I use 3 BHK monoblocks for 2 ESL 15-A speakers and the Illusion center with excellent results.
My 13As
- Thread starter cahuck
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Interesting! I assume you are referring to the BHK300 monoblocks, is that correct? I'm currently running Parasound JC-1 monoblocks on my ESL-15's, and my Illusion center is running off my Parasound A31. All amps will be upgraded in the near future (hopefully, as I've been looking for a while). I was pretty strongly in the Pass Labs camp, but I'm shifting my opinions and think I am going to wait for a pair of the new BHK600's. At a minimum, I am sure that I will at least bring them in for a trial run. One question I have for you is how hot do your BHK's run?
cahuck
Member
Thanks for responding. I’m skepticle about the hi fi sound quality vs my M33. Probably shouldnt be. May end up going that route eventually.
I have rear exhaust fans on every component and top exhaust fans on the top of the racks. The monoblocks run 95-100 degrees due to the fans and I removed the rear, the sides and the door on the racks to help avoid heat buildup. The BHK600’s would be worth listening to, but make sure you have ample ventilation.
I am quite certain the M17 is a multichannel variant of the pre-portion of the M33. The amps in the M28 should be identical to the modules in the M33.
I've read that some go for the M17 over a Trinnov due to audio quality.
I was tempted by the M17, but I'll be going Trinnov as soon as I can as it offers more flexibility in active-speaker management, which I need.
I try to avoid fans where I can and in my case, ventilation isn't much of an issue as my monoblocks are sitting alone on amp stands next to my speakers. Glad to hear your 300's are running under 100 degrees though! I did ask Paul M about heat output on the 600's and he assured me that he can hold his hand on the heat sinks with no problem, while he doubted I would be able to do that with the other amps I'm considering...
The BHK300 amps would be running at 115 degrees without the steps I took to help them run cooler. Also the hybrid tube preamplifier too. There are many heat generating components in my two racks.
Reach out to Shawn Millin with DaVinci as he sells many brands and might be able to help your search. Good luck.
barjohn
Well-known member
The NAD M33 has a SINAD of 93 according Audio Science review while the Benchmark AHB2 has a SINAD of 113. From very good to Excellent.
The Illusion does need space behind which caused me to move all of my components into an adjoining room. It turned out to be a big project including cutting drywall, cabling, electrical and speaker wires. And it’s taken a lot more time and patience all to make sure a center speaker didn’t protrude too far in the room which it did when it was placed in front of my wood components cabinet. I’m very lucky to have a very understanding wife.
Leporello
Well-known member
I was going to ask if anyone had tried the ML "Illusion" center speaker, then I realized the C 34 is the Illusion. I haven seen or heard it (closest dealer is Best Buy Magnolia, and they don't seem to have it) but it looks like an ideal center for an ESL-based system.
I upgraded my Summits to Renaissance ESL-15's during the big sale... and shortly afterward, my Stage center was upgraded to an Illusion. It's an excellent center and mates well with the ESL-15's. However, I also added a REL sub to my center and that extra bass improves things even more (and not just action movies)...
Thats something id like to do someday. So you ran it speaker level off of the center channel, and not LFE? Set the center channel as full range?
Got a picture of your setup?
Exactly. I'm running high level connections to all my REL subs, and LFE connections to all subs except for my center channel sub. Not running LFE to the center sub was REL's recommendation, but I don't recall the reason. All speakers are running full range...
I've got photos up but they were before I added my REL subs, so I will have to post a new photo. However, as always, I'm busy changing some things around so I'll post it after things settle down.
Rascal
Well-known member
I'm not sure what it is about the M33 specifically that appeals to you (not that I have any problem with the M33 -- I own one and it's great!) but have you considered the following:
An NAD M28 (seven channel Purifi power amp) combined with the NAD M17 v2i A/V Processor.
You might have to give up the headphone jack and the built-in phono preamp, but there are fairly easy solutions to add this to the M17.
What is it that you want to retain about the M33?
How many subs are in your system? Has adding the center sub made a significant impact in your opinion?
I have (2) ML BalancedForce 210 subs, ESL 15A (l &r) and the Illusion 34A center. I’m using a crossover loaded from ML website so I’m not running any speaker full range. First, do you think I should be running my speakers full range? Second, would you recommend adding the same sub for the center as my other two or a similar sub?
My system is a bit different than yours perhaps as I have (8) ML Sistine ceiling speakers for HT.
I appreciate your thoughts on my questions as your post piqued my interest.
Do you also use ML speakers as your surrounds? I have different brands for mine and ML in the ceiling and feel like it blends just fine. I'm wondering if having Martin Logans all around is better.
Robert,
All of my speakers are ML. I’m using PS Audio Monoblocks to drive the left, center and right speakers. I’m using two Anthem amplifiers to drive the 8 Sistines. I’m pretty loyal to ML, Anthem and PS Audio products so I can’t really answer your question objectively, but I would say yes.
I did try to match timbre of speakers which is one reason I went with the Sistines rather than another brand.
I'm using Magnepan speakers for my surround and rear speakers, and the system sounds fantastic. I seriously doubt you'd find a significant improvement changing the brand of surround speakers unless your current surrounds are extremely frequency limited.
Depending on your room correction, there may be future benefits dependent on surround speakers being full range, but that's all hearsay at the moment. (Dirac has some new product in limited release that may require that.)
Which model is in the walls for your surrounds?
MisterB
Well-known member
My front 3 are ML - 11A’s and ESL C. On ceiling Atmos are ML 4i’s. Side surrounds are DALI Oberon on-walls, back surrounds are DALI bookshelves. I feel the DALI blend quite well after running ARC on my Anthem processor. I went with DALI primarily for the low profile on-wall design of the Oberons. They had better frequency response than the similarly sized ML’s, and IMO, after the two ML price increases, they just had a better price to performance ratio.
