P7300 vs A70. your thoughts

[ctzzzz]

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).

[Dsholl1]

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.

[jororupp]

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.

[Dsholl1]

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.

[Canonicus]

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.

[4music]

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

[sefischer1]

Originally Posted by 4music

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

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.

[ktliao88]

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.

[Formerly YB-2]

Originally Posted by ctzzzz

I own an A70 but considering switching to AB class P7300.
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)

Originally Posted by ktliao88

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.

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.

[ctzzzz]

Originally Posted by ktliao88

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. .

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