Thread: Amp suggestions for NS-10s?

I have always been a fan of the old Yamaha amps the PM seres. they are not to bad used but will probably need a tek to go through and cap EM.

Not supper stellar but nice enough.

Not sure about new stuff?
I use some old beat up tube amps a lot here.

My boss uses a hafler that is significantly more wattage than the speakers are rated for.

Look into a Peavey. Go for the power for the headroom. Plenty of used ones floating around. They'll work. I've actually liked the sound of some JVC consumer receiver/amplifiers. Nothing less than 40 W per channel and more if you can get it. Yeah, Yamaha amplifiers also.

I use all of the above except for the Peavey substitute Peavy with Crown DC 300 A type II.
Mx. Remy Ann David

Find an old Rotel or Sansui stereo power amp. Fleabay will have em. The Rotel's are direct coupled. And very efficient. There are many. NS10's do better with fast slew big headroom.

You know... I never thought about powering a pair of NS 10's from a pair of Macintosh tube amplifiers? Probably because I only have a single channel Macintosh tube amplifier? They are so warm, rich and flabby that they may actually complement those horrid sounding Yamaha's?

I forget what brand of toilet paper Bob Clearmountain used on his NS 10's? I know I personally like the Charmin Strong but not necessarily on my speakers but up my ass. And that's all because they are too naturally too bright. Not my ass where the sound don't shine. LMAO whoops! Now I need some Charmin.

Thankfully at least my audio doesn't stink
Mx. Remy Ann David

yesa t shirts work in an emergency pinch, but, thats more for the woods than the studio. I can only imagine the atrocity of the auction title 'bob clearmountain used tissue', $1k?anybody.
jokes aside i looked at your studio site and it looks like ya got some good things going on. Were you using an amp that stopped working.? If your already used to a setup's sound, and like it, it could be better to just fix it, and get used to the repair. If it's a new setup, all i can say is try some recommended stuff at your place till it's 'the one'. Having not used anything beside the halfler amp on the ns-10's, i'd personally just start smiling over the idea of a tube based power amp on any speaker. But blind tests are where its at, you just know what one you like better, usually right away.

I'll chime in too, makes me want a new amp!

More headroom the better for any speaker I say. I sold a Bryston 2B years ago because I was a moron and have been kicking myself ever since. First and foremost, they are quiet and choice for recording studios, then to add, have plenty of headroom and great detail across the spectrum. A 3b would be even better.

That would be my choice and/ or a glorious McIntosh indeed Remy ... , always lusted over those ( do they come in stereo?), or as Dave mentioned, an old Rotel would be wonderful, always wanted one of those too.
Peavey and Yamaha are workhorses, had plenty of those but I personally wouldn't use it for anything I wanted fidelity with but in a pinch... I've also got by using a Dennon home stereo when times were not so good around here.

I need a new amp for my Tannoys. Blew one up using a crap amp years back lol. What are you using or have you lusting over for yours Dave?

My G.A.S is getting amplified

My main monitor amp is my old vintage Crown DC 300 A type II. Followed by a audiophile tricked up Hafler. Yamaha, Kenwood and that single Macintosh MC 30. I don't think they came in stereo? They are too large and heavy for just a single unit. So you would purchase 2. Though my friends Macintosh 2100 transistor amplifier must have weighed over 60 pounds? Unfortunately he lost that amplifier in a fire when the studio burnt down. He dearly misses that amplifier. Another amplifier I have that I enjoyed was the Pioneer Spec2 but it is in need of service. It was made available to me at an incredible bargain. While it was clean and solid, it never wowed me all that much. Accurate, sure. Impressive, not so much so. It's remained in a box untouched for the last few years. I really keep thinking I should get it operational again. Though I never felt that it had the punch of the Crown. Certainly though, power to spare. I've also pondered obtaining a second Macintosh MC 30 to go with my single unit? It's so warm, so full and no 30 watt transistorized amplifier could ever compare, ever, not in a million years. All I have to do is sell some other junk to be able to afford a second. Not easy to find but certainly not impossible to find. It's dreamy sounding. Would rather have had it been a 60 W version for control room purposes. I've considered utilizing the single unit as the center driver for a surround sound application/control room configuration but I'm not really there yet. Not in any serious way. The secondary control room is which I have running on a Sony fairly high-end consumer surroundsound amplifier. And that's powering a couple of KRK's, B & O's and JBL 4408 full range speakers and no subwoofer. Not enough room for my JBL L-19's which also need new woofer suspensions since they have rotted out along with the ones on my 4411's. Ouch! The cost of replacing the suspensions are almost as much as replacing the drivers themselves. There's a reason why God created duct tape. So they don't quite move like they used to and I don't consider them to be a precision source anymore LOL. Those were just relegated for home entertainment and enjoyment.

Swimming in speakers.
Mx. Remy Ann David