Enough Power?

Hocky · May 31, 2012

Spike said:
How about the Aleph 3 gives the impression of having more "air" and separation between the sound instruments? Or that there seems to be more immediacy with the Aleph 3 than the Classe'. Again, in my scenario of late night listening about 80-85db, these 2 amps are no where being stressed beyond their limits. If your premise is that they should sound similar within their limits, then why do they exhibit different characteristics? Could it be due to differences in circuit design, careful implementation and component quality? Could it be that what I perceived as a big difference, is in fact a "subtle" difference to someone else?

My opinion as stated in my other post is that you couldn't reliably pick out either amp in a blind test despite the differences that may exist. Sighted testing means very little.

jmstpierre · Jun 1, 2012

hi all,
i just thought of something today. tell me if m wrong and it kind of relates to the original thread. would placing a 200w amp to the theos low frequency drivers(bi amp) give the same result as the ethos which are i beleive powered by a 200w woofer? makes sense. or is there more to it than just that.? being new to ML, what s the history of the brand.Do they tend to produce and design speakers with more of them having active woofer drivers or is it 50/50?
regards

beek · Jun 1, 2012

Guitarist said:
As previously mentioned, I want to upgrade my amp for use with my Theos. My Sony STR6400ES puts out 140 watts per ch into 8 ohms in multichannel mode; it actually drops to 130 into 4 ohms if I'm reading the manual properly! I thought a stable amp would approximately double its 8 ohm output at 4 ohms. Anyway, I'm wondering if a Parasound Halo A51 (rated 250/400) would actually be overkill since I don't blast death metal at concert levels! At half the price (and power), would the A52 be a significant improvement over the Sony and easily drive the Theos? Again, I'm not looking for ear-crushing volume--just overall better sound, enough power, and more stability. Thanks.

Just info to add I am using 300 a side into 4
With class D Amos that can't handle 2. Ohm load with my Vistas & they sound fantastic but I am relieving the bottoms with subs bi amped

Spike · Jun 1, 2012

jmstpierre said:
i just thought of something today. tell me if m wrong and it kind of relates to the original thread. would placing a 200w amp to the theos low frequency drivers(bi amp) give the same result as the ethos which are i beleive powered by a 200w woofer?

jmstpierre,
You've just opened up yet another can of worms!! The difference between Theos & Ethos go beyond the internal amplifier. The crossover point for the Ethos is 375Hz vs the Theos' 425Hz. Personally, I like the lower crossover point of the older models, preferably hovering around the 200Hz range, in order to keep the woofer from reproducing the lower midrange. Here's my post on this topic...
Post on quality of bass amp

In short, with the Theos, you have the option of a good quality amp for the bass, but you'll have to deal with the higher crossover point.

jmstpierre · Jun 1, 2012

hi spike,
sorry, did not mean to open another can of worms, i was actually thinking of it whislt driving and did not realized the difference in xover. can one actually ear the difference between 375 and 425? so what does that difference in xover equates to in "real wolrd".
regards

Spike · Jun 1, 2012

Hi jmstpierre,

Can one actually ear the difference between 375 and 425?

Yes. 375Hz is about the F#4 note (key #46) on the piano keyboard, and 425Hz is about G#4 (key #48). Basically 2 key difference.
Here's the link to "piano key frequencies": Piano Key Frequencies

So what does that difference in xover equates to in "real wolrd".

These keys are in the low midrange area where one might be sensitive to. The higher crossover point into this region means that there is an overlapped area where the woofer and the panels are asked to reproduced the same frequency range. The physical difference between the woofer and panel may have adverse effect when both are reproducing the same frequency range. This panel-woofer integration is where lots of people object to the ML design. My personal preference is to have this overlap range as low as possible to get it outside of the critical low midrange area.
Follow this link for more information about audio frequency band:
Link to Audio Frequency Bands

Guitarist · Oct 27, 2013

Yikes, I just realized that I never got back to thread after buying the Parasound A 51. In a nutshell, I love it! It definitely has plenty of headroom, and the overall warmer yet far more detailed sound than the Sony's is just amazing.