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Phase Linear (Andromeda) Phase III speakers -familiar with these?

Thanks for the help, I have both 400 and 700 series II amps in my rack. Enclose pic of amp rack. I planned on using this rack to power a set of Infinity RS-1b's but I think I will use it for the Phase Linear speakers instead and work on building a Audio Research or Conrad Johnson rack for the Infinity speakers, most all I read is they sound better with tube amps on the mid-high panels and will use a pair of Mono Blocks for the bass towers. I really am looking forward to listening to the Phase Linear speakers. I have a home which I think they will work well in with pretty good size rooms.

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Ken Boyd said:
Thanks for the help, I have both 400 and 700 series II amps in my rack. Enclose pic of amp rack. I planned on using this rack to power a set of Infinity RS-1b's but I think I will use it for the Phase Linear speakers instead and work on building a Audio Research or Conrad Johnson rack for the Infinity speakers, most all I read is they sound better with tube amps on the mid-high panels and will use a pair of Mono Blocks for the bass towers. I really am looking forward to listening to the Phase Linear speakers. I have a home which I think they will work well in with pretty good size rooms.

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Very impressive. What did you decide about the speakers?
 
I purchased the speakers and have contracted with a shipper to ship them to me, I am awaiting them now it will probably be a week or two before I get them. The guy seemed real nice and he collects JBL so he is keeping eyes out for big Infinity's for me. He just contacted me about a friend with a pair of Kappa 5's, but I really am not interested in anything except the top of the line vintage models.
 
I sure will, I talked to the shipper today and according to him I should be receiving them on Monday. I was wondering on the bass unit, since it is just one bass unit do you use a single mono block to drive it and put both channels into it, as I don't see why a 2 channel amp would be needed. That is one thing that make me unsure of as I would preferr to have two bass units, one for each channel located fairly close to the mid-hi panels. But from what I have read about the few who have owned these praised them for their great sound.
 
Re. the bass unit. There are 2 channels coming into the sub and then 2 channels leaving the sub.(one for each panel) so you could use one amp to power the whole system. I chose to run one amp into the sub and one amp to power the panels. I have a Carver C4000 preamp that has 2 'main outs', just like your Phase linear pre amp so it's easy to bi-amp this speaker system.
Just think, within 24 hours you will have yours. :banana:
 
Hello fellow PL Andromeda III owners. I am new to this forum and just posted under the "Speakers" section. I have owned PL Andromeda IIIs since early 1977 and they are still going strong today and are used as my main speakers. I power them with an SAE P500 amp, 500 clean watts per channel and let me tell you, I have heard very few other high end speakers that sounded any better. A handful of very expensive ones with a lot more modern technology than went into this system are the ones I use to test it against. I for one will never sell mine and in fact am waiting now to purchase a used system sometime in Feb. My current bass module is being re-coned due to 33 years of hanging downwards and being used all during that time also. My plan is take the bass module from this used system and have it also re-coned, then wire in to my existing set. I have often wondered what running two bass modules would sound like in my fairly large listening room. The amp will handle the lowered impedance due to adding the addtional sub. Can hardly wait to get it all set up and running. To those of you who own this system you know what I am talking about when I say it has the ability to create a wall of sound and a sound stage with some real depth to it also. I do use a rear set of Paradigms to round out the overall sound but they are played using a separate amp and at a slightly lower level also so as to just add some reflected/ if you will, ambiance to the music. As I mentioned in my other post, Bob Carver was indeed way ahead of his time when he introduced this system and I firmly believe it capable of holding its own with many of todays much more expensive and esoteric speaker systems costing many, many times as much as this one did when it came on the market. That's my story and I am sticking to it, hope to hear some comments from a few of you who own this system. [TO KEN BOYD]above: You will need some power to run this system to where it will sound its best. It is power hungry and in the beginning I ran it using a single PL 400. It sucked the 400 dry so biamped the system and used a separate 400 for each channel. That worked fine until I got a great deal on my SAE P500. It gives these speakers some real breathing space and listening to the LA Philharmonic is like being there right in the center of the orchestra. Phenomenal sound coming from a speaker system that is going into its 34th year of operation...............

Regards, Terry
 
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Yes I am looking forward to getting them hopefully Tomorow! I am interested in seeing how they will compare to my Infinity systems. I have several amp racks but plan on using my Phase Linear rack I will bi amp them using the PL400 for the mid-hi panels and a PL700 for the bass unit. I am currently in the market for another PL700 for the rack and then I will use the PL400 for a set of rear speakers using my PL6000 audio delay to create a time delayed signal for the rear speakers.
 
Ken Boyd said:
Yes I am looking forward to getting them hopefully Tomorow! I am interested in seeing how they will compare to my Infinity systems. I have several amp racks but plan on using my Phase Linear rack I will bi amp them using the PL400 for the mid-hi panels and a PL700 for the bass unit. I am currently in the market for another PL700 for the rack and then I will use the PL400 for a set of rear speakers using my PL6000 audio delay to create a time delayed signal for the rear speakers.
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Ken - Running the PL Andromeda IIIs as you noted will surely provide ample power for them to get up to speed and fill your listening room. As I mentioned prior, this system will suck small amps dry very quickly but when you can provide adequate power to them, they will, or should, amaze you with their sound stage and depth of sound stage, etc. The only speakers I ever auditioned that I have to admit did sound better was the Infinity IRS system of the 1980s. But the cost for that system back then was way out of my reach, as it was for most folks. Let me know what you think of them once you have had some time with them. It takes a bit of time to get use to them as they will sound different from just about anything you have every listened to prior. They have an electrostatic type of clarity in the mids and upper region and a bottom end that should also surprise you. That is if the woofers in the bass module haven't started sagging from age as mine did. If this is the case, let me know as there is a guy in Sacramento, CA that can repair them and put them back to new again for a fairly modest charge....

Enjoy them............Terry
 
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Ken Boyd said:
I see this is a very old post but maybe your still out there. I am in the process of picking up one of these Phase Linear speaker systems, do you still have yours and are you pleased with them?
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Hi Ken and TSOQ (and OMMP), just catching up to the re-activation of this thread. nice to see fellow PL andromeda owners!

Yes, I still have my PL Andromedas and I think you'll know why when you get a chance to hear a pair. They are definitely keepers for me. I have them setup in an upstairs bedroom with a Mcintosh MC 2205 amp and Phase Linear Preamp and the Motion control module.

These speakers are pure heaven for me, I especially enjoy listening to CDs and uncompressed digital audio via USB using a Cambridge Audio DACMagic DAC unit.

Keep us posted on your setup.
 
TSOQ said:
Ken - Running the PL Andromeda IIIs as you noted will surely provide ample power for them to get up to speed and fill your listening room. As I mentioned prior, this system will suck small amps dry very quickly but when you can provide adequate power to them, they will, or should, amaze you with their sound stage and depth of sound stage, etc. The only speakers I ever auditioned that I have to admit did sound better was the Infinity IRS system of the 1980s. But the cost for that system back then was way out of my reach, as it was for most folks. Let me know what you think of them once you have had some time with them. It takes a bit of time to get use to them as they will sound different from just about anything you have every listened to prior. They have an electrostatic type of clarity in the mids and upper region and a bottom end that should also surprise you. That is if the woofers in the bass module haven't started sagging from age as mine did. If this is the case, let me know as there is a guy in Sacramento, CA that can repair them and put them back to new again for a fairly modest charge....

Enjoy them............Terry
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Well I don't have a pair of the IRS system but I do have a few pairs of the RS-1b's and a number of pairs of the Quantum Line sources, both QLS-1's and QLS-2's, which in my opinion are very good sounding.
 
ommp said:
I took a pair up to Wa. and met with Bob at Ritas Vintage Audio Repair. We took off the forward firing tweet and replaced it with one of Bobs CRM ribbon tweets. Very nice sound with crystal highs, well rounded mids and the sub will shake the floor with no distortion.
How they compare to the Amazings, They are kinda 2 dif. animals. It's like analog vs. digital.(to my ears anyway).
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Wow, I met Bob Carver at Ritas repair shop last year also, but it's incredible to hear that he spent time with you on these speakers. Talk about going to the source!

I agree - Amazings and Andromedas are very different beasts other than the fact that they demand lots of amplifier power. One difference - I've found the Andromedas to be a bit more room friendly, i.e. they fill the room and have a huge sweet spot where the Amazings are narrower, nothing like Magnaplanars but you need to find the best listening spot with them.

ommp said:
Re. the bass unit. There are 2 channels coming into the sub and then 2 channels leaving the sub.(one for each panel) so you could use one amp to power the whole system. I chose to run one amp into the sub and one amp to power the panels. I have a Carver C4000 preamp that has 2 'main outs', just like your Phase linear pre amp so it's easy to bi-amp this speaker system.
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I tried this configuration - in this case I think you are going full-range to the panels (and the sub module) with each amp, because you are not using the crossover built-in the submodule. right?

I found I liked better with one amp going into the submodule and then split the mid/highs out to the panels via the xovers and the motion control unit (currently using a 200 WPC Mcintosh MC 2205). Either way, I think these are really thrilling speakers and I agree with the characterizations of their sound that you guys are making here. enjoy.
 
Hi SpeakLabFan, Ken and TSOQ. You are correct that I am going with an amp to the sub and an amp to the panels. The motion control module is in the 'external processor' loop on the pre amp. Maybe I am wrong but I figured that each panel has it's own crossover as does the sub. So the correct signals are still getting to the correct individual drivers. Am I wrong???
Going to go pick up another pair of these this afternoon. Found locally on CL. This will make my 4th pair,(3 working and one for parts).... Guess I like them a little to much and will probably have to sell a pair to keep the wife happy.
Hope your speakers arrived safely Ken. We are all on pins and needles waiting to hear what you think.
 
ommp said:
Hi SpeakLabFan, Ken and TSOQ. You are correct that I am going with an amp to the sub and an amp to the panels. The motion control module is in the 'external processor' loop on the pre amp. Maybe I am wrong but I figured that each panel has it's own crossover as does the sub. So the correct signals are still getting to the correct individual drivers. Am I wrong???
Going to go pick up another pair of these this afternoon. Found locally on CL. This will make my 4th pair,(3 working and one for parts)....
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I don't recall what I saw on the panels and I don't pull the grills off very often - those things are heavy, have to use care not to scrape the upfiring tweeter cones when removing. I'd be interested to find out. :scratch2: The Service Manual would have this.

Did you run it by Bob? What about Bob? :scratch2: :D

You found another local pair? Wow. I hope they're in good shape. The ones I've seen locally have usually been trashed and/or panels only, subwoofer only. :tears:

It would be cool if you are going to the Kelso AK gathering in April and could bring your pair...? (not easy to move though)
 
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I was thinking of using an active crossover on my pair, come out of the pre and go into the active crossover, set my crossover frequency and then go to the main amps, but if I did that I might be defeating the purpose of the electronic motion control. Until I get them I really don't know what the best way to run them. I can't beleive that bi amping them with a pair of the Phase Linear 700 II would not be plenty of power for them, its not like I want to ruin my ears. I would think a single PL 700 would be more then enough. I guess unlike my RS-1b's these are not required to be bi-amped? On my RS-1b's it requires the use of a pair of 2 channel amps one pair of the mid-hi panels and one for the bass towers.
 
Oh by the way the shipper didn't make it here today, he was in North Carolina but said he would be in Georgia tonight and be here tomorrow. Thats just fine as it was raining here in Florida today and hopefully it will be over by tonight so tomorrow I won't have to worry about the humidity when I unload them.
 
SpeakerLabFan, I did run my setup by Bob and he said that that would work just fine...... and it does.
My wife will be just finishing Chemo and Rad treatments around the time of the next gathering in Kelso so I will have to see how things are going, but if I can make it I will bring the modified Phase III panels. It would be good to put faces with the names and meet some of you guys.
Ken, did they come yet ???????
 
Well they are here, everything looks to be in real good shape, a few minor pencil size holes in the grills, and as he stated the mids in the panels foam is looking like it won't last long. All the plastic cones on the hi frequency drivers appear in good shape, one of the cones on the bass speakers looks like it is slightly sagging compared to the other one, and a coil winding has come loose from the panel, wire is still attached but the glue which held it gave way. Wood is in very good shape on both the panels and the bass unit. I probably won't get a chance to hook them up until the weekend to test them out, but I need to find a source for some foams for the mids.

I have a question as to where the motion controller lies in the system. Does the motion, and what is the best way to wire this system if I want to bi-amp them. I suspect that you put the motion controller between the pre-amp and the amp. So if you want to bi amp it do you use a splitter in the RCA output of the motion controller and then use the two outputs of the splitter to feed to power amps, one for the bass modual and one for the mid-hi panels? Would it be possible to come out of the motion controller's output and go into a active crossover and then to a pair of amps? I don't want to defeat the purpose of the motion controller. Or would it be best to just use one hi current amp. I look forward to any help with this, thanks! Oh and when I get a chance I will post some pics
 
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