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In the Forum: Audio Discussions
In the Thread: Marantz MA-9S2 Monoblock Amplifiers
Post Subject: Taking Advantage of Others' DiscoveriesPosted by Paul S on: 10/22/2023
Robin, I'm not at all certain that my new speakers are "source tolerant", because I have "taken steps" all along to "ensure" part-to-part compatibility. I have tried to "sync" my phono and CD/DAC as much as possible, and the main thing I wanted from the amp/speakers was/is to let the Music through (stay out of the way) by not causing problems. I've heard lots of amps, even big amps, brought down by "efficient" speakers, and one of my specific aims was to avoid this. Since I prefer the sound of SET amps, SS was a compromise. But I just could not figure out a viable way to get the frequency range and the dynamics I was (am) after with SET, since I decided not to even start with massive horns and DSET. From reading extensively Troels Gravesen's thoughts about speakers, crossovers, etc., incliuding drivers and topologies I am familiar with, I came to believe I could get what I was/am after by implementing a close variant of his design and plans for The Loudspeakers, including using my big amps bi-wired. Although I am still moving my speakers around some, I basically just turn the electrical equipment on and off; there is no ongoing adjustment or maintenance, apart from my insistance on setting VTA per record, which takes all of 15 seconds per pecord since I developed an easily repeatable system for that. Back to "efficiency", I am skeptical about this, to the point of cynicism, not with respect to "responsiveness", which I insist on, but in terms of what it takes to get loud FR music from speakers. After all these years, it seems to me that that "efficiency" alone may not be "enough", since a driver that starts out efficient might choke up if driven hard, and I do drive my system hard at times, and most speakers (and amps, for that matter) do not do what I want if they are pushed. I can say and I have shared that I can use my amps to push my speakers. I am near certain that the 18" driver would not "work" without an amp that can "handle" it without making its presence obvious. But even the UHF tweeter here can "take" 250W, and I am thinking that in this case the "headroom" afforded by the modern drives is part of what makes this speaker system "work" for me. The only way I could say more about "amp tolerance" would be to try other amps, and at this point I have no incentive to do it. I "think" someone could use these speakers as Troels did, at least in small-ish rooms. Pretty sure Bruckner in a large room is another story, and this is where I am now. To close, I am pretty sure my amps have a high "damping factor", and it does not seem to get in the way of my Music. And, again, I would be very amused - even delighted - to learn someone had LF/FR success with The Loudspeakers using an SET FR. I remember many years back when I noticed that the more power I fed my A7s, the better they worked for me.
Best regards,
Paul SRerurn to Romy the Cat's Site