Use one big amp, or bridge two smaller ones?

Ron, my center is essentially the sat. portion of my mains. For sure 500w is overkill, but what other options for a single high quality channel at about 300w does McIntosh offer?

Arebalos - Thanks for your comment. Truthfully, I am kicking tires here more than anything. As I mentioned earlier, I am more likely to get an MX119 as soon as I am home for more than week at a time. I am just very impressed by the 352. I believe my mains also have an impedance dip in the higher frequencies too, but I am not certain. I will check when I get back home.

If I step up in the amplification, I'd just like to do something with the center as well to match the system better.
 
More on the meter 'dimming' - I recently aquired a pair of ESS AMT-1 towers - when I push those close to 200 watts, there's no perceptible dimming or pulsing of the meter backlights. However, when I switch over to the Klipsch CF-4s (both on the same 8 ohm tap) the meters pulse noticeably at wattages of 90 per channel or greater.

It's like the CF-4s are draining more power from the amplifier, even though the wattage reads the same. So now I'm not convinced the dimming has anything to do with the wall outlet. Any thoughts?


Jim
 
Sounds like you are using a lot of watts. I would not worry about the dimming. That drum track on the Burmester II is awsome though!

Ron-C
 
I think what ron alluded to before was that it is not necessarily a power issue (watts), as much as it might be a current issue (amps).

I pushed my system very hard when lights started to pulse (~700 watt bursts). I don't think ron knew what speakers I was using, or what music, but from the comment above, he hit the nail squarely on the head.

I say this because I was using a Chinese drum piece (from the Burmester CD III) which is bass heavy, and my speakers happen to dip below 2 ohms in the bass region at two different frequencies. I interpreted his statement as this low impedance (high current) dip(s) from my speakers is significant short term current draw from the power supplies that take them down enough that the lights dim. I suspect that the powercord and electrical circuit from the wall is the next limiting factor, but ron would know better.
 
Oops, ron beat me to it.

I agree, the drum hits have actual impact. I think I am more worried about breaking a window in the back of the room.
 
On supper dynamic material you can saturate crossover components to the point of causing the impedance to fall. This is a type of compression. The gage of the crossover coils may be to small or the power rating of the caps can be exceeded.

Ron-C
 
Dave D said:
In the various amp's specifications, there are different signal-to-noise ratios depending on using the balanced or the single-ended inputs. Does this mean that there is an advantage in the amplifier to using the balanced inputs?

Dave
Click to expand...

I asked question this back in post #16, but never got an answer. We got onto the meter-dimming issue and forgot about this. Anyone have an idea?
 
If you are on the 4 ohm taps with a speaker that dips to 2, the power supply is drawing down on peaks which causes the meter lights to dim.

Ron-C
 
But Ron, what about the balanced/unbalanced connections and their related signal-to-noise ratios? Does the difference imply that the amp handles a balanced signal better than an unbalanced one?

I am over the light dimming thing for now. I figure a set of 501s should cure it.
 
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