agree that you need more power then the A70 in a 500- 700 sq feet room, my room is 643 sq feet and my A65 drivers my 4ohm 88db speakers to 90-95 db crystal clear and compresses the room just fine. Depending in the sensitivity of your speakers I think there are other factors beyond the A70 not being able to drive your speakers to your desired listening level.The A70 also has a 800 damping factor which is twice the amount my A65 has.

The P7300 I have no experience with.

Or you might just overload your room at this level.
Is your room acoustically treated or do you use any electronic compensation?

My room has simple acoustic treatment. I have Accuphase DG-58 but have not used it for a while. If music is too loud and room overloaded I can feel it.

Usually I don't listen music very loud but sometimes I have visitors enjoy super loud music. If I turn volume too loud the music of strings and brass start to sound harsh.

Maybe this "deterioration of sound quality" is not just from AB amp. I probably excessive expect my lovely P7100.

Interesting that the most powerful Accuphase @8ohm is the 180wpc E-470 integrated amp.

@ktliao88,
I cannot make to belive me 100%,normal,but try without DG-58,take care of line and of ground of all power cable,and!! don't use anymore on Accuphase gear Siltech and Cardas cable! If the problem persist,try with another final amplifier ,maybe with 2 M-6200.(this make wery good pair with c-3800 and B&W 803,(this speaker are at least a level below amplifier and source!!!).

I switch P7100 to A200 . The sound is very smooth even at 95db.

A very good step forward!

Do not forget to consider the phase of powering all the devices in the system.
If it is possible to find out what is the real phase at the iec connector at the input of each device (not all devices comply with phase and zero standard), you may have a great improvement on sound.

I'd be cautious about the bridged mode suggestion. Success will depend on the difficulty of the speaker load. I owned a pair of A50 amps and found that they worked fine when bridged but didn't sound as good as the unbridged configuration when driving my Martin Logan stats. If you want more power, consider the A200 or A250 since it will provide more power by strapping (parallel connecting the channels vs series connecting in the case of bridging) the outputs together. I don't believe an AB amp, all things equal, will ever better the A amp in regards to sound quality.

Epilogue.
Took one 7300 to my place, listened for a couple of weeks and decided to keep it.
Why I keep it: Larger sound stage, better microdetails, better dynamics, in my view.
Why I should have kept the A70: was a lover of class A sound (not anymore; I mean, I still like it, but I also like the class AB sound, now). Probably a blacker background, a touch, a little touch.
That's how the story ends, for me, for now.
To be continued in a couple of months with a DP750, already ordered. And a finer preamp, end of 2019.
Over and Out ;)
And of course, "Happy Festivus!" (for the rest of us :P)

The preamp could make a huge difference, much bigger than expected for me. Go for >3800 if you can (but there’s lots of great stuff below that with accuphase).

Yes, that's my plan ;)