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Amplifier recommendations for Phase Linear Phase III set

B

Bluesq

New Member
Long time lurker here, thought I'd throw this one out to the community

I recently came upon a complete set of Phase Linear Phase III speakers. Two panels, subwoofer module, and sound controller. These are just like the Andromeda's except they have a dome tweeter in the middle instead of another cone.

Problem is, I got them without anything to power them...and I still have absolutely no idea what to power these things with. All I know is what they sound like when properly powered and its why I have them now. I do know a bit or two about different brands and models, but these speakers are kind of a different animal and I just don't know where to start. Basically I'm looking for a pre-amp / stereo amp setup. I'm on a "best bang for the buck lets get lucky on craigslist" budget at the moment. Before I plunk down a chunk of change on some equipment, I thought I'd throw it out to you all for recommendations. I've heard it's best to match vintage speakers to vintage amps...and I've heard the opposite...

I've seen some posts about these speakers on here so I figure some of you are familiar with these. Any advise as to what brands or models to look into for stereo amps and perhaps a matching preamp to drive this set would be really be helpful.
 
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Well, I havn't heard those speakers but I suspect some Phase Linear, Carver or Sunfire amps would do well with them. :yes:
 
x_25 said:
Well, I havn't heard those speakers but I suspect some Phase Linear, Carver or Sunfire amps would do well with them. :yes:
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Is there a line of amps from these manufacturers that I should be focused on? I've read this set needs 400+ watts @ 8 ohms per side. My current setup is barely pushing 100.

For what its worth these speakers, although underpowered, are absolutely mind blowing. They just melt into the wall and leave the band standing there - easily the best purchase I've made in a while.
 
This is a good question, and I have alot of experience with the setup of these speakers. When I first got my Andromedas, I asked Bob Carver this same question and he recommended bi-amping them. Currently I have a Carver m1.5t to the panels, and a carver pm 1.5 for the sub woofer module. I am running them with a Sunfire tgp2 preamp, which has a sub woofer out with built in crossover, I have the crossover point set to 80hz. This way you can adjust the sub woofer volume level independently from the remote, and even take the low end frequency's out of the panels if needed - It sounds great. Some might frown upon my use of 3 generations of Carver equipment, but you can do what you like to suit your own personal prefferences.

My dad bought these speakers new originally in 1981 and purchased a Phase Linear 700 Series 2 amp with a Series 2 4000 pre-amp.. Which was the recommended setup at the time. This setup works great as well.

I highly recommend the Carver m1.5t amp, I have had these hooked up to all 3 amps and the sound quality of the Carver m1.5t is superior to the Phase 700 or the Carver pm 1.5s.

Bi-amping is good, these speakers can handle as much power as you can put to them. Some people bi-amp with one amp per channel, which should be ok but I have never tried it. However just one of either of these amps will be a good start.

As for bang for your buck, a Carver c-1 or c-2 preamp can be easily bought on Craigslist for around 150 bucks. A carver m1.5t amp will be around 300 to 500 bucks on ebay. A carver pm1.5 will be a little cheaper in the 200 to 300 range, but be advised these are meant for proffesional use, they are basically the same amp as the m1.5t but with forced fan cooling and xlr or 1/4 phono inputs compared to the rca inputs of the m1.5t. They are great amps and per Bob Carver they are just fine for home use, but sometimes the fans will be noisey. The Phase Linear 700 series 2s will run upwards of 700 bucks if you can find one. And honestly they are a little heavy, they run hot, and are a little dated for every day use.

I have thrown my system together piece by piece on Craigslist and Ebay, I lucked up and found my Sunfire TGP2 for 300 bucks locally on Craigslist from a guy who needed to pay his power bill. My pm1.5 amps were bought off ebay for around 150 each, and I bought my Carver 1.5t from the original owner on Craigslist along with a C-1 preamp, and a Carver tuner for 300 bucks. So time and patience will pay off in putting together a system.
 
I use a Phase linear 700 for the panels and a 400 for the sub.( could probably get away with a little less wpc for the sub.) I am using a PL C-4000 pre amp and love this system. I think that it's kinda nice to have a system designed by the same guy.(just picked up a beautiful PL 8000 TT and am now looking for the 7000 cassette deck and a 9500 CD Player... anyone have any extras???) lol
I spent a day with Bob and we replaced the center dome tweet with a CRM tweet that he also designed and the panels sound great. I also have another pair that are not modified as well so I felt safe in mod'n one pair. You are lucky to have a complete set. I agree that bi-amping the speakers is the way to go. Good luck and keep us posted.
 
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I have a set of those. Have powered them with two different Sansui receivers (125 wpc and 200 wpc). The bigger one sounded better. Right now I'm driving them with a Carver power amp and pre-amp (300 wpc). They sound great still. Bought mine new in '79. - dan
 
There is a really long and involved thread on AK about rebuilding and proper use of this particular speaker (also what amplifiers work best). Can't remember exactly what forum it is in but I read the whole thread a couple of weeks ago and I garnered lots of respect for this particular speaker. Do a search and you should find it.
 
check out emotiva.com

they're sold out of a lot of models now but say more is coming in in a month or so. They're Chinese sold direct from here but REALLY good stuff. The two channel XDA2- or the monos should do you nicely. Nothing else is going to get you really "there" without spening huge big bucks.
 
Just FYI. A complete set of Andomedas,(panels,sub,motion control) are up on Da-Bay right now..... Lets see what these go for.

no afil
 
I was REALLY curious about what the heck are "Andomedas"?

Well, the ebay seller is asking at least $1500... more if frantic bidders should materialize....

But the woofer cones in the bass module look wacked. They may be fine and functional, but they appear misshapen ....

The "panels" are open baffles with multiple cone speakers installed.... Do these create cancellation effects?

Heck, for $1500 plus I can go looking for Magnepans...... This would be a "hard sell" to me.
 
BajaBuoy said:
Well, the ebay seller is asking at least $1500... more if frantic bidders should materialize....

But the woofer cones in the bass module look wacked. They may be fine and functional, but they appear misshapen ....

The "panels" are open baffles with multiple cone speakers installed.... Do these create cancellation effects?

Heck, for $1500 plus I can go looking for Magnepans...... This would be a "hard sell" to me.
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I can only speak from my limited experience with e-stats, (maggies, Sound lab) but the Andromedas/Phase III's have a warmth that Maggies do not have. It's like the dif. between listening to a great CD and a great album. The upward facing tweets do not create a cancellation effect. Instead they open up the panel and provide an open soundstage. (this is of course dependent on room placement and acoustics within the listening space)
The sub woofers look like they should. Bob affixed a hard 'ring' around the center dust cap for voicing purposes.
I hope that others chime in with their opinions. There are some good threads here that can explain the sound of these wonderful speakers better than I can. I guess that you have to hear them to understand why they are in such high regard. I will probably reap the wrath of Maggie owners when I say that I have yet to hear a pair of Maggies that I would choose over the Andromedas. That being said, I prefer the sound of albums over CD's.
Just my 2 cents FWIW.
 
Just ran across this thread while surfing the various forums a bit with my morning coffee. I bought my original Andromedas new along with a PL 400 amp. Found out very quickly that one amp was not going to allow them to show off what they are truly capable of, etc. So bought a second PL 400 and bi-amped the system. That seemed to do the trick and that's how it was for several years until I was able to purchase an SAE P500 amp (500wpc). The Andromedas simply moved up another notch when driven by this monster. I still use it today to power them. Recently was able to pick up a second set of Andromedas and since have had both bass modules re-coned and all the mids in both sets re-edged. All are working great and up until just a few days ago I was running both sets in my listening room together using that PL 400 to run the second system as "fill in" if you will. On Thursday however I removed that second system as I bought it originally to have as a back up system. I am still running the second bass module in the opposing corner of the room but have two Paradigm monitors running off it. Believe it or not those Paradigms sound great with that Andromeda bass module. And they don't take up the space that second set of panels did! Getting long winded here so will end this by saying that over the years I have owned and run Andromedas as my main system, I have found that they swallow power like a person who has just come in from being lost on the desert for a month without water. The more you can safely feed them the better they seem to sound. Huge and very detailed soundstage when positioned correctly too..............

Enjoy your system, hope you can find an amp that will allow you to really open them up to where you can fully appreciate what they can sound like...........

Happy Listening..........Terry:music::thmbsp:
 
I was checking back in - we need an update! What have you found to run these great speakers with? Or should the question be, have you found anything yet?
 
Hey there bluesq -

I second what Wayne above just posted. Have you found an amp to your liking to run those Andromedas with yet? I think you got the message early on that you are going to need an amp with some guts behind it to allow this system to really do its stuff properly. Once set up correctly and powered with enough juice to do this, you should really get your socks blown off. I am currently back to running both sets in my listening room again. Took the second one out for a while but realized shortly after doing that it was a mistake so back in they went and will stay. Just last night I spend a couple of hours listening to two of my favorite Diana Krall CDs and and I swear she was right there in front of me on that stage with her backup ensemble singing her heart out to me. It just can't get any much better than that IMHO. Sure perhaps a $100,000 or more for speakers might make it seem a tad more live, but not in my room as I don't have that kind of money to spend on just speakers. Heck I don't have it to spend on an entire audio system, room decor, special lighting, the special room itself and the bathroom connected to it............Ha! Let us know how the "search for the illusive amp", or amps, is going................

Regards.........Terry:thmbsp::music:
 
The Sunfire Signature series amp (600 watts x2 into 8 ohms) should be MORE than enough amp to drive these. They are a little hard to come by now, though, & many times bring upwards of $1600-$2k on ebay or audiogon.
 
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