Mingda MC845-C or Opera Consonance Reference 9.9?

[ksporry]

guys,

I was considering getting myself a new amp, mono blocks.
I am considering the Mingda MC845-C, and the Opera COnsonance Reference 9.9

The price difference is rather big though. I can get the MC845-C for around 10k RMB (I'm currently in Shanghai), but the opera R9.9s cost 26k RMB (!)

I kinda feel the R9.9s are in a league higher, but is the sound worth paying twice as much?

So far I have seen only one review of the MC845-C, which included suggested mods, which would add significantly to the price (assuming the mods cost as much in China as in the UK)

 

[Tenson]

What do you want from your amp? Do you want a warm and soft sound, a live and present sound, an accurate transparent sound?

Certainly, the Consonance Reference 9.9's sound will be mostly determined by the curve of the speakers impedance. Connect a speaker with a gradual first order crossover and it will sound one way, connect a speaker with a sharper 4th order crossover and it will sound entirely different. That's before you consider the speakers own sound. With most speakers I'd expect to see broad variation of a couple dB across the range. (This is because output impedance of the amp is 3R.)

I can't find output impedance for the MingDa, but it's probably the same.

In other words you honestly can't know until you connect it to your own speakers. It will also completely change if you swap speakers.

Alternatively you can look for an amp with low output impedance and this should sound 'itself' with most speakers you connect. The obvious choice here is a good solid state design, but there are valve amps that do it. Oh yes, also hybrids. I'll leave others to suggest on that.