SAE 2401

The new SAE "01" Series power amplifiers represent a redirection of amplifier design philosophy in which great emphasis is placed upon reality,  the need for your power amplifier to interact with your speakers and produce the desired result (clean, clear, enjoyable music) regardless of volume level, program material or speaker design. The "01" amplifiers are capable of passing the complex musical signals of your program material into the equally complex load of your speakers with the highest degree of accuracy.

 What makes this different from any other amplifier design? Very simply, the degree to which SAE has pursued this goal.

 Other amplifiers seem to be satisfied with great "specs". They often forget that laboratory test situations - the standard distortion measurements we've heard so much about - do not reproduce the reality of your music, played through your speakers, in your living room.

 Those THD and IM measurements so often used to judge an amplifier's performance are obtained by feeding a simple, predictable sine wave to an amplifier and observing how accurately that amplifier passes it to a static 8 Ω load resistor. Since the sound waves of real music are neither simple non predictable, and a real loudspeaker is a dynamic load which only occasionally offers exactly 8 ohms of resistance.

SAE saw the need to go beyond conventional test procedures. We fed music - not sine waves - into loudspeakers, and our findings led us to the creation of the "01" Concept, and a line of power amplifiers which embodies all of the following features:

High Current Capability

When we replaced the standard 8 Ω resistor with an active loudspeaker, we saw a complex ever-changing load which often appears to the amplifiers as a load even lower than 2 ohms. When this happens your amplifier needs to deliver more current to your loudspeaker than would ever be necessary with an 8 Ω load. All of the SAE "01" amplifiers have a vast amount of reserve power. In fact, each is capable of over ten times the amount required to breeze through conventional performance tests.

Balanced Circuit Design

Your power amplifier must be prepared to deal with a bombardment of highly complex, constantly fluctuating sound waves,  waves that are asymmetric (where the positive half of the wave is often quite different from the negative half). SAE's solution to this challenge is separate complementary amplifiers. Each channel  of an "01" power amplifier actually contains two amplifiers - one for the positive side of teh program and one for the negative side. From input to output, a totally independent amplifier designed to deal with that particular part of the waveform. Thase mirror image amplifiers combine to provide a signal so free of distortion there is no need for feedback correction.

Natural Damping

Damping is the amplifier's ability to provide controlled "breaking" of the speaker at the end of a waveform. Conventional amplifier tests actually evaluate the sum of two very different types of damping. One, which we call "artificial" damping, is generated in the negative feedback loop of the amplifier ,and therefore, is both frequency and level dependent . The second type. "natural" damping, is the actual internal resistance of  of the amplifier. It is not affected by the frequency or level of the signal. As the music becomes more complex, and particularly when high frequencies are involved, this natural damping is what really controls the loudspeaker. SAE found this damping factor to be determined by the number of output devices, the size and quality of the power supply, and the actual wiring of the amplifier. Our "01" Series is designed to give a very high natural damping ability … to provide precise control of your loudspeakers regardless of the music.

As other components in your high fidelity system become more and more sophisticated, the power amplifier's job of controlling both signal and speaker becomes increasingly more challenging. The SAE "01" Series is the beginning of a new era of amplifiers designed to handle the complex demands of history's most advanced audio systems. Listen to what it can do for yours.

2401 Technical Features

Dual Power Supply - with toroid power transformer provides massive energy reserve for bass transients and reduced channel interaction for improved stereo imaging.

Toroid Power Transformer - provides a significantly reduced hum field for improved signal to noise ratio.

Gold-Plated Internal Connectors - and glass epoxy circuit boards; provide higher sonic performance and long term reliability.

Turbo-Flow heatsinks - designed by SAE to break-up the laminar air flow surrounding conventional heatskins and thus significantly improve amplifier's heat dissipation under heavy or continuous use.

LED Power Display - provides fast, accurate indication of 2401 output in both dB and watts at 8 ohms.

Wideband and Hi-Pass (low filter) Inputs - the Hi-pass input provides signal attenuation below 20 Hz for systems having acoustic feedback or rumble problems. Wide band input extends from 2 Hz to 160 kHz.

Rackmounting - are standard rack heights and provide EIA standard spacing for rack mounting holes. Proper rear support should be provided ,should extended transportation in a rack be anticipated.

Transission Line - this amplifier may be connected directly to 25 volt transmission systems and through appropriate transformers to 70 volt system.

Forced Air Cooling - for special application where high ambient temperatures and /or very low impedance loads are encountered, we offer the 4301 Rack Mount Fan System.

2401 Specifications

Minimum Continuous RMS Power Per Channel (both channels driven 20 - 20,000 Hz at rated Distortion):

250 watts at 8 ohms

375 watts at 4 ohms

Total harmonic Distortion (from 250 mW to full rated power/at 1 watt):  less than 0,025%/0,02%

Intermodulation Distortion (from 250 mW to full rated  power):  less than 0,025%

Clipping head Room:  0,5 dB

Damping Factor:  60

Freuency Response:

Rated Power :  20 Hz to 20 kHz  +0, -0,5 dB

1 Watt [Normal/Hi-Pass]:  2 Hz - 160 kHz / 20 Hz - 160 kHz   +0,25, -3 dB

Signal-to-Noise Ratio:

Rated Power (unweighted):  110 dB

Rated Power (IHF-a):  125 dB

1 Watt (IHF-A):  100 dB

Crosstalk (100 Hz to 10 kHz):  greater than 70 dB

Input Sensitivity:

Rated Output :  2,24

1 Watt : 0,14

Current Slew Rate:  20 amps/microsecond

Slew factor:  3

Protection:  Relay, Thermal, Low Impedance

Dimensions (W x H x D):  483 x 178 x 318 mm (19" x 7" x 12,5")

Weight:  21,3 kg (47 lbs)