to amp or not to amp

[boutrosa]

I am curently drive my Vistas off a yamaha rx-v2500. It provides 130 watts in 8 ohm and 110 watts in 4ohm.

I wanted some opinions before i make a purchase. my room size is about 2000 ft3.

Is is worth it to get a more powerful amp. What difference does it make. I live in the caribean and auditioning an amp is a AA flight away.

Also What do you recomend as far as amps. I have heard good things about the outlaw, krell, and B&K. If i were to get a amp I would like one that can disapear into my cabnet so nothing shows.

Please let me know you opinion.

thanks!!!

 

[jmschnur]

It is worth getting an amp that will drive more power at 1 ohm. For the vista bi amping will also be very useful.

Look at outlaw mono blocks for inexpensive, small amps that could drive the panel and you could use your current amp for hte woofer.

Joel

 

[boutrosa]

ok thanks joel.


so its the panel that needs to be driven to 1 ohm. will the sound be more clear?

my biggest complaint is the lack of a tight powerful bass. otherv than that they sound great.

 

[roberto]

ok thanks joel.


so its the panel that needs to be driven to 1 ohm. will the sound be more clear?

my biggest complaint is the lack of a tight powerful bass. otherv than that they sound great.

Hola...more power does not means better sound. Better quality watts is the good thing. Of course you need an amplifier that can drive low impedance, there are many on the marketplace today. If you want some brands here are some: Classe, Bryston, Blue Circle, Pass Labs, Audio Research, Audio Analogue, Rotel, Plinius, Conrad Johnson, Cary Audio, Krell, VTL, Musical Fidelity, McIntosch, Boulder, Spectral, bel canto, Sunfire and some Carver, ...just to name a few. Look for good clean sound, not only power...try audiogon, there you can find good price also. Hope this can help...happy listening,
Pura vida,
Roberto.

 

[jmschnur]

Roberto,

Do you know of people who are biamping the Vista? I thought he could use his current amp for that and then buy a clean high quality amp for the panels.

The outlaw mono blocks are at the low end of that spectrum but given his requirements might work out well.

joel

 

[boutrosa]

Hi Roberto:

Thankyou very much. The more I am listening to my mls, the more That I enjoy them and the more i realize that i made a mistake buying them. Now I have to change everything. I can't play my klipsh subs anymore because the now sound like junk. Any recomendations?

takecare

Andy

 

[boutrosa]

should i go with a solidstate amp or tube amp??

 

[roberto]

Hi Roberto:

Thankyou very much. The more I am listening to my mls, the more That I enjoy them and the more i realize that i made a mistake buying them. Now I have to change everything. I can't play my klipsh subs anymore because the now sound like junk. Any recomendations?

takecare

Andy

Hola Andy...don't take it that way...first of all, now you have a better sound than that what you did, right? So, take it easy, and move yourself step by step. This way, you will understand better what you are doing to your sound, and what you like most!...Martin Logan will show you the difference in all of components system, including cables. Also, expensive does not means your liking or mine. Expensive is that only. You can have quality and not spending a fortune. Klipsh is a good brand, perhaps what you don't like is the setting. Try this, cut them at 65 to 75Hz at the sub, and with the sub volume down, play any song that you don't like, and start to encrease the volume little by little until you start to listen to them, then bring down the level just a little bit and leave it there. This setting will allow you to have the cleanest bass possible and will make your stage more stable. Remember to have at least 2 to 3 feet away of the speaker's back wall, and toe them in about 1/3 facing you. Experiment and tell us how it is doing. we love to help! Trust your ears and Happy listening,
Pura vida,
Roberto.

 

[Spike]

so its the panel that needs to be driven to 1 ohm. will the sound be more clear?

Here's a link to my post on the subject of (tube) amplifiers and Logans. Although the topic is discussing tube amplifiers and MLs, the general idea applies to solid-state amplifiers as well.

my biggest complaint is the lack of a tight powerful bass. otherv than that they sound great.

Sounds like you need a big, powerful solid-state amplifier to drive the bass..

should i go with a solidstate amp or tube amp??

This is a personal preference and only you can answer this question for yourself. Audition and... trust your ears!

Good luck

Spike

 

[boutrosa]

ok,

so i need clean power. now, how much power is too much or too little power? the book states that you need about 200 watts per speaker, is that in 4 ohm or 8 ohm. If its 200 watts in 4 ohms, is a 200 watt in 8 ohm, 350 in 4 ohm overkill?
I am trying to increase my knowlege before buying, and auditioning any amps.



If taken care of properly, what is the lifetime of ml speakers do they loose quality overtime? How about amps, does the same rule apply?

 

[jmschnur]

The woofers need more. That is why I said you might do biamping since your current amps s hould be able to run the woofer part of the hybrid ok.

While the panels only go to 1 ohm at 20Kz they dip below 4 (and 2) ohms in several places well before 20 khz.

It is in the mid range to above 16 khz that you need the best qulaity amp but you do not need as much "power" as for the woofers.



Class A 50 wpc might well work great for the panels in your listening room but would not work well for the bass at any moderate listening levels

If you are thinking of only one stereo amp (not biamping)then 200 wpc or a bit more is a reasonable criteria with the proviso that it can handle the high currents in the 4-2 ohm region and is very clean (close to class a is best).

Then your pocketbook will tell you what to look at.

Joel

 

[Reverb2009]

Boutrosa,

What you need is a good external amp to drive the Vista’s, something with about 150 to 200 watts and plenty of good quality current. Your receiver just won’t cut the mustard. You may be getting 130 watts at 8 Ohms, but its still receiver watts with very little current. Logan’s love current and lots of it, you wont to wake up your logans? Pick up a 2-channel Krell amp and use the pre-amp outs on your receiver and watch your Vistas turn into a completely new animal. Receivers are notorious for being lacking in the current department.

 

[boutrosa]

First of all, thank you for all of your help and replying to my questions.


I have been looking into the outlaw audio amps mainly because of price/ performance.

I have heard very good reviews about them and 200w at 8 ohms and 300w in 4 ohms. They have even said that outlaw is a little krell.

If anyone has them with MLs please let me know about your experience.

my question: should i get an amp 5 channels or 7 channels? the 2 extra chanels would be for bi-amping. And how do i bi-amp them? do i split me front channel rca outputs? will useing y adapters hurt my sound quality.

thanks
Andy

 

[jmschnur]

I use Outlaw with good results for my Vantage. While I am sure that a tube CLass A would be smoother, I do not have the cash and the sound I get is really very very good. I have the 5 channel version and use an older Hafler for my rear speakers and another Hafler for my sub in a 7.1 system.

Perhaps some one the net has biamped Vistas-if not try Jim Powers at ML


Joel

 

[Craig]

Krell is not for everyone but I enjoyed the 300iL I used to own and the 400xi is a nice improvement over the 300iL model. The sound is very clean, extended highs and full midrange sound but its best attribute is it's ability to play powerful clean tight base. You often find good deals on these on Audiogon.. Its' also a well made and a good looking integrated. Also it has the HT pass-through feature to enable it to be used as an amplifier for Home Theater system. Plenty of clean power 200w at 8 ohms and 400w and 4 ohms (doubledown power). You could easily biamp with this amp if yo wanted to try that later. Try Audiogon or maybe you can work something out with LOGANLOVE on his 400XI he has for sale.


http://www.martinloganowners.com/~tdacquis/forum/showthread.php?t=2178

 

[ml360]

Your speakers(vista's)deserve much better amplification then a yamaha! .Try Classe,or even a used Mark Levinson.

 

[Reverb2009]

Your speakers(vista's)deserve much better amplification then a yamaha! .Try Classe,or even a used Mark Levinson.

I would even say they deserve better amplifcation then Outlaw.

What is your budget for a amp?

Your Logan's are only as good as the equipment running them.

 

[boutrosa]

I wanted to spend about 2000 on an amp. I am looking around. If i have to wait to find a better amp for more money in a few months, I don't mind. I just wanted to bet something that I can use for all my speakers or have at leaset the option to Bi-amp.

I don't like to use my CC unless i have the cash ready to pay it off.

In the future I would like to change all of my speakers. maybe get a Cinema i as a center and frescos or script i as my rears. So I wanted to make sure that I get something that is adequet for all the speakers.

Also, In Haiti, we produce our own electricity with generators and inverters, so power consumption is also something that I have to keep into consideration.

 

[DTB300]

I wanted to spend about 2000 on an amp. I am looking around.

Consider used equipment too - both Tube and Solid State depending on your preferences. There has been some great stuff on Audiogon lately for a steal.

Dan

 

[amey01]

Quality watts are better than more watts. Get out there and listen to some pure (non av) amps (valve and solid state) and see what you think. I'm sure you won't turn back!