Modern amps for NS10m

abt

BT
Aug 1, 2009
1,418
0
36
Sydney, Australia
I've got an opportunity to pickup a pair of NS-10ms. There's about a million threads around on what amp to use but I'm having trouble finding any of them. There's a few on ebay but almost none of them ship to Australia.

Does anyone know of or have used a modern, still in production amp that won't cost an arm and a leg that they would recommend.
 
Usual suspect are Bryston 3B ST and 4B ST, sst and sst2.
Parrasound Halo A23 are also good.

I know you mentioned still in production but also look for yamaha p2200/p2201 and pc2002.
 
Thanks. Yeah, I've looked at all of those except the parasound. The Bryston you can buy new but I just got a quote for a 2B for $2400. Way too much for me. Haven't been able to find any Yamahas that ship to Oz yet.

I will check out the Parrasound.
 
i use an adcom hifi amp which i got cheap 2nd hand. surely not the best combination there is but it was easy and fast to get. i didnt wanna spend a few hundred bucks for a new samson etc which arent great either so i took the adcom for 100 € and thougt i'd save up for a bryston some day :)
i'm happy with the adcom so far. been using it for one year and everything works fine. using the ns10's now way more than my normal monitors.

edit: sorry didn't see that your looking for a new amp
 
I'm not necessarily looking for a new amp, I just can't find any amps down here or anyone willing to ship to here, so I guess with a new amp I might have a better chance of find one.
 
New PA's tend to be quite expensive. I'd look for something vintage with big transformers as opposed to some of these new fancyass class D amps. It could even double up as a nice guitar poweramp.
 
Biggest question is: do you mix most of the time on ns10 or just occasional check?

If you are on ns10 most of the time, save for a Bryston or a Parasound.
Poweramp make a big difference with ns10, and you need lot of power (a 2B isn't enough).

If you use ns10 for occasional check, any mid level amp will do the trick.
 
Mikaël-ange;10645139 said:
Biggest question is: do you mix most of the time on ns10 or just occasional check?

If you are on ns10 most of the time, save for a Bryston or a Parasound.
Poweramp make a big difference with ns10, and you need lot of power (a 2B isn't enough).

If you use ns10 for occasional check, any mid level amp will do the trick.

No mixing on them yet. Will probably use them for cross referencing. Not to disagree but nearly every thread about NS10 amps lists the 2B first and foremost. I think Andy also uses a 2B.
 
In all honesty I think the power rating is going to affect things the most. As long as the amp is flat and powerful you'll be fine; the whole gearslutz wankery over $1k+ poweramps is bollocks to me. The things were hifi speakers, for crying out loud!
 
In all honesty I think the power rating is going to affect things the most. As long as the amp is flat and powerful you'll be fine; the whole gearslutz wankery over $1k+ poweramps is bollocks to me. The things were hifi speakers, for crying out loud!

I agree. Finding one is what's causing my problems that's why I thought I'd start a thread about new amps assuming I'd have a better chance of getting one if it's still in production.

I've seen a few crowns and a few 2Bs on ebay for around $500 but no one wants to ship it to here.
 
In all honesty I think the power rating is going to affect things the most. As long as the amp is flat and powerful you'll be fine; the whole gearslutz wankery over $1k+ poweramps is bollocks to me. The things were hifi speakers, for crying out loud!

Amen.

I am using mine with NAD Hifi Amp and couldn't be happier. Get a good quality Hifi PA and be happy. I mean, you are going to be checking/mixing on NS10 low level to mid level - these are not speakers you want to crank...
 
No mixing on them yet. Will probably use them for cross referencing. Not to disagree but nearly every thread about NS10 amps lists the 2B first and foremost. I think Andy also uses a 2B.

Every thread list the 4B not the 2B.
More power result in more headroom, so less chance to blow tweeter with distorded sine wave.

Andy use(ed) the 4B, sorry again.

You can use a 2B, but one per speaker, so you need two 2B, so for the same price you can get an used 4B.
Btw in case you didn't know that, Bryston have a 20 years warranty for their amp.

In all honesty I think the power rating is going to affect things the most. As long as the amp is flat and powerful you'll be fine; the whole gearslutz wankery over $1k+ poweramps is bollocks to me. The things were hifi speakers, for crying out loud!

I love most of your post, and I agree with some of your opinions...but class A amp cost money (especially high wattage amp).
NS10, as some others speaker are really picky about what amp you use to drive them.
And as far as I love my 3B, Bryston amp aren't really hifi amp. Try a Krell or a Passlab and tell me what you think about it (those are hifi amp, you can also find in any major mastering house around the world).

But you are right on one big thing: flat, powerfull and low thd amp work... But those cost money new.
 
I also find it hard to belive that the amp will make AAALLLL the difference. Finding it very hard to belive that.

Almost every amp is linear, but the difference comes from the transformators and will result in impulsetruth. So it can be that the same box will sound a lot more punchy with a good amp.
 
Almost every amp is linear, but the difference comes from the transformators and will result in impulsetruth. So it can be that the same box will sound a lot more punchy with a good amp.

Well ppl tend to exaggerate the importance of certain gear just because they want to justifie that they bought an expensive item. Like an medium priced preamp wont make or break an record, or that it is that big off a difference between an medium priced vs the expensive ones.
 
Mikaël-ange;10645872 said:
Every thread list the 4B not the 2B.
More power result in more headroom, so less chance to blow tweeter with distorded sine wave.

Andy use(ed) the 4B, sorry again.

You can use a 2B, but one per speaker, so you need two 2B, so for the same price you can get an used 4B.
Btw in case you didn't know that, Bryston have a 20 years warranty for their amp.

I'm not being a dick, this could be true but that's not what I'm seeing. A lot of lists the 4B but I'm seeing the 2B more. No mention of two 2Bs.

Yes, I know this is very old:
http://www.ultimatemetal.com/forum/andy-sneap/181402-andy-ns10s.html

In the end it makes almost no difference to me they're too expensive for me. If I find a 2B, 3B, or 4B that's not out of my price range and will ship to me then I'll buy it.
 
Some people love the hafler P3000 also... Can comment since I never came across one...

For used market, look around gearslutz and audiogon.

For Bryston, look around ebay