I am looking at a possible purchase of these amps, to drive my Magico Q5s. I am hesitant about the difference between a pair of Centaur II mono blocks or the (newer) Centaur II 500 Stereo amp.
The Centaur II 500 takes some power technology from the Hercules II and puts it in the CentaurII box. At launch, Constellation said that it (coupled with the Virgo III) is the closest thing to the Hercules II (coupled with the Altair II). This seems to point that it would be a better buy than the Centaur II mono blocks. The power specs show a better power delivery for the Centaur II 500, which effectively doubles its power into 4 ohms whereas the mono blocks do a 1.6x
Granted, both have gobs of power, but however I look at it, the Centaur II 500 stereo chassis seems to be a better amp than the mono blocks, at a cheaper price (not counting the extra that will have to be spent on longer speaker cables). Or am I missing something? Does anyone have experience with both?
I am looking at a possible purchase of these amps, to drive my Magico Q5s. I am hesitant about the difference between a pair of Centaur II mono blocks or the (newer) Centaur II 500 Stereo amp.
The Centaur II 500 takes some power technology from the Hercules II and puts it in the CentaurII box. At launch, Constellation said that it (coupled with the Virgo III) is the closest thing to the Hercules II (coupled with the Altair II). This seems to point that it would be a better buy than the Centaur II mono blocks. The power specs show a better power delivery for the Centaur II 500, which effectively doubles its power into 4 ohms whereas the mono blocks do a 1.6x
Granted, both have gobs of power, but however I look at it, the Centaur II 500 stereo chassis seems to be a better amp than the mono blocks, at a cheaper price (not counting the extra that will have to be spent on longer speaker cables). Or am I missing something? Does anyone have experience with both?