LittleNipper
Prominent Member
Updating the initial post so you might be able to get a deal. To surmise, I'm now running these amps driving LCR MK Sound MP150's and can't tell any difference to either my Denon X3500 or Crown XLS 1502's. I had purchased these for Atmos hight duties which is where they will end up.
After the FAN mod ( details below ) £12 it's pretty darn quite ( 36db ) when running.
Due to being able to set a noise floor before enabling a channel it means no hiss / noise when no sound / idle with instant on. Attenuation on the rear allows tweaking whilst setting up with processor or receiver. No buttons on the front, set and forget.
The review of these on Audio Science Review ( Lab.Gruppen E 4:2 Pro Amplifier Review ) isn't great but is flawed in what/how it's reviewing. Equally, I've bought things on reviews from this web site and not been impressed.
The £100 one I got was from one seller on ebay that one was new but ended up knocked about - thus cheap. I have since purchased from a chap ( www.ebay.co.uk/usr/gregwinton ). I bought another this morning from him ( £116 Inc shipping ). He's put another post up £500 for 5 of them. So, 10 channels of 200W into 8ohms.
He had about 30 of them which he removed from an install ( prob. updating equipment ).
So.... It's do you feel lucky punk time. Hell, on Atmos Height with sensitive speakers it's a no brainer I think...
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I've been having some mad professor time today !!
I've been searching for amps for my height channels I thought I would look outside of the normal box and came across Lab Gruppen E4:2's. Essentially 400W split between two channels. So, 200W + 200W or if you've just got one speaker connected it will auto redirect everything into the one channel, so 400W. I'm not going to get into the technicalities of how it sounds, because I'm not that bright. Other people can perhaps warn me of the perils I face !
You will also see they do :-
E 10:4 - 1,000 into 4 speakers
E 5:2 - 500 into 2 speakers ( 250 + 250 )
E 8:2 - 800 into 2 speakers ( 400 + 400 )
and a few others with more frightening amounts of power.
LOOKS :-
Anyhow, I think they look pretty, very minimalist. They are small too - only 1U. Ah, yes, rack mounts, sorry about that. However, they are do darn good looking, even not in a rack they will look pretty good. I would place them on my processor with pride ! ( you'll need some little pads ).
CONNECTIONS :-
Alas, they are not wired up in a fashion we are used to. Which I don't think is a bad thing, based upon the mucking around I had removing connectors from my processor and amps to play with this new amp.
In-fact, in the case of the speakers, I prefer how they do it. With regards to line-in signal ( from RCA or XLR ) well, it certainly means I won't have a problem wiring in 4 of them in a small form factor. So, yeah, I quite like the inputs too.
The speaker connections are Phoenix 1709047 2 Port connectors (or Anytek KT02015000CCG). Just take your fat old speaker cables and push 'em in and screw them down. Absolutely NO chance of stray wires shorting anything. You can just slide them straight into the back of the amp and it's super nice.
The connectors for the inputs were a tad fiddlier. These are also Phoenix connectors ( Part number MSTB 2.5/3-STZ-5.08 ). However in 10 mins I was able to strip a XLR to RCA connector and convert into a Phoenix to RCA connector with no soldering (but i did need my glasses). Sure, if I was to do it again I would perhaps use fancier cables or perhaps joined the bits with solder. But hell, the end result when using these inputs.... Zero noise. I mean nothing.
NOISE FLOOR :-
Ear right up on my MK Sound MP150's. Ziltch. Now, my Crown XLS 1502's, you can hear a noise floor, even a little from my Denon x3600h.
Anyway I've just done what I said I wouldn't - but hearing nothing is easy to describe. How the noisy bit are... Nah... experts needed.
I plugged the Lab Gruppen into my trusty Denon X3600h for the centre channel running a MP150. I ran a signal test through LCR ( L and R driven by Crown XLS 1502 ). And used a db monitor to get them all the same ( ish +- 0.5 db ). At the rear of the Lab Gruppen was a gain knob. They call it an attenuation with a range from 0 db to -10db. I set it at 11 O'clock. What ever that meant but half must mean I'm not cranking this beast too much.
Now, all the controls are to the rear, so you can't mess it up accidentally. Even the power switch. It auto sense no-signal and goes to low power mode of <1W. Which means I don't care too much about turning the main switch to my rack off.
BASTARD NOISY FAN :-
So, powered it up. Yep... Sounds good to me. Kept up with the Crown's perfectly well..... And then....
You knew somewhere this had to come. The flippin fan kicked in. In a rack it would be fine. But not here, in my lounge. Took the amp to bits, it's a crappy china fan about 39mm by 39mm, so I will have a look for a silent replacement. But for now I've just disconnected it. The thing has thermal protection so not too worried about it over heating. It's been running a movie at -10db for an hour I can't feel any heat on the unit and it's not complained or gone into protected mode.
I will update this thread after I upgrade the fan. If anyone can point me in a decent direction, it would be appreciated.
BANG FOR ONES BUCKAROOS :-
The best thing is... I paid £100 for the first amp NEW! Yep for 2 x 200w. I bought a pair of amps in the end for Atmos height channels, but will perhaps have a little play using them on the lower bed. The second one was second hand, in perfect order for £125. It looks perfect inside, no mess, dust or blown caps.
Interestingly, when I took the amp case off, the attenuation knobs pop off really easily. I think this is so they can be permanently removed to stop fiddling !
So, that was today' fun. I hope you found this info interesting. Just think about it.... 8 x 200 w for £400 ( if you get lucky with your purchases ).
After the FAN mod ( details below ) £12 it's pretty darn quite ( 36db ) when running.
Due to being able to set a noise floor before enabling a channel it means no hiss / noise when no sound / idle with instant on. Attenuation on the rear allows tweaking whilst setting up with processor or receiver. No buttons on the front, set and forget.
The review of these on Audio Science Review ( Lab.Gruppen E 4:2 Pro Amplifier Review ) isn't great but is flawed in what/how it's reviewing. Equally, I've bought things on reviews from this web site and not been impressed.
The £100 one I got was from one seller on ebay that one was new but ended up knocked about - thus cheap. I have since purchased from a chap ( www.ebay.co.uk/usr/gregwinton ). I bought another this morning from him ( £116 Inc shipping ). He's put another post up £500 for 5 of them. So, 10 channels of 200W into 8ohms.
He had about 30 of them which he removed from an install ( prob. updating equipment ).
So.... It's do you feel lucky punk time. Hell, on Atmos Height with sensitive speakers it's a no brainer I think...
*****************
*****************
I've been having some mad professor time today !!
I've been searching for amps for my height channels I thought I would look outside of the normal box and came across Lab Gruppen E4:2's. Essentially 400W split between two channels. So, 200W + 200W or if you've just got one speaker connected it will auto redirect everything into the one channel, so 400W. I'm not going to get into the technicalities of how it sounds, because I'm not that bright. Other people can perhaps warn me of the perils I face !
Lab Gruppen | Not Found
www.labgruppen.com
You will also see they do :-
E 10:4 - 1,000 into 4 speakers
E 5:2 - 500 into 2 speakers ( 250 + 250 )
E 8:2 - 800 into 2 speakers ( 400 + 400 )
and a few others with more frightening amounts of power.
LOOKS :-
Anyhow, I think they look pretty, very minimalist. They are small too - only 1U. Ah, yes, rack mounts, sorry about that. However, they are do darn good looking, even not in a rack they will look pretty good. I would place them on my processor with pride ! ( you'll need some little pads ).
CONNECTIONS :-
Alas, they are not wired up in a fashion we are used to. Which I don't think is a bad thing, based upon the mucking around I had removing connectors from my processor and amps to play with this new amp.
In-fact, in the case of the speakers, I prefer how they do it. With regards to line-in signal ( from RCA or XLR ) well, it certainly means I won't have a problem wiring in 4 of them in a small form factor. So, yeah, I quite like the inputs too.
The speaker connections are Phoenix 1709047 2 Port connectors (or Anytek KT02015000CCG). Just take your fat old speaker cables and push 'em in and screw them down. Absolutely NO chance of stray wires shorting anything. You can just slide them straight into the back of the amp and it's super nice.
The connectors for the inputs were a tad fiddlier. These are also Phoenix connectors ( Part number MSTB 2.5/3-STZ-5.08 ). However in 10 mins I was able to strip a XLR to RCA connector and convert into a Phoenix to RCA connector with no soldering (but i did need my glasses). Sure, if I was to do it again I would perhaps use fancier cables or perhaps joined the bits with solder. But hell, the end result when using these inputs.... Zero noise. I mean nothing.
NOISE FLOOR :-
Ear right up on my MK Sound MP150's. Ziltch. Now, my Crown XLS 1502's, you can hear a noise floor, even a little from my Denon x3600h.
Anyway I've just done what I said I wouldn't - but hearing nothing is easy to describe. How the noisy bit are... Nah... experts needed.
I plugged the Lab Gruppen into my trusty Denon X3600h for the centre channel running a MP150. I ran a signal test through LCR ( L and R driven by Crown XLS 1502 ). And used a db monitor to get them all the same ( ish +- 0.5 db ). At the rear of the Lab Gruppen was a gain knob. They call it an attenuation with a range from 0 db to -10db. I set it at 11 O'clock. What ever that meant but half must mean I'm not cranking this beast too much.
Now, all the controls are to the rear, so you can't mess it up accidentally. Even the power switch. It auto sense no-signal and goes to low power mode of <1W. Which means I don't care too much about turning the main switch to my rack off.
BASTARD NOISY FAN :-
So, powered it up. Yep... Sounds good to me. Kept up with the Crown's perfectly well..... And then....
You knew somewhere this had to come. The flippin fan kicked in. In a rack it would be fine. But not here, in my lounge. Took the amp to bits, it's a crappy china fan about 39mm by 39mm, so I will have a look for a silent replacement. But for now I've just disconnected it. The thing has thermal protection so not too worried about it over heating. It's been running a movie at -10db for an hour I can't feel any heat on the unit and it's not complained or gone into protected mode.
I will update this thread after I upgrade the fan. If anyone can point me in a decent direction, it would be appreciated.
BANG FOR ONES BUCKAROOS :-
The best thing is... I paid £100 for the first amp NEW! Yep for 2 x 200w. I bought a pair of amps in the end for Atmos height channels, but will perhaps have a little play using them on the lower bed. The second one was second hand, in perfect order for £125. It looks perfect inside, no mess, dust or blown caps.
Interestingly, when I took the amp case off, the attenuation knobs pop off really easily. I think this is so they can be permanently removed to stop fiddling !
So, that was today' fun. I hope you found this info interesting. Just think about it.... 8 x 200 w for £400 ( if you get lucky with your purchases ).
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