Pre/Power Amplifiers

Despite the 'M' in its name, the AW 800 M is a modular stereo power amp, and will surely be used by audiophiles as such. That said, Electrocompaniet would still rather we bought a pair to be used as bridged monoblocks boasting a full 800W, 1.5kW and 2.2kW into 8, 4 and 2ohm loads, respectively. So how does it stand up in practice? Bridging the stereo channels into one doubles the voltage gain (29.4dB to 35.4dB), realising 1.14kW/8ohm and 1.93W/4ohm – figures that are comfortably in excess of the brand's claims.

There's more under dynamic, music-like, conditions [see inset Graph] with 1.42kW, 2.62kW and a speaker-pummeling 3.49kW (41.8A) available into 8, 4 and 2ohm, respectively (re. 10msec at <1% THD). Bridging also halves load 'seen' by the amp, so Electrocompaniet has limited the AW 800 M's output to a 'reduced' 1.94kW/1ohm (44.0A). Distortion remains vanishingly low in bridged mode, settling at 0.0003%/1W to 0.0004%/100W, 0.001%/500W and 0.002% at the rated 800W (all 1kHz/8ohm). Versus frequency, distortion is also well controlled at 0.0002-0.0013% (10W, 20Hz-20kHz) and while the response matches its stereo mode at –0.15dB/20kHz to –1.6dB/100kHz, the doubling of its source impedance causes a greater treble roll-off into lower impedances. Bottom line? Stereo or mono, the AW 800 M is a potent powerhouse! PM