Bass with different amp and ARC

[Carlos Austin]

Hi all, have a question in my mind, trying to figure out the difference. In my set up with Illusions 11a, ran ARC and is now set to on. When I use the Musical Fidelity integrated, the bass is nice and even. If I run my McCormack DNA revision 1 through the preamp outs in the Musical Fidelity integrated, the bass becomes stronger and fuller. Why would this change since the 11a’s are being powered internally?

 

[ttocs]

The 11A internal amps take on the character of the amp connected to the speaker.

I did a comparison of a Krell S-1500 and Bob Latino M-125 tube amp. Below the crossover of my 13A of 300Hz the bass was +1dB higher with the tube amp, but identical from 300Hz to 6kHz, above which the Krell had the advantage.. I asked ML about this and their response was what I paraphrase in my opening sentence above.

 

[Carlos Austin]

Interesting, that was my initial thought, but was looking for a more educated answer. Thanks for the confirmation!

 

[Carlos Austin]

The 11A internal amps take on the character of the amp connected to the speaker.

I did a comparison of a Krell S-1500 and Bob Latino M-125 tube amp. Below the crossover of my 13A of 300Hz the bass was +1dB higher with the tube amp, but identical from 300Hz to 6kHz, above which the Krell had the advantage.. I asked ML about this and their response was what I paraphrase in my opening sentence above.

Also, how do you like the XMC 2? Found out my Denon 4300 h is the weak point in my HT set up after I got the Martin Logan’s.

 

[ttocs]

Also, how do you like the XMC 2?

Short answer, Love It!

The XMC-2 has been great for me, even though it had a bootup error that bricked it a couple years ago. Sent it in and got it back in six days. My previous two Emotiva processors did not need any repair.

Full disclosure, there are folks who've had issues with their Emotiva processors. It's looking like the latest firmware has fixed most of the issues they've had except for a few folks.

I'll be getting their next gen processor when it's released - which Emotiva says will be "during Summer 2023", but I suspect it'll be later than that. If I were you, I'd wait for the new ones to be released. They will have some really nice features and I firmly believe they will be more problem free for more folks' systems.

Found out my Denon 4300 h is the weak point in my HT set up after I got the Martin Logan’s.

Stats can bring out the weak links in the chain. That's how I went from amp to amp, then from processor to processor.

Ten years ago I was on my way up the food chain, and after trying a top of the line Marantz processor (2013 model) which failed to work well with a Krell amp, next on the list was McIntosh, but first I decided to try Emotiva after a friend suggested it. So I bought a Emotiva UMC-200 processor and found it was a great match to the Krell! I was astonished with the sound quality!

 

[Carlos Austin]

Great, thanks for the input and advice. I’m not in a hurry so will wait to see how that new processor looks once it’s out.

 

[ttocs]

Great, thanks for the input and advice. I’m not in a hurry so will wait to see how that new processor looks once it’s out.

It's just that the new models will have more mature setup features, WiFi (current models just have wired network), and other niceties. They are calling the new models +, like XMC-2+, etc. At least that's what they're saying now anyway.