SA-250: Wharfedale Linton or Klipsch Heresies?

[Julsq]

Good morning

I inherited a Sonographe SA250 amplifier a few years ago, which to my untrained ear appears to be in perfect working order.

The only maintenance I have done so far has been to
- open the chassis and dust it off
- buy a good quality 110=>220V adapter (it is located in France)

I tried to run it with a preamp (an old YBA that was lying around), but decided I preferred the "pure direct" sound, so I now have an Apple AirPort Express A1392 (Wifi + DAC) connected directly via RCA. The sound quality is very good if a bit on the "clinical" side; maybe more noticeable when the amplifier is cold, would that make sense?

Now my question:
- The SA-250 drives a pair of Wharfefdale Linton speakers.
- Separately (in another house, in the UK) I have a pair of Klipsch Heresy IIIs driven by a Denon DRA-800H. I am aware that this is a much lesser receiver, but I need the practicality (HDMI, AirPlay etc.) where it sits.

Would it be worth swapping the speakers? The reason I ask rather than try is that the speakers are in different houses across a maritime border, so it's not just an easy try.

Many thanks

Julien

[admin]

I'm not sure if there is a clear winner in terms of which is the "better speaker". I think you will probably have to decide with your ears. Sounds like it will be a little hassle to get all this equipment into one room, but it really may be worth it as there is no clear superior speaker in this situation (IMHO).

The SA250 should drive whichever speaker better than the Denon and should give you a much higher level of performance. So whichever system you want as the "better one", I would use the SA250 instead of the Denon. In addition, I would really look at converting the SA250 to 220v vs using an external voltage transformer. I think you will get better results and having less "converter components" in the line is ideally better.

I would also consider getting another source than the Airport Express. Even on a budget I think there are better streamer options (from the likes of Bluesound, Wiim, etc...).

Again, I would try to keep the best components in one system vs spreading it around. I think of the audio quality of a system like a chain. Its strength is the weakest link. So if you have two chains, I would put the best links in one and the worst in another as you will have one strong chain and one weak chain. If you mix and match, you get two weak chains.

[Big Dog RJ]

Roger that captain!
Woof! RJ

[Julsq]

Many, many thanks for this clear insight !

[AnotherJohnson]

I would leave them as they are, unless you are just really curious.

In my opinion, of your choices, you have the best match now.

The Heresy efficiency is about 99 dB/W/M. The Linton is more like 90 ish.

The Heresy is rated for a 100 Watt amp. The Linton can handle more power. The SA250 can deal with the Linton’s 6 Ohm nominal 3.5 Ohm minimal load.

FWIW, you might consider a better preamp to match the Sonograph. But keep in mind that Sonograph was CJs attempt to build amps that would compete at the lower price point of brands like Denon. CJ’s efforts were not a market success and Sonograph was discontinued.

[Julsq]

Thanks a lot, super useful also - and a time saver if I follow the consensus, which I will most certainly do.

@admin, how easy it is you think to convert the SA-250 to 220V? I looked into forums but none seems to specifically indicate that it was easy for Sonographes (unlike "proper" CJ amps).

[admin]

The voltage conversion is very quick as basically it consists of rewiring the transformer. There are no formal instructions published by CJ, but we do have a voltage conversion diagram in our schematics database (can't remember which unit model off the top of my head) and I think the color scheme for the wiring is the same for most (if not all) units.

[Julsq]

Thanks (again and again), will look into it (I think I have a good specialist in London).

Another question: you recommended (above) I replaced the AirPort Express by a Wiim of some sort.

I was under the impression that the general consensus was that the second-generation AirPort Express (A1392) had a very, very good DAC (in particular https://www.kenrockwell.com/apple/airpo ... y-2014.htm).

Additionally, it is based on the AirPlay 1 protocol which allows me to stream lossless ALAC to said DAC, rather than compressed 256 Kbps AAC with AirPlay 2 like any modern streamer (assuming I'm streaming from Apple Music or Apple Classic, otherwise the question is irrelevant).

Is your recommendation based on something else than the DAC performance (like: the Wiim providing a "pre-amp" layer that would do something to sound quality)?

Otherwise, I'm pretty happy with the minimalistic interface, but very happy to learn and discover otherwise.

Best wishes !

Julien

[admin]

At the end of the day the Airport Express is not really an "audiophile" piece of electronics gear, and it was never intended as such. Its performance in the link you provided shows that it's descent but I question the applicability for most of us who are listening to lossless streaming flac. Correct me if I am wrong but Airport Express doesn't natively support flac. If you use any streaming service or have any local music catalog with above CD quality, you are going to want 24b/192khz lossless flac decoding. Other than apple, I don't know of any other service that is streaming their audio in native ALAC.

Which Wiim did you end up buying, they have a few models? They have different output capabilities. The mini is the cheapest and I think is good as a streamer source but doesn't have the most robust DAC and analog output. This is understandable for a sub $100 product. You still get more bang for your buck than any competitor in my opinion. If you plan to use the mini with an external DAC then it's an excellent choice and I don't see much of a reason to go with a higher end streamer. If you want an all in one package, their Ultra unit steps it up. More output options, better DAC, better analog output, and a fancy display. If you are using the wiim as a source and preamp, then yes the preamp will have influence on the sound as you are doing the internal processing in the wiim as well as analog volume control, etc.

At the end of the day it's all about enjoying the music, so if it sounds good to you, don't sweat the specs.

[Julsq]

Dear admin

I am floored by your commitment and wealth of knowledge on this forum.

Thank you ever so much, I think I have exhausted all questions.

Next time, I’ll report on the updated setup !!