Pairing a Amp with Sequel II's?

[Chippieboy]

I recently acquired a pair of Sequel II’s from a pawn shop to replace my aging Magnapan SMGa’s
I read through the Amplifier Forum and am still very unsure and confused on a good amp to pair with the ML’s

I’m currently are using an old Soundcraftsmen PM 860 amp I have been using since 1986.
I always like this amp (pretty high current and likes low impedance loads) I used it to power a pair of vintage Polk Audio Monitor 12’s for years with great satisfaction, but have always have had my eyes on a pair of Martin Logan’s.
Others in the wild are saying to use: Sunfire or Bryston or Krell or Aragon or Mcintosh or of course Mark Levinson. Any help to point me in a positive direction would be appreciative.

 

[twich54]

Chippie, welcome to the fold !

Congrats on the new acquisition !

As for your amplification question start out with what you have(although I suspect after 30 plus years it may need a 'refresh' internally, caps, etc), the amps you mention should all pair well with Logan. You can add to the mix, Pass(fav of mine), Plinius (another fav of mine), Parasound .... to name but a few.

stability is a key to driving stats (ability of an amp to double down in power as impedance cuts in half) is always a good measuring stick

 

[aburnham2]

Hi Chippie, I have Sequel lls now for a couple of years. As long as you not blowing out the walls any good amp is OK. I'm using an old Onkyo I rebuilt (100 per channel) for a while and the system sounds good. I have a Crown DC300A and IC150A I used for a while and I'm rebuilding them now. This combo really makes the Sequels sing. I love mine even though they are over 25 years old. I recapped the crossovers and replaced the woofers and getting up the nerve to wash the front of the panels. Have fun!

 

[Chippieboy]

Amp Suggestion

Chippie, welcome to the fold !

Congrats on the new acquisition !

As for your amplification question start out with what you have(although I suspect after 30 plus years it may need a 'refresh' internally, caps, etc), the amps you mention should all pair well with Logan. You can add to the mix, Pass(fav of mine), Plinius (another fav of mine), Parasound .... to name but a few.

stability is a key to driving stats (ability of an amp to double down in power as impedance cuts in half) is always a good measuring stick

Thanks for the advice and fast response. I know I need to refresh my existing amp but no idea where to take it. I guessing the caps are bad as I'm getting 60 HZ hum at times. So instead of taking chances on having any shop look at it, I'm opting for something used but new to me, hence the Amp questions.
As I look around, I am leaning toward a Sunfire. Hard to find the 2 channel only. I have no need for a 5 or 7 channel amp.

 

[twich54]

Thanks for the advice and fast response. I know I need to refresh my existing amp but no idea where to take it.

shouldn't be an issue, try 'GOOGLE', I'm sure you will come up with something !

 

[JonFo]

Another Sequel II owner here (owned since new in '93) and I've run multiple amps on it, but once I hooked up a Sunfire, that was it for the past 20 years.
Used sunfire multichannels are more common and often cost the same (or less) than a plain 2ch. You can bi-amp the sequels with a 5 channel amp (one left over) and use one channel on the panel (even experimenting with the two outputs current vs voltage source) and run the woofer off the low-impedance / high-damping factor back channel outputs.

 

[Tosh]

Another vote for at least passively bi-amping. (to eventually be actively crossed-over in the bass)

Those PM 860 amps are mosfet output stage, right? It's worth recapping and possibly dialing in some more class A. Put up some pics underhood for inspiration?
Nelson Pass is my only transistor guru, and there are older mosfet amps of his design that would also be suitable for more PS and more bias, such as the Adcom 5400. Pop into the Burning Amp DIY Fest Sun 30 Sep at Fort Mason, and you can ask Nelson himself what to use!

 

[aburnham2]

Back again. I just hooked up a Crown XLS1002 class D stereo amp to my Sequels. It cost $300 list price, I bought for less at Amazon. Crown claims 350 watts@4ohms and 550@2ohms. I drives my Sequels very well, cool and quiet. My wife said "what did you do to the "big speakers? They sound better!" With one input you can biamp and run the built in crossovers (high and low) to each side to power the panel and the woofer. I'm so happy I just ordered the second one. Biamped Sequels using only 2 stereo amps. Selectable input sensitivity too, so my iPad can run the amp directly.

 

[JonFo]

Congrats. Sounds like a good plan to run them as bi-amping each element

The simplest is to run them in The INPUT-Y mode, with each channel getting the exact same signal, and leveraging the existing passive crossover in the sequel

next in order of complexity is to leverage the crossover in the Crown.
This requires bypassing the existing crossovers in the Sequels, see my thread on the SL3XC for details on how that's done.
Again, leave it in The INPUT-Y mode
but add a high pass crossover at 350Hz to the output going to the panel
And use a low-pass at the same frequency to send the to the output going to the woofer.

 

[aburnham2]

Thanks JonFo read your posts will try this out sometime next week.

 

[Chippieboy]

I posted an issue with a torn woofer a second ago and decided to update my amp decision.
I first used a Bryson 3B that I really liked but the 3B fell on its face driving the ML's hard so I went with a Sunfire Cinema grand 5 channel. That amp really works well, dims the lights a little but I will keep it perhaps until I die.

 

[JonFo]

I went with a Sunfire Cinema grand 5 channel. That amp really works well, dims the lights a little but I will keep it perhaps until I die

Yep, I've had one Sunfire Stereo for 27 years (refurbished in 2008) one CG for 24 years, and the Signature CG for 22 years, all still going strong powering ML ESLs.

BTW- it's really worth the ~$500 or so to refurbish them, as they come back essentially better than new. I'm due to send in the two CG's in 2022.

 

[Chippieboy]

Yes it is, I just had Bill Flannery tune up my Sunfire... I am very satisfied and am pretty sure I will not outgrow it.

 

[nathantw]

I've owned a pair of Sequels since October, 1988. Not sure about the Sequel II's but my Sequels had a laid back sound, not in your face. I chose the 200 watts per channel Adcom GFA 555 for my amp because it was supposed to pair well with the Sequels. Today I'm still using the same combination and they continually sound fantastic. I tried them with a 100 watt per channel Sony receiver so I could include them with my home theater and they didn't sound that great. In fact, it sounded like the receiver was straining to play music. So back to the Adcoms.

 

[JonFo]

I chose the 200 watts per channel Adcom GFA 555 for my amp because it was supposed to pair well with the Sequels

Back in the early 90's, the Adcoms were a solid choice if one could not afford the Krells or MarkLevinson amps, so I ran my Sequels with a GFA 555 II. But these days, a good Class G/H amp that doubles power with a halving of load (like the aforementioned Sunfires) is the way to go.
And the hot ticket as far as I'm concerned is the Sanders Sound Systems ESL amp.
The Sunfires or the Sanders put an Adcom to shame with ESLs. I'd say on the order of the Adcom vs. the Sony in your test.