Does anyone use the remote turn on?

[motorstereo]

I gave it a shot yesterday and hooked the remote turn on with 1/8'' stereo phono jacks. I thought it would be nice to be able to turn everything on remotely and sure enough it did just that. Albeit the amps went on a lot quicker than I like them to after the pre got turned on. Mac is vague at best in their descriptions from their owner manuals about sequencing the power amp and then reversing the order during shut down. I certainly don't want to damage anything but during shut down it didn't sequence and I got a hum during shutdown. With a flurry of bad language those jacks unceremoniously came out quicker than they went in and I went back to doing things manually. Now I'm wondering if I may have overlooked something or hooked up something incorrectly? I went from the C100 dual main outputs to the MC1201's inputs as shown in the manuals

 

[4-2-7]

I trigger my SS MC501s but turn my tubes on manually, I'v never heard any transformer hum at shutdown. I don't remember which trigger off the c100 I used most likely the main.

It seems to me if you have transformer bleed off you'll get it regardless if the trigger is hooked up. You should be able to turn on or off the power amp regardless if the preamp is on or off.

 

[feinstei]

They had a device that was reasonably priced many years ago that turned on AC sockets with a delay after the preamp was turned on. It was called the "PC-3 Sequential Power Controller". It's relay based but has been extremely reliable for me over the 4 years that I've had it. I run all of my McIntosh components with it including 2 tube preamps (the C2300 and MP-1100 phono preamp) as well as one MC-275 Mk VI. They turn up used fairly often and I remember seeing one recently on one of the audio sales sites.

Berner's has a manual for it:

www.berners.ch/McIntosh/Downloads/PC3_own.pdf

Of course you could spend $4000 or so on the MPC1500.....

 

[Yamaki]

I looked and there is no delay built into the power up sequence of my MX135. The MX135 powers up one MC501, then that amp powers up the second MC501. If I am turning on all the amps for home theater, I have a second remote power circuit in the MX135 that triggers the first amp in that chain as a selectable option.

I have everything plugged into a 20 AMP circuit via power conditioners so I'm not worried about any spikes or power issues.

 

[D_Zoot]

I've got the power control of my C46 hooked to my MC452. I like using the feature as I use the C46 remote quite a bit. My system powers up and down silently every time using the power control. There is no sequencing going on that I can see with the power control outputs on C46, but the 452 mutes the output briefly on startup and I would assume it instantly mutes on power down as it's stone quiet, always.

 

[VintageMac]

The PC-4 was a later triggerable power controller. It does not have built-in delay but is designed for high-power units. And was 1/4th the cost of the PC-3.

Larry

 

[kevzep]

I use the remote to turn my system on and the C48 turns the MEN220 and MC452 on, the C48 and MEN power up at exactly the same time, and the 452 powers up maybe 200 milliseconds after that.....
I don't see the issue?
What do you mean the amps come on "a lot quicker than you like to", why is that an issue?

 

[motorstereo]

^^^^I like to let the pre settle in for a few seconds (about the time it takes for the digital tuner to lock onto a station) before I power up one amp wait another few seconds and power up the other one. Maybe I'm being overly cautious but it's how I've always done things. Turn off is the same I turn off the amps for a few seconds and then power off the pre. The one and only time I've ever heard any amp hum in my rig was during the shutdown yesterday when everything shut down at once. On and off all simultaneously just does not seem right to me especially with the amount of current the 1201's draw at start up.

 

[eedork]

I love power control!

I've got an MX132 connected to a C52 via passthru. The C52 main trigger output is connected to a slick little relay controlled power strip which turns on an MC7300 (I think this was the last generation of amps from McIntosh that do not have power control inputs).

When I watch movies or listen to the radio I turn on the MX132 which turns on the whole stack. If I only want the C52 and MC7300 I just power up the C52 which turns on the MC7300 as well.

One neat little trick is that the C52 and MC7300 can be turned on first. Then when the MX132 is turned on (and later turned off) the C52 and MC7300 will stay on. This is nice if you want to listen to music after watching a movie. You don't have to turn the whole stack off and back on again, like you would have to do if you powered everything up via the MX132.

I did have to set the C52 to use the alternate remote codes as well. This was the final piece to the puzzle. Now I can use both the MX132 and C52 remotes without them interfering with each other.

Things do turn on quickly, but the system works well and there's a lot of flexibility.

-Matt

 

[MACKIE1975]

Plug everything into the Panamax or APC Power conditioner then relax.

 

[motorstereo]

Plug everything into the Panamax or APC Power conditioner then relax.

I do have all the electronics except the amps plugged into my Belkin conditioner which turns everything on with one switch. I'm just wondering how everyone else does things and if I may have overlooked something. I'm also thinking I'm going to stay with my old method as once again there was no strange noise when I sequenced everything down correctly for the evening.

 

[4-2-7]

I'm going to stay with my old method as once again there was no strange noise when I sequenced everything down correctly for the evening.

But there is a reason it made noise when you used the trigger, something is not right. I have never had that problem with any of my amps and the trigger. I also don't see anyone else saying they had the same experience.

 

[damacman]

I'm all automated here. Here's how it all works:

C200 only - turn it ON and both MC2600s come ON at the same time about 5 seconds later. Yep, this causes the voltage to drop considerably and the room lights dim but no other ill side effects.

Integra DHC80.6 - turn it ON and a whole bunch of shit happens:
1 - C200 comes in in PASSTHRU / DTA-70.1 comes on, delayed about 3 seconds
2 - MC2600s come on AFTER the DTA-70.1 is ON, about 2 seconds later
3 - NAD 218THX comes on AFTER the MC2600s come ON, also about 2 seconds later

It helps that both the DTA-70.1 and NAD 218THX have soft start up features at which the amps first come on in PROTECT and then come ON.

I utilize the triggers on two power conditioners to achieve all of this. I built a 15A single gang switched outlet with a 12V triggered Solid State Relay for the NAD 218THX as I had no other way to get it all timed correctly.

I agree. A 12V trigger box with gazintas and delay programmable goesouttas would be super slick. Now, I do the delays via the 80.6's menu and the DIP switches on the back of the conditioners.

When I turn the system OFF via the C200 or 80.6, everything goes off simultaneously and I have no ill side effects - noises, pops, thumps, etc.- from doing so.

 

[motorstereo]

Thanks for all the suggestions guys I appreciate them. I tried it once more and this time I went from the output of the C100 to the input of the first monoblock and the output of that mono went to the input of the 2nd one. Same thing once again and both mono's went on a quarter of a nano second after I switched the C100 on. Even though the amps are on their own dedicated circuits the lights still dimmed from everything going on at once. The trigger cords got yanked for the last time and I've decided I'll stay with the manual method that doesn't dim the lights or hum at shutdown.

 

[MACKIE1975]

Just wonder that you have any power subwoofer in your system.

 

[motorstereo]

Just wonder that you have any power subwoofer in your system.

No I don't use any powered subs.

 

[jblnut]

I recently converted from the "motorstereo" manual method to a fully automatic sequenced method. It's been warmly received by the other household members and I think we're going to stick with it. It all began when I got a Furman Elite 15 DMI and noticed it had power sequence capability. I run the sequence cable out of my C220, into the Furman. That turns on all of my gear except the 501's. Another sequence cable leaves the Furman and goes into the first 501, which is then daisy chained to the second one via in the in/out sequence jacks. The Furman introduces a ~5 second delay before it turns on the 501's which seems to alleviate any noises on start-up.

I don't think there's any wrong answers here as it's mostly just preference. Do you want to use one switch to "rule them all" or many ?

jblnut

 

[damacman]

Thanks for all the suggestions guys I appreciate them. I tried it once more and this time I went from the output of the C100 to the input of the first monoblock and the output of that mono went to the input of the 2nd one. Same thing once again and both mono's went on a quarter of a nano second after I switched the C100 on. Even though the amps are on their own dedicated circuits the lights still dimmed from everything going on at once. The trigger cords got yanked for the last time and I've decided I'll stay with the manual method that doesn't dim the lights or hum at shutdown.

Well, you could use the triggers from the SPKR1 and 2 - one to each amp. Turn the C100 on, press SPKR1 and the first 1201 comes on, press SPKR2 and the 2nd 1201 comes on. Turn them both off before shutting the C100 off and wallah.

 

[sKiZo]

Oh - thought someone was posting up a number to a killer sex line ... never mind ... ;-}

I've got a few remotes stashed here - even tried one of them cute lil plug 'n pray "learning" super remotes. No sir ... didn't like it! Only one I use if at all is for the automotive radio head I use for HD Radio in the home system ... still have to get up to switch sources, but it's just easier to use than the panel controls.

 

[motorstereo]

Well, you could use the triggers from the SPKR1 and 2 - one to each amp. Turn the C100 on, press SPKR1 and the first 1201 comes on, press SPKR2 and the 2nd 1201 comes on. Turn them both off before shutting the C100 off and wallah.

I thought about doing exactly that. But then I'm thinking that I'd be defeating my own purpose and making life more complicated than the way I've been doing things.