Accuphase in Bridge Mode (BTL)

[wawa_chan]

Hello Everyone:

My first post to the forum.

I have been playing around with a couple A-20Vs, comparing them in both stereo and bridge mode. Sounds wonderful in stereo and a little strange in bridge. I'm surprised in the difference, as I wasn't expecting such a dramatic change. Imaging is less focused and something is going on in the high frequencies.

Will continue to A/B the modes so I can get a better description of the changes.

Anyone have this experience running their amplifiers in bridge mode?

Thanks!
Best, Brian

[Masterlu]

Brian... Welcome and thanks for your Support!

[94turbo3.6]

Welcome Brian.


I have no experience with the A20V's although I am not sure why you are hearing such a huge difference. On paper depending on what you read specs are nearly identical or a negligible difference. Accuphase claims true mono block operation in bridged mode and they have never been one to make false or tall claims. BTW IMO for SS amplification accuphase rises above the rest for the $$. I would put my amps against most anything at any price.

I have a pair of A30's I did the same thing with and although I had to drop the gain -3db on each unit sound was IMO nearly identical. If anything bass was tighter, noise lower and sound stage improved but that is my system. Is it possible something else is coming into play? Is it possible something was disturbed when changing the switch on the back? Are you using any kind of power conditioning. I found that the A30's draw so much power that even with their huge transformers overloading the circuit without conditioning degraded the sound considerably. I am using a Richard gray 1600 and plug each amp into each bank of plugs and the sound is tremendous.

[bart]

Brian, welcome to the friendly forum!

[howiebrou]

Welcome!


Howie

[wawa_chan]

Thank you for the "Welcomes".

Anthony: Unsure what could of been the problem. The second amplifier isn't here anymore as I decided not go that route. No power conditioning in my system, just a dedicated 20A circuit I installed. It seems this is a local issue with something in my system. My other amplifiers sound fine so unfortunately I might never know what the culprit was. From what I have read, my results were not typical of Accuphase or even Luxman in monophonic mode.
Thanks for the help!
Brian

[jdandy]

Brian.......Welcome to Audio Aficionado.

[antipop]

Welcome Brian

Glad to see another Accuphase owner here among the Mc and ARC fanatics

[94turbo3.6]

Originally Posted by wawa_chan

Thank you for the "Welcomes".

Anthony: Unsure what could of been the problem. The second amplifier isn't here anymore as I decided not go that route. No power conditioning in my system, just a dedicated 20A circuit I installed. It seems this is a local issue with something in my system. My other amplifiers sound fine so unfortunately I might never know what the culprit was. From what I have read, my results were not typical of Accuphase or even Luxman in monophonic mode.
Thanks for the help!
Brian

Brian,

I hope this doesn't sour your like for Accuphase. They make a fantastic product and there is very little I would trade my amps for. Best luck in sorting out your system.

[Leon]

Originally Posted by antipop

Glad to see another Accuphase owner here among the Mc and ARC fanatics

Up here in Canada, Accuphase representation compared to McIntosh is a bit of a joke. I had to drive to NY to buy my system because the closest Canadian dealer in Toronto (300 miles away) had no stock!

Not many audiophiles are willing to spend over $20K on electronics without hearing the gear first.

On the other hand, McIntosh seem to manage most of their dealers like Harley Davidson does with theirs; they stay on top of things.