Just to recap for those who haven't read my earlier threads regarding my purchase of a new Magtech amp;
The only change to the system was the Magtech (upgrade from a 5-year-old Rotel RB-1582MKII), same balanced interconnects to the preamp and same bi-wire speaker cables, stock Sanders power cable. (Ok, one other change as I was using an EMPRICAL DESIGN "TESSERACT" power cord on the Rotel amp that I have not tried on the Magtech)
We listen to the system almost every night, as we use it for TV audio as well as music. We do extended (6 hours +) music listening sessions at least once a week). It still took almost 200 hours for the amp to break in, and I was worried for a while about the quality as I had not read anyone else who purchased a Magtech saying that much time was necessary. Now tho?!! WHEW!!!
The amp sounds marvelous (I know that isn't very descriptive. You'd think with all the audio magazine reading I do, I could come up with better descriptors, at least rip off some the ones the pros use....! DEEP CHOCOLATE MIDRANGE!!!)
The increased level of clarity and detail coming off of the panels is very satisfying and the imaging is wider and deeper. So on the whole I am pleased with the investment.....
BUT....there are a couple of things I want to comment on that I don't understand.
The first is that the bass is not as satisfying as it was with the Rotel. I say this because I have an SVS-SB3000 sub that I can adjust from my seating position with the SVS app (i.e.; volume level, crossover freq., phase, polarity, etc.) and with the old amp I rarely had to change the crossover frequency much, usually kept it in the 40 to 45 Hz range, sometimes even dropping down into the upper 30 Hz if the recording had particularly strong low end. Occasionally I even had to drop the volume level from 0dB to minus 2 or 3 on a few recordings, but overall setting the crossover at 40Hz made GREAT bass for the majority of the recordings we listen to. Now I find I need to keep the sub volume level at max (0dB at all times) and bump the crossover up into the 70 - 80Hz region to bring the bass back to closer as to how it was before the Magtech, but even then the lower end just doesn't seem the same. Maybe I am not knowledgeable enough to express what I am hearing or to know what is causing this, but it seems like the output of the woofers built into the ESL-X speakers just isn't as high with the Magtech? There was just more bottom-end "warmth" with the Rotel amp. Maybe the Magtech just doesn't have the same damping factor as the Rotel and cannot drive (control?) the woofers in the ESL-X's to the same levels.
Second, the gain thru the balanced inputs on the Magtech is 32dB versus just 22dB thru the balanced inputs on the Rotel. 10dB seems to be a huge increase and I find it a bit more challenging to get the volume level adjusted to a comfortable setting. We don't listen at extreme levels, rarely exceeding 90dB. Previously, on the Rotel RC-1590 preamp, I would run the volume control up into the 60 to 70 setting for our music listening whereas now I find it stays mostly in the mid to upper 30's to low 40's. Just one of those unexpected challenges you can never know about in advance that I thought I would mention for potential Sanders amp customers.
I'm thinking the volume control in the Rotel preamp is probably not the highest quality and the steps in the lower end of the range might be "coarser" than those higher up and that might account for the challenge of setting the volume levels, or it may be that 32dB of gain is just a lot of gain for the low level listening we do. Again, just something I wish I would have been aware of and I am putting it out there so potential buyers have the knowledge beforehand.
The only other consideration I am thinking of trying is substituting the TESSERACT power cord for the stock Sanders cord and see what, if any changes occur but I am a bit concerned about it as the Magtech draws so much current. The stock cord is very thick and heavy gauge so I'll have to check with Frank at Sanders and with Empirical Design to confirm feasibility before swapping cords. Pretty sure from my previous cable discussions with Frank at Sanders that he will discount any possible improvements and Empirical will want to sell me a new cord!
.
IF you like to play your music L-O-U-D this amp is for you! Is it clean and powerful and the ESL impedance loads don't seem to bother it a bit.
The only change to the system was the Magtech (upgrade from a 5-year-old Rotel RB-1582MKII), same balanced interconnects to the preamp and same bi-wire speaker cables, stock Sanders power cable. (Ok, one other change as I was using an EMPRICAL DESIGN "TESSERACT" power cord on the Rotel amp that I have not tried on the Magtech)
We listen to the system almost every night, as we use it for TV audio as well as music. We do extended (6 hours +) music listening sessions at least once a week). It still took almost 200 hours for the amp to break in, and I was worried for a while about the quality as I had not read anyone else who purchased a Magtech saying that much time was necessary. Now tho?!! WHEW!!!
The amp sounds marvelous (I know that isn't very descriptive. You'd think with all the audio magazine reading I do, I could come up with better descriptors, at least rip off some the ones the pros use....! DEEP CHOCOLATE MIDRANGE!!!)
The increased level of clarity and detail coming off of the panels is very satisfying and the imaging is wider and deeper. So on the whole I am pleased with the investment.....
BUT....there are a couple of things I want to comment on that I don't understand.
The first is that the bass is not as satisfying as it was with the Rotel. I say this because I have an SVS-SB3000 sub that I can adjust from my seating position with the SVS app (i.e.; volume level, crossover freq., phase, polarity, etc.) and with the old amp I rarely had to change the crossover frequency much, usually kept it in the 40 to 45 Hz range, sometimes even dropping down into the upper 30 Hz if the recording had particularly strong low end. Occasionally I even had to drop the volume level from 0dB to minus 2 or 3 on a few recordings, but overall setting the crossover at 40Hz made GREAT bass for the majority of the recordings we listen to. Now I find I need to keep the sub volume level at max (0dB at all times) and bump the crossover up into the 70 - 80Hz region to bring the bass back to closer as to how it was before the Magtech, but even then the lower end just doesn't seem the same. Maybe I am not knowledgeable enough to express what I am hearing or to know what is causing this, but it seems like the output of the woofers built into the ESL-X speakers just isn't as high with the Magtech? There was just more bottom-end "warmth" with the Rotel amp. Maybe the Magtech just doesn't have the same damping factor as the Rotel and cannot drive (control?) the woofers in the ESL-X's to the same levels.
Second, the gain thru the balanced inputs on the Magtech is 32dB versus just 22dB thru the balanced inputs on the Rotel. 10dB seems to be a huge increase and I find it a bit more challenging to get the volume level adjusted to a comfortable setting. We don't listen at extreme levels, rarely exceeding 90dB. Previously, on the Rotel RC-1590 preamp, I would run the volume control up into the 60 to 70 setting for our music listening whereas now I find it stays mostly in the mid to upper 30's to low 40's. Just one of those unexpected challenges you can never know about in advance that I thought I would mention for potential Sanders amp customers.
I'm thinking the volume control in the Rotel preamp is probably not the highest quality and the steps in the lower end of the range might be "coarser" than those higher up and that might account for the challenge of setting the volume levels, or it may be that 32dB of gain is just a lot of gain for the low level listening we do. Again, just something I wish I would have been aware of and I am putting it out there so potential buyers have the knowledge beforehand.
The only other consideration I am thinking of trying is substituting the TESSERACT power cord for the stock Sanders cord and see what, if any changes occur but I am a bit concerned about it as the Magtech draws so much current. The stock cord is very thick and heavy gauge so I'll have to check with Frank at Sanders and with Empirical Design to confirm feasibility before swapping cords. Pretty sure from my previous cable discussions with Frank at Sanders that he will discount any possible improvements and Empirical will want to sell me a new cord!
.IF you like to play your music L-O-U-D this amp is for you! Is it clean and powerful and the ESL impedance loads don't seem to bother it a bit.
