"Homemade" MC901

[Aliso Bob]

The new MC901 is a unique amp.... Tubes drive the mids and tweeters. Solid State drives the woofers.


Has anyone made a homemade setup that functions in the same way?

I'm getting my MC275 back from the shop tomorrow, and it lives under my MC2205



I realize their is a bunch of rewireing and speaker crossover mods involved... but as creative as people are on this board... I'm just curious if anyone has attempted this....and what the outcome was.

The 901's are something like $30k a pair...... dang.

 

[62caddy]

Not exactly sure of what's being proposed here. If looking to bi-amplify the speakers, simply connect each amplifier to the 1 & 2 outputs of the C30 in the normal manner and make connections between each amplifier with the appropriate section of the speakers. No modifications to the crossover is necessary assuming the speakers are designed to be bi-amplified. If not, I would absolutely not recommend modifying or bypassing the crossovers in an attempt to make it possible. You will only make things worse.

If you're trying to re-create some sort of stereo bi-amplifier with the MC275 and MC2205 - forget it.

 

[Aliso Bob]

Not exactly sure of what's being proposed here.

Nothing is really being proposed.... it's just the 901 is unique in that it pushes the lows through SS and the highs through tubes. Just curious if someone has accomplished this by combining existing amps in a Frankenstein sort of way....... dont take my OP too seriously..... just curious.

 

[damacman]

Nothing is really being proposed.... it's just the 901 is unique in that it pushes the lows through SS and the highs through tubes. Just curious if someone has accomplished this by combining existing amps in a Frankenstein sort of way....... dont take my OP too seriously..... just curious.

I think @Mike Gibson does this and has for a very long time.

 

[62caddy]

Nothing is really being proposed.... it's just the 901 is unique in that it pushes the lows through SS and the highs through tubes. Just curious if someone has accomplished this by combining existing amps in a Frankenstein sort of way....... dont take my OP too seriously..... just curious.

Anything's possible but highly unlikely to have been attempted with the likes of what you've got there.

 

[62caddy]

As I recall, the C30 has a line output jacks which are regulated independently by way of the headphone volume knob on the front of the preamplifier. This would come in handy for balancing the mid/upper frequency output of the speakers with the bass.

 

[Pio1980]

I'd think it's been done numerous times in biamp/triamp configurations. Think of MC225 treble, MC2100 bottom, for instance, or any other combo depending on power requirements.

 

[whoaru99]

One huge difference is each MC901 has built-in high pass and low pass filters (aka crossover) necessary to make a true bi-amp system.

To have similar function, one would need to incorporate line level high pass and low pass filters/crossover before the amplifiers you'd intend to use.

 

[Mike Gibson]

Nothing is really being proposed.... it's just the 901 is unique in that it pushes the lows through SS and the highs through tubes. Just curious if someone has accomplished this by combining existing amps in a Frankenstein sort of way....... dont take my OP too seriously..... just curious.

I have used a electronic crossover for many years. The 275 powers the horns and the 2205 drives the woofers on my Valencias. I love being able to adjust the crossover frequency and output levels on the fly. I change the crossover frequencies every once in a while just to hear something different.

 

[Pio1980]

One huge difference is each MC901 has built-in high pass and low pass filters (aka crossover) necessary to make a true bi-amp system.

To have similar function, one would need to incorporate line level high pass and low pass filters/crossover before the amplifiers you'd intend to use.

Or split the speaker's xo if full-range at the terminals. Level masters available at the power amps.

 

[whoaru99]

Well, you can connect two amps that way. But, if both are providing full range signals to the speaker it is a quite different situation than bandwith-limited signals as could be provided directly from the 901 (or crossover before the amps).

There is a fair contingent of folks that opine sending full range signals to a split speaker connection isn't "real" biamping. There is a rather derogatory name occasionally applied to that full range signal setup that I shall not repeat.

 

[Pio1980]

Well, you can connect two amps that way. But, if both are providing full range signals to the speaker it is a quite different situation than bandwith-limited signals as could be provided directly from the 901 (or crossover before the amps).

There is a fair contingent of folks that opine sending full range signals to a split speaker connection isn't "real" biamping. There is a rather derogatory name occasionally applied to that full range signal setup that I shall not repeat.

Line level x-over would be optimal.

 

[twiiii]

There are speakers designed out there in the past that are designed to be really "bi-amped". Bozak for instance, JBL for another. So having a 275 on top and a 7100 on the bottom would be a great choice. Using a Stereo amp with a low damping factor is really not much of improvement in performance over a good Mac tube amp. Horn loaded mid and HF drivers matched up with ported speakers might need a 7200 on the bottom. I tri-amp using UREI electronic crossovers and use 6 channels of a MC 207. I prefer direct coupled SS amps. But to get the full advantage of Bi or tri amping you need to remove the passive components of the crossovers compromising the performance in some cases.