What's wrong with monoblocks?
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Sunday January 12, 2025
David Mellor
David Mellor is CEO and Course Director of Audio Masterclass. David has designed courses in audio education and training since 1986 and is the publisher and principal writer of Adventures In Audio.
@Is_this_4_reelOU812: Excuse my poor Spanish, but Uno Cubo sounds good. Or how about Modo Singular? Is that too long? Let an engineer in and shorten it to 1CH, 2CH, SUB etc.
@oldmike: useless, complete waist of my timeš¤
@HAIL_LILITH: Nuts
@RalfSiegesmund replies to @HAIL_LILITH: ... but in a audiophile way!
@Rob1972Gem: Does everybody realise that the concept of mono blocks originated because back in the day when there was only mono sound you had one of these which was the norm at the time and that was your power amplifier stereo became a thing a certain class of audiophile decided it would be better just to add a second one of these so one for the left channel and one for the right channel and in a separate preamplifier that is how they came about there is nothing extra brilliant about them they donāt do anything better than a really high-end integrated amplifier It is just eye candy. You look at most of the modern ones today they are massive blocks of aluminium shiny so all the magpies love them it just gives you bragging rights because obviously to go down this route you are spending quite a bit of money but they are just I candy
@robertoney5665: Mr Magical Audiophile is trying to be funny. This is a joke in it self. š
@AudioMasterclass replies to @robertoney5665: Tell us a good one then.
@robertoney5665 replies to @robertoney5665: @AudioMasterclassĀ Naw, You're the ass of your channel. What joke is better better than that Mr Magical Audiophile?
@AudioMasterclass replies to @robertoney5665: Boo hoo then. I'm crying all the way to the bank.
@robertoney5665 replies to @robertoney5665: @@AudioMasterclass Go wank off on camera while at the bank. You'll be famous everywhere Mr Magical Audiophiles.
@robertoney5665 replies to @robertoney5665: @@AudioMasterclassGo to the bank and wank off in front of the camera. You gonna be famous everywhere!
@christopherward5065: Thereās nothing wrong with monoblocs. I like them. I like stereo power amplifiers too. The advantages are small but comforting and possibly illusory depending on how good each type of amplifier is at isolating the demands of each amplifier channel from the other. The word is an oxymoron but people accept it as a description of a form factor for power amplifiers. Especially for power amplifiers that are close to their speakers being driven by preamplifiers that are close to the source components.
@barlow2976: It can't be a bloc, that's a group. I know, let's call it a single channel amp.
Monoblock has connotations of headaches and sub-dural haematomas for me, certainly not the dulcet tones of Alison Krauss et al.
@pip5528: Kinda funny how "dual mono" is a used for circuitry where the channels are isolated in the same chassis but not for two separate amplifiers.
@jimcookemusic: I do enjoy these audio monographs.
@mattmoreira210: 3:12 I think "monobloc" sounds quite chic.
@brunoD61: Good evening from Normandy, I liked your video, fun!
@natdenchfield8061: It's ok, I fast forwarded it to find the real discussion.. there was none. Took 30 seconds.
The rest of the 2.30 mons I spent writing this. At least I practiced typing .. cos , yeah, won't be getting those mins back.
Might have to make sure this channel is ignored to save wasting more time
@paulstubbs7678: "There aren't many but there are a few", oh I'm a dying breed, However I see no need for more to reproduce one presenters voice on YT
@AudioMasterclass replies to @paulstubbs7678: This is why the centre channel was invented (but rarely used in the home).
@johnabedggood6280: The only time I watch this wazzock's videos is when I find myself unable to do any task other than the important one I'm undertaking at the time, i.e. taking a dump.....
@humblestever24 replies to @johnabedggood6280: no wonder you're constipated.
@MiguelCruz-cm1fe: Ahahahah
@audiononsense1611: Single Chanel Amp! and why... well there are Multi-Channel amps...
@schemkesa: whats wrong with mono-amp? in stead of stereo-amp...
@Retro480i: I demand a refund
@adamant3844: Now I can go back to viewing scantily clad ladies with "dual mono bloc" bosoms.
@gmlgml780: Yeah.
If you want clarity and separation
and you can sacrifice spatiality and soundstage,
then try a correctly mono downmixed stream
with only one single loudspeaker (raw mono).
You will be surprised by the clarity improvement.
(It does not have a good effect on headphones,
indeed.)
@bluesfish55m51 replies to @gmlgml780: I might be from the woods but isnāt separation synonymous with sound stage? And wouldnāt spaciousness render clarity?
@gmlgml780 replies to @gmlgml780: ā@@bluesfish55m51
"... I might be from the woods but isnāt separation synonymous with sound stage? And wouldnāt spaciousness render clarity? ..."
Yeah.
These words how we try to describe the different sensations in audio ... :)
Theoretically these should be intuitively working words,
but I'm not even sure that these words are really exact and definitive,
but I'm pretty sure that many of us use them "bad". :)
Maybe there should be a definitive vocabulary from these,
and all audio channels should push that vocabulary at once,
for a while,
maybe we would learn them finally.
But back to the point.
I didn't mean spaciousness when I said spatiality.
And separation wanted to be in "my terminology"
instrument separation,
that you can hear the different instruments,
they don't combine together some kind of a mess,
what is, yes,
kinda synonymous with clarity in this meaning. :)
Okay,
I just write again my first point.
So if you have a single (mono) channel audio source,
recorded from a single point and directionality
(ideally some kind of an omnidirectionality :)
then of course, you will need only a single channel
audio reconstruction system.
Ideally you will have everything in the stream,
you will hear everything well.
Except of the directions of the different components of the music.
You will hear only loudness differences between the instruments.
That's why stereo got involved.
They record (generate) two streams, with two mics,
with the good positions and directionality,
and after that you play (reconstruct) that with a stereo system,
with two speakers with the right position and the right directions
relative to the listener.
Now (if you don't really move or turn your head :) you will have
a pretty realistic and correct spatial sound.
The different components in the music can be felt from different positions and directions
Like if you listened the instruments in real life.
(That spatial information what is tried to be perfected with atmos nowadays.)
But back to stereo.
The possibility of spatiality (what is present at stereo) is not spaciousness.
Spaciousness is more like a synonym to soundstage (I think) and is trying to describe
the felt size of the reconstructed area of the instruments (points of the sound sources).
But that possibility of the spatiality (spatiality versus the absolute non spatial mono)
IS very often NOT USED in the music.
It is probably used in a stereo recording of a concert or such,
but mostly unused in usual songs and tracks.
Even if when they play with the two channels of the stereo system
(for example drums in left and guitars on the right, for a shorter period of the tracks),
they don't use it the real spatial sense.
Even in these rare cases when they play with the two channels,
if you downmix both of the channels to one mono stream,
the loss of that "playing" is not really bad.
You won't really miss it.
But,
in a room (the lesser the room the worst the effect) there will be a strong negative effect on clarity,
because of the different reflections of the sound freqs.
And if you use two audio monitors (loudspeakers, in a stereo system) that negative effect of the room in clarity
will be (subjectively) not even only double but even bigger compared to a mono (one monitor) audio listening.
So if you don't often listen to spatial music (like concerts), but usually you just listen to spatially indifferent tracks
(which is most of the album art in the universe),
then you lose only the unimportant "stereo play" here and there,
but you win a GREAT increase in clarity,
if you listen to a correctly mono downmixed stream from a SINGLE monitor (loudspeaker)
in a room.
That's the case I think.
Just try it out. You'll be surprised.
The fact is,
that listening it in a room,
stereo is a big negative impact on clarity,
and it gives only a possibility of spatiality
what is 99% not even used in the tracks.
Stereo is an overkill for spatiality,
a common denominator
to have a standard what has the possibility
of spatial sound, spatial sound sources,
but it has a too big price,
compared to that what it brings
to the table.
Only it became so widespread, so trivial
that we think that stereo is twice as good as mono.
But it is not.
If you are not interested in spatial experience,
but you are interested in clarity,
MONO IS JUST BETTER.
Funny, but that's the case.
(Of course,
if you don't have walls,
or your room is 100% acoustically
treated,
you won't experience a big difference.
But in a common case,
mono is night and day difference
regarding clarity.)
@amcluesent: My Audio Analogue Donizetti Cento claims to be "Dual Mono"
@AudioMasterclass replies to @amcluesent: Considering this photo - https://soundmediagroupau.s3.ap-southeast-2.amazonaws.com/monthly_2023_06/image.png.d220d89794ad45598c64cfd993dd6128.png - it would seem so. A halfway house between a stereo amp and twin separate mono amps.
@cestusfr: "Twin Chain system" with dual wallet-draining plugs. š¤£š¤£š¤£
@la7dfa replies to @cestusfr: HIFI salesman must be a dream come true. Meeting nerds that are discussing square, flat or round cables to the speakers for 20-20.000Hz with an 100x markup price.
@tyronejohnson6482: I too have a dual mono amp; two amps in one case, I love it! I've tried (3) different mono amp sets, with no enjoyment from none of them!
@nikolaki: My first exposure to these was in the Notting Hill Music & Video exchange in the 80s.
Back then it was full of Quad mono blocs, preamps, little stacks of Quad gear and ESL speakers. I wish I had space for a pair of ESL speakers.
I always wondered whether owners of these 1 channel amps sold them because they spent more time obsessing over whether the volume was the same on both channels than enjoying music listening.
@AudioMasterclass replies to @nikolaki: I used to love that place when I lived in London.
@JathraDH: I do PC water cooling and the term monoblock has another meaning there.
@AudioMasterclass replies to @JathraDH: Don't say that. Audiophiles will be wanting to water cool their monoblock amps.
@JathraDH replies to @JathraDH: @@AudioMasterclass I mean.. it would work lmao. People have water cooled routers before. Thanks for the reply.
@peanutbutterjellyjam2179: My three minutes, gone!
@AudioMasterclass replies to @peanutbutterjellyjam2179: Actually it's nearly three and a half minutes, but who's counting?
@ramonmendoza7125: BEST 3 MINUTES OF MY LIFE I EVER SPENT!!!!!!
@la7dfa replies to @ramonmendoza7125: Me three
@NoahBershatsky: I came here to see what the heck a mono block even is. Never heard of them.
@shipsahoy1793: Wow! ... anything other than "monaural amplifiers" or "single-channel audio amplifiers"
or any other non-straightforward description of the product is just marketing stupidity, plain and simple.
No debate.
@nicksparey9506: Jesus....
@trottophone: I played this at 1.5x speed, so that's just 2 minutes I won't get back again.
@HAIL_LILITH replies to @trottophone: I wish I had
@nigelwinterbottom replies to @trottophone: After a few seconds in, I read your post and immediately switched to double speed (DuoSpeed perhaps). So that's only about 33s I won't get back again.
Thanks for the tip.
@Simbosan: I look forward to buying a dozen then spending countless hours determining which two match best
@gmlgml780 replies to @Simbosan: Yeah.
Multi channel amplifiers
have channel imbalance and difference issues,
as well.
(In the lower price segments where I am involved, at least.)
Just try your stuffs with a measure signal.
One channel will sound pretty different from the others.
It's not a coincident that balance controls showed up in integrated amps,
unfortunately.)
@AudioMasterclass replies to @Simbosan: You are indeed an audiophile.
@gmlgml780 replies to @Simbosan: @@AudioMasterclass
Yeah.
Monoblocks are about freedom, imho.
You want 3 channels, you want 3 monoblocks.
You want 13 channels you get 13 monoblocks.
You will have to solve the controlling anyways.
No common stages.
I suppose the crosstalk can be near to zero with the total separation ?
I'm nothing but a music lover.
I'm trying to reach a sound in the room
like if I listened to well tuned headphones (to my ears).
It was a long road while I began to understand how to.
@ferdinandbardamu3945: If monoblock was French it would be called monampli.
@LordVictorHalgaard: Itās a block shaped object that transmits a mono signal and you have two of them thus itās plural mono blocks. Itās pretty straightforward.
@shipsahoy1793 replies to @LordVictorHalgaard: it's stupid regardless of how you analyze it lol
@JohnZolla-bp7tl: Monoamp....as opposed to stereoamp. š
@michaelsegel8758: Uhm...
Monoblock as in a single channel amplifier.
But you kinda knew that.
@Hitsujiomeguruboken: I have the Topping B100 for 6 Days now. My first Isoblocks in the last 35 Years!
They sound so beautiful!
@tomehCanada: Ises the bye that builds the boats and Ise the bye that sails her.
@knifeswitch5973: 2 monoblocks walk into a bar.....
@AudioMasterclass replies to @knifeswitch5973: Two monoblocks walk into a bar. The bartender says, "Sorry, we don't serve your kind here."
One monoblock says, "Why not?"
The bartender replies, "Because you guys are always stereotyping!"
@knifeswitch5973 replies to @knifeswitch5973: @ Bingo! Bartender asks the first monoblock āWhat can I get you?ā. The first monoblock says āIāll take half of what heās having.ā.
@bernhardkaiser9677: You made my day! :-)
@willhemmings: Yes, don't audiophiles talk a load of bollocks
@AudioMasterclass replies to @willhemmings: Only those who are pretending.
@davidatrakchi2707: Mono in Greek means alone, not one
@AudioMasterclass replies to @davidatrakchi2707: More fun! Monoblocks are therefore āalone blocksā, when clearly they are never alone. Comment readersā¦ Dive into that!
@nickmoranis2865: I like the word monobloc. Vinyls on the other handā¦
@haraldlonn898: How about duo brick.
@MarkThomas-hm3ju: I considered buying two Fosi V3s and using them as such. They would have separate power supplies and all you would have to do is use the right channel on one and left channel on the other. It's a cheat but the original V3 may have the best build quality at the onset. And cheaper too! Some AB amps supposedly use two built-in power supplies (separate for each channel)for the unit ( I believe Cambridge Audio does this).How is that different (forget the bridging option, not needed)? Actually, Paul McGowan of PS Audio recently talked of using two separate two channel amps to do this as well.
@Roosville1: I was going with It's a pair of monophonic amplifiers. but then realised its just "a pair of amplifiers". Original audio systems were by definition monophonic, stereo didn't exist so we didn't need to differentiate between the two. You had an amplifier. Stereo came along hence you had a pair of monoblocks, followed by an intigrated stereo amplifier.
@052RC replies to @Roosville1: Depending on how you look at it, its not the same. There's a difference between mono amps and a stereo amp. Parts are shared between the 2 channels on an "stereo" amp, and for some applications, its necessary. For example, in my main system I use 2 Ayre V5 stereo amps in a vertical biamp configuration. You can't do it with mono amps. The fact that both channels share the same power supply means you don't have to use an active xover to set the correct levels between the amps. Each speaker is powered by 1 stereo amp. If you do a horizontal setup with 2 stereo amps, the amps are different even though they are identical. An amps power output is determined by the frequency its asked to produce. So the amp for the top half of the speakers will be rated for a different amount of power than the bottom half. At that point, its 2 different amps because the amount of work each is asked to do is different. So, for a system like mine, mono amps can't be used. I must have 2 stereo amps.
There's another situation that's a problem. It was mentioned in the video. Parallel amps. The common term for that is bridged. This is something that there's a lot of confusion on. Bridging a stereo amp combines the 2 channels of a stereo, or 2 channel amp, into 1 channel. A bridged stereo amp is not a mono amp or a mono block. Its electrically different. When you bride a stereo amp, is sees half the resistance it normally does. For example, if you have a speaker that averages 8 ohms normally, and bridge the amp, its now a 4 ohm speaker. That's why so many people don't care for bridging. You get more power, but you beat the crap out of your amp to do it. Its also why they use shady marketing when it comes to balanced headphones. There is no such thing. A balanced headphone setup means you're plugging your headphones into a bridged stereo amp. And they get away with calling it balanced because to bridge an amp, you need separate grounds for the left and right channels. Balancing the signal at the input stage does this. Then, of course, they make you buy a special headphone cable that has 2 xlr connectors on it. Everyone associates xlr with balanced, so they take advantage. If you look closely, only 2 of the 3 pins on each xlr connector are used. - and +. Same as the speakers in your living room.
@fonkenful replies to @Roosville1: Well, if one was predisposed to etymological pedantry, we could remind ourselves that the Greek root origin of the word āstereoā meant 3 dimensional, solid; so āstereophonic soundā neednāt necessarily be restricted to only 2 discrete channels. Indeed there will likely be balding boomers here who can remember the attempts at 3 channel systems in the mid ā50s, a good two decades before the disaster of battling formats and technologies attempting to deliver quadraphonics .
Then of course there are those crazy audiophiles running fully active multi-way speaker systems that can easily increase the amp channel count into the double digit range; BeoLab 90s, for example - 18 per enclosure.
@AudioMasterclass replies to @Roosville1: @fonkenful Who doesnāt like LCR? Thatās what I call stereo.
@fonkenful replies to @Roosville1: @ I generally think of that acronym more in the context of front main row of a home theatre system than music only āaudioā. Geeze, but the audiophile community can be tribal and reactionary at times, doncha think, Dave?
@AudioMasterclass replies to @Roosville1: @fonkenful Whoās Dave?
@ac81017: I use a dual mono stereo power amplifier. No mono bollocks š
@memcdm: I have a dual mono amp! Two power amps in one case! The only thing shared is the AC plug and I assume the input transformer. Each channel has its own on/off switch. š
@ConorHanley: Oh dear, was expecting something more then a monologue on naming monobloc amps. Something like a review of a monobloc amp, crazy I know.
@marxman00 replies to @ConorHanley: as with all things audio ,Reduce your expectations to achieve satisfaction !
@rienpost: Comic Sans! Aaargh! COMIC SANS!!!
@AudioMasterclass replies to @rienpost: Well spotted.
@052RC: I've only seen a few of your videos, but there's one thing I picked up on. You like to make videos about things audiophiles say. That's great, but I'm always left wondering where are all these audiophiles you keep talking about? I've never heard anyone say the things you're telling us they say. I'm not saying you're wrong, but it would be nice to see some references. It makes things more interesting.
Anyway, I just came across some statements that audiophiles actually made, and as far as I can tell, they were being serious. I'm going to share them with you, and if you can't make a video on this, you need to find something else to do.
This is beyond ridiculous. As it turns out, apparently there are audiophiles out there that believe how much an amp weighs determines how much power it produces. And I'm not taking this out of context. Some of them think that weight is the most important spec to look at. Here's some direct quotes.
"Thank you for sharing your thoughts in your comparison. Question: Is there a minimum amount of weight to a power amp that you recommend? 30? 50lbs or more? I too believe in this "rule of thumb." I am hoping that an older Parasound can drive the LRS model. The amp weights 37lbs and its current capacity is 40 amperes continuous (57 peak). Also, I learned from another channel that a high damping factor is needed for the LRS as well."
" Meanwhile, even Class As typically have more weight then Class AB, because of the additional cooling. Also, the weight is going to increase as the current increases on the amp."
"I have the Magnepans 7's and was driving them with my 78lb VAC tube amp 100 watts per side Maggie's love watts/current So l found a used Spectron musical MK lll class D amp designed by John Ulrich It's weights 54lbs 500watts@8ohm 650@4ohms and 1,200 watts@1ohm 65 amps for 500 milliseconds To me weight matters in most amps"
Anyway, here's a link to the video where I got the quotes from. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=etP7gEkPXCU. There aren't that many comments so you'll have no problem finding all this. You'll also see my smart ass comments. Feel free to use them any way you like.
@jondu-sud274: Demi-stereo bloc, or DSB to the "inebriati" : cheers
@10sassafras: Less not more; monos.
@Csnumber1: I grew up in the 60ās, in the DC area where we had the International HiFi Show every year, literally on the same block where I lived at the Washington Hilton hotel. The term mono blocks was never used. āA pair of Mono Ampsā or a, ā pair of single channel amplifiersā! No need to complicate it my friendā¦the terminology is in-itself descriptively self explanatory.
@arthurgrab926: I*m have 2 monoblock Electrocompaniet)
@thexfile.: The Redbook audio standard screwed a lot of things.
@mikecampbell5856: I enjoyed the 3 minute video very much. Now what to do about dual mono stereo amplifiers?
@oliverbeard7912: Bichannel? Duel mono?
@AudioMasterclass replies to @oliverbeard7912: A typo of course for ādualā but itās interesting that in a stereo power amp the two channels are duelling for current from the power supply. Not so with monoblocks.
@arthurgrab926 replies to @oliverbeard7912: @@AudioMasterclass yes!
@MrSlipstreem: As monoblocs tend to be preferred by "audiophiles", I propose that we not only stop talking about them but also stop talking to self-professed "audiophiles".
@451804: I could have scrambled eggs and fried sausage with those 3 minutes;-)
@ConorHanley replies to @451804: Fried sausage in 3 minutes is dicing with food poisoning unless you own a Greasy Spoon with pre-cooked sausages. Oh wait, you still might be dicing with food poisoning.
@Douglas_Blake: Semantics .... oh my.
How about "MonoChannel", "DuoChannel" and "MultiChannel" amplifiers?
@oijans: I have never really been interested in a single channel amplifier even though I have a subwoofer, but it is turned off most of the time. I do love my heptabloc, though.
@marxman00: unibolocks (plural)
@jondu-sud274 replies to @marxman00: Love it š