The Monarchy SM-70 Pro, $890 ea. Monarchy Audio, 380 Swift Ave, #21, South San Francisco, CA 94080.
Ph 650.873.3055; fax 650.588.0335; e-mail monarchy@earthlink.net; www.monarchyaudio.com.

              A few issues back we reviewed the standard SM-70 poweramplifier.  The review was Rich Rodgers’ task, but in the end, I think that I liked the amplifier a bit more than he.  This is the big brother of the standard SM-70, and without doubt it is the better of the two amplifiers in every respect.
             Tale of the tape.  At the request of the manufacturer, most of my auditioning was done in the mono mode. And as it turned out, the amplifier sounded best in that mode of operation…undeniably so.  It will therefore be reported on as a mono amplifier.  Each Pro weights in at 17 lbs. (without box), and is 4.5” x 11” x 13” (HWD).  Stated power output is 80 wpc class A mono with no global feedback (all IC op amps use generous amounts of nested negative feedback, and the Pro has one per channel).  The torroid transformer is 480 VA, and is quietly mounted.  No audible buzzing.  Each amp has 8 MOSFET output devices in the mono mode (four per side in the stereo mode).  Power supply capacitance is 60,000 uf per mono side.  The input section uses a Burr Brown IC op amp.  The input section uses a Burr Brown IC op amp (OPA2604AP).  Input impedance is 100,000 Ohms single ended RCA. Stereo power: 25 wpc 8 Ohms, 40 wpc 4 Ohms.  Mono power: 80 wpc 8 Ohms, 120 wpc 4 Ohms.  Minimum drive impedance is 3 Ohms.  The rear panel has terminals for single ended and balanced inputs.  Input sensitivity 1 volt for full output.  Fuse pots and a single set of speaker terminals are mounted on the rear chassis.  Mono operation is accomplished via a dedicated switch, and by connecting to a single input and the positive speaker terminals.  Everything was very well marked, readable, and easy to operate.  In true Monarchy tradition, and a good one it is, taped to the bottom of each chassis is a small box of fuses in the event one is needed.  The old Monarchy amps tended to blow fuses upon turn on, this amp did not.  Not a single fuse needed to be replaced.  AC chassis to ground potential measured 88.45 volts in the standard polarity, and 18.1 reversed.  The amps sounded their best with the polarities reversed, as they should have considering those readings.  The Pros were in the Big Rig a total of four different times.  During the last audition one channel started making some odd noises and the audition ended promptly. 
            Set-up.  As indicated above, AC polarity had to be reversed to obtain the lowest ground potential and the best sound.  During its stay, preamps from Reflection, Aloia, Aronov, Audire and Symfonia were used.  Due to the 100kHz input impedance, no preamp experienced any difficulty driving the Pro.  Interconnects and speaker cables were a matter of preference, use what you like best.  Power cords were a different matter entirely.  Use the wrong cord, and you get ugly sound…period.  My favorites during the extended the DAC, shorter Pointy Things couple the DAC to the oak shelf of the equipment stand.  Oh, and Bob says I do not need the pasties in that situation.  The main thing that I can say about TG products is that they are like Windex…they wipe the window clean. 
           Now you know where I am coming from when you read my schizoid ramblings.  By buying audio the way I do, you too can have all this expensive gear for less than accommodation prices.  With the money left over you can buy all the tweak accessories.  Tell your friends, “I did okay in the market last year.”  How are they going to know? Your partner will think you’re a genius for getting so much for so little.
            So, what’s up next? Preamps.  The Rogue 99 that I have had for a while is going up against the Joule Electra LA 100III.  It should be an interesting fight.  Remember, in my show report I preferred the Merlins in the less expensive Rogue display?  At the show your impressions can get tossed around by unfamiliarites which could pitch the best of ears a curve ball.  Back at ya’ later kids.
           Correction. In Part One of this thrilling series, things got fiddled with by evil technological demons.  It should have said, “I betcha think Gayle Sanders designed the first curved stat.”  “No, it was Roger Sanders.” I apologize for the mess up. RR

The Amplification Connection by MGD

 As I prepare to close down the loudspeaker survey, and start our inspection of power amplifiers, it has become obvious that with this foray things should be done a little differently at BFS.  Mistakes were made on my part in surveying such a large group of loudspeakers, over such a long period of time.  One of those mistakes was not setting an absolute deadline regarding submission of loudspeakers.  The second error arose in not making sure that all the loudspeakers, at least those that were significant for some reason for some reason or another, were kept around for the entire survey period.  Yes, it would have meant some of the speakers would have maintained their residence here for an extended period of time. But it would have also meant even greater continuity from the front to the back of the survey.  As it turned out, I was blessed with the extended use of some notable loudspeakers in the Osborn Epitome MK IV/Extra Woofers, the RBH 1266-SE, the soliloquy 5.3, Merlin TSM, and the Speaker Art Super Clef.  Maybe I shouldn’t be complaining.  My many thanks to those fine manufacturers for allowing me to use their speakers on an expanded basis so as to assess the value of others.  Their assistance was immeasurable, and I can’t say things enough. 
          Still, I would have kept a few things around for comparison purposes were it possible.  The Genesis APM with its prodigious bass and whiplash dynamics kept me from going too ga-ga over designs of lesser amplitude based capabilities, until it went back home.  The Ceramique 3 from Kharma set standards for delicacy, especially at ow volumes. And the Reimer Tetons were the total package from top to bottom in a reasonable size and at a reasonable price.  And what about the Merlin VSM with BAM.  Has there ever been a more refined and completely mature 2-way loudspeaker?  Forget the Wilson WATT, the Merlin is the gold standard for 2-ways…no comparison.  Think of the feet that could have been held to the fire with that tool in the comparison arsenal.  A lesson learned. 
          So, with the power amplifiers under evaluation here, to the fullest extent possible, I’ve tried to keep in house as many of the contending and more significant designs as long as possible.  Due to various circumstances, I’ve had to ship a few of the amps back, most notable in that regard: the SimAudio Moon W3, and the OTL tube amp from Naked Truth Audio.  NTA is a small company trying to make an honest product from humble beginnings, and an extended loan would indeed work a hardship on them.  SimAudio simply wanted their amp back, though I think that continued comparison to other amps in this survey could only have benefited the Canadian manufacturer.  Another amp that I would have liked to keep around was the Belles Power Module 150 in the Hot Rod mode.  Like it or not, it is a benchmark of sorts by which the entire economy market should be compared.
           To effectuate a meaningful survey, I’ve spent the last six months dodging manufacturers who have been wondering what happened to their amps?  Well guys, you can know it now, I’ve been listening to them, and comparing them to everything else in sight.  Everything has been thoroughly broken in (sometimes just broken) and auditioned with a variety of loudspeakers, preamps (Symfonia Opus, Reflection, and Aronov), audition were the Audience Power Chord (updated), and the TG Audio (not updated, they have been sent back to Bob for the required work, however).  The original SM-70 had some difficulty driving a few of the speakers presented to it, especially if the impedance went anywhere under 6 or 7 ohms.  Not the Pro.  The larger power supply seems to have paid off, and the amplifier easily handled not only some weird 6 Ohm loads, but it sailed through the 4 Ohms presented by the Osborn Epitome Mk IV with Extra Woofers.  Actually, I thought the amp opened up a little with a 4 Ohm load.  More punch.
           What you get for your $160 over the cost of a standard SM-70 are far larger heat sinks, which handle heat much better than the old sinks.  This amp still gets hot however.  It’s a class A design, and I ended up purchasing a small fan to satisfy my own (misdirected?) concerns, rather than address any real mechanical need with the amp.  You get a larger torroid transformer, more storage capacitance, and double the output devices.  There are some other things that separate the Pro from its little brother, that, if you are curious you can get off the web site.  This is a lot of amp for the money!
          The manufacturer recommends that the amp not only be run in mono, but that it be run in balanced mono.  Okay, that wasn’t a problem, I had balanced outputs from the Reflection and the Audire.  But if you are running a single ended RCA out only, don’t let talk about “dramatically improved results in balanced” concern you.  There was very little difference in sound while going back and forth between balanced and single ended.  But then again, I was only running my interconnects a meter.  If you are going over 10-20 feet, go balanced…otherwise, don’t sweat it. 
           Sonics. A tubey sounding little amplifier is the SM-70 Pro in mono.  And surprisingly capable of driving a wide variety of loudspeakers to satisfying levels, though I would be lying if I didn’t admit to getting in trouble on an occasion or two in the power department.  For you see, this little amplifier sounds much more powerful than it really is.  Because the Pro tends to give the impression of having loads of moxie, you want to really let ‘er rip; which is a lovely turn around from those amps with the big ratings that sound rather small.  The Pro sounds larger than it is.  It images larger than one wound expect.  The question is why? 
           My guess is that the Pro sounds powerful because of its tonal balance, and freeness in the power delivery department.  There is no thinness, the foundation rage is well supported, and the lower midrange just keeps coming allowing for a fair amount of bloom when called for – it has movement.  The drive and activity in the lower mids and upper bass add substance, or at least allows the substance on a recording to shine forth.  Best of all, there is a fine bit of detailing going on in this most important range, and with that, the Pro avoids the murk and mud so often found in looseygossey tube amps, but without sounding lean or lacking in substance.  Not state-of-the-art, but very good nonetheless.  Clearly then, the Pro does not present one with a choice of detail vs. dimension in the foundation range…with this amp you get both.  In this respect I found the Pro to be slightly superior to the Odyssey and the SimAudio Moon W3, but behind the Edge M8.
            In the crucial midrange, the sound was present and fleshy, without being overly so.  Vocals sounded human as opposed to electrically generated.  I appreciated that the amp refused to go overboard in this respect.  Listening to strings, particularly violin, cello and acoustic guitar, there was the proper amount of string vs. box sound, though on some rare occasions the box tended to dominate. Nothing irritating.
            Comparing this amp to the best in my experience imaging wise, the Pro left little to be desired.  No, it wasn’t as precise in its lateral placement as the McCormack DNA-225, or the ABA “m” blocks, and it lacked the ability to “sound” around an image (an ambiance and ultra low level thing) the way the old RE Designs did, or the SimAudio Moon W3 did while it was here (I won’t go into what the Sierra Everest does in this regard…it just wouldn’t be fair).  But the Pro does a workmanlike job in this respect, especially at the less than two thousand dollars charged.
           Transient wise, the amp exuded a natural way with attacks and decays.  The Pro did not have the razor like leading edges found in the Moon W3, nor did it subjectively sound quite as transparent, the stage not being quite as “lit” or highlighted.  But it brought out detail and texture in a way that, while not sounding as spectacular as some, was wholesome and did not distract.
           What I especially liked about the way the monos projected an image was the sensation of depth, even if the soundfield wasn’t wholly complete.  Listening to the Gladiator soundtrack, it’s real easy to have the brass at stage right come forward and homogenize with stage front and center.  Not with the Pro; the horns stayed where they were supposed to, and as a result the midrange maintained integrity at volume.  Overall, Monarchy has done a fine job of reproducing the mids and highs with this amp.  Though I would be remiss if I didn’t mention that the highs don’t sound terribly extended, which in part, I think, contributed to the nice dimensionality and lack of grain heard during the audition.
           The bass, while being present and having better than average life, wasn’t the tightest I’ve ever heard.  I suspect that the use of a no feedback output section did wonders for the palpability of the mids, but rendered the bass a little indistinct.  In that regard, the Audience power cord really helped out.  Tighter, powerful, more tuneful, without going too far in any direction, at least with the Pro.  Still, the boss from the Odyssey had slightly better control, as did the Moon W3. MOSFET amps tend to warm up the bass some (sometimes a lot, sometimes a little), and in the process seem to lose a little control.  The Pro wasn’t extreme in this regard, just enough so that when it was compared to another excellent amp it could be discerned. 
            Conclusion.  Liked these amps very much, and for two thousand dollars, and superb value…much in the same way the Odyssey is at a thousand.  Thking about where I would place this amp in the long term view of things, in some ways it reminded me of the old Counterpoint SA-12 and the Sumo Andromeda.  Both amps were warm and yet wonderfully detailed at the same time.  Not the ultimate in sound were they and yet some music lovers stood by them for years as affordable references.  I see nothing about the Monarchy SM-70 Pros that would render them any less desirable in the long term, assuming reliability isn’t an issue.  Quality mono power for less than two grand, once unheard of, is here in the Monarchy SM-70 Pro.
 

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