Active Tri-amping my RTI A7"s (passive XO's)

mralexny
mralexny Posts: 39
edited April 2013 in DIY, Mods & Tweaks
Hey guys
I got all the amps 2 Cerwin Vega CV-1800 for Bass And Mids
1 NAD 2200 for Highs
1 DBX 234xs Crossover
1 NAD 1155 Preamp
All speaker wires, banana plugs an extra set of post, interconnects
AND MY FINGERS CROSSED

Waiting to buy a rack to put most of the equiptment in it for easy mobility around the house

Currently Passively Bi-amped vertically with the vega's

Need your thoughts on this project.
Current Configurations
Master Bed room:
Polk Audio RTI A7
Nad 1155 Preamp
Nad Stereo Tuner 4155
2 Cerwin Vega CV-1800
Panasonic 42 inch
PS3
Apple Ipad 3
Pure i-20
Alienware X51
DBX 234xs


Living Room:
Bose 301's
Nad 1155 Preamp
Nad 2200 Power Amp
Nad Stereo Tuner 4130
Panasonic 50 inch
Sony DVD Player
Apple iTouch 4
Post edited by mralexny on

Comments

  • mralexny
    mralexny Posts: 39
    edited March 2013
    SORRY PEOPLE IT SAY WITHOUT PASSIVE XO's
    Current Configurations
    Master Bed room:
    Polk Audio RTI A7
    Nad 1155 Preamp
    Nad Stereo Tuner 4155
    2 Cerwin Vega CV-1800
    Panasonic 42 inch
    PS3
    Apple Ipad 3
    Pure i-20
    Alienware X51
    DBX 234xs


    Living Room:
    Bose 301's
    Nad 1155 Preamp
    Nad 2200 Power Amp
    Nad Stereo Tuner 4130
    Panasonic 50 inch
    Sony DVD Player
    Apple iTouch 4
  • FTGV
    FTGV Posts: 3,649
    edited March 2013
    Are you sure the 2200 is enough amp for the tweets?:razz:
  • tonyb
    tonyb Posts: 32,981
    edited March 2013
    My thoughts ? Your wasting your time and coin with the tri-amp idea. The speaker is only capable of so much regardless of how much power you put to each driver.
    HT SYSTEM-
    Sony 850c 4k
    Pioneer elite vhx 21
    Sony 4k BRP
    SVS SB-2000
    Polk Sig. 20's
    Polk FX500 surrounds

    Cables-
    Acoustic zen Satori speaker cables
    Acoustic zen Matrix 2 IC's
    Wireworld eclipse 7 ic's
    Audio metallurgy ga-o digital cable

    Kitchen

    Sonos zp90
    Grant Fidelity tube dac
    B&k 1420
    lsi 9's
  • zingo
    zingo Posts: 11,258
    edited March 2013
    That is a lot of electronics and power for smaller/cheaper pair of speakers, but fun project!
  • mralexny
    mralexny Posts: 39
    edited March 2013
    FTGV wrote: »
    Are you sure the 2200 is enough amp for the tweets?:razz:

    More than enough especially without the passives in place.
    It will run in class A for the most part till volume levels get high.
    Current Configurations
    Master Bed room:
    Polk Audio RTI A7
    Nad 1155 Preamp
    Nad Stereo Tuner 4155
    2 Cerwin Vega CV-1800
    Panasonic 42 inch
    PS3
    Apple Ipad 3
    Pure i-20
    Alienware X51
    DBX 234xs


    Living Room:
    Bose 301's
    Nad 1155 Preamp
    Nad 2200 Power Amp
    Nad Stereo Tuner 4130
    Panasonic 50 inch
    Sony DVD Player
    Apple iTouch 4
  • mralexny
    mralexny Posts: 39
    edited March 2013
    tonyb wrote: »
    My thoughts ? Your wasting your time and coin with the tri-amp idea. The speaker is only capable of so much regardless of how much power you put to each driver.

    Its not about the power it improved sound quality that will be gained. I listen to dance and salsa music mainly and soft rock when i'm macking.
    Current Configurations
    Master Bed room:
    Polk Audio RTI A7
    Nad 1155 Preamp
    Nad Stereo Tuner 4155
    2 Cerwin Vega CV-1800
    Panasonic 42 inch
    PS3
    Apple Ipad 3
    Pure i-20
    Alienware X51
    DBX 234xs


    Living Room:
    Bose 301's
    Nad 1155 Preamp
    Nad 2200 Power Amp
    Nad Stereo Tuner 4130
    Panasonic 50 inch
    Sony DVD Player
    Apple iTouch 4
  • tonyb
    tonyb Posts: 32,981
    edited March 2013
    Just my opinion, and you may gain some upticks in sound quality but not nearly as much as if you just bought a different pair of speakers more in tune to your musical preferences.
    HT SYSTEM-
    Sony 850c 4k
    Pioneer elite vhx 21
    Sony 4k BRP
    SVS SB-2000
    Polk Sig. 20's
    Polk FX500 surrounds

    Cables-
    Acoustic zen Satori speaker cables
    Acoustic zen Matrix 2 IC's
    Wireworld eclipse 7 ic's
    Audio metallurgy ga-o digital cable

    Kitchen

    Sonos zp90
    Grant Fidelity tube dac
    B&k 1420
    lsi 9's
  • mralexny
    mralexny Posts: 39
    edited March 2013
    zingo wrote: »
    That is a lot of electronics and power for smaller/cheaper pair of speakers, but fun project!

    Fun insane project for a bedroom but I hope to be getting a house in florida with a large mancave.
    Spending the money now is easier than later and I can opt for a better pair of speakers down the road. Experimenting with a pair of $1000 speakers is better than a pair of 5 or even 10 thousand dollars speakers; don't you agree and the education is well worth it.
    Current Configurations
    Master Bed room:
    Polk Audio RTI A7
    Nad 1155 Preamp
    Nad Stereo Tuner 4155
    2 Cerwin Vega CV-1800
    Panasonic 42 inch
    PS3
    Apple Ipad 3
    Pure i-20
    Alienware X51
    DBX 234xs


    Living Room:
    Bose 301's
    Nad 1155 Preamp
    Nad 2200 Power Amp
    Nad Stereo Tuner 4130
    Panasonic 50 inch
    Sony DVD Player
    Apple iTouch 4
  • mralexny
    mralexny Posts: 39
    edited March 2013
    tonyb wrote: »
    Just my opinion, and you may gain some upticks in sound quality but not nearly as much as if you just bought a different pair of speakers more in tune to your musical preferences.

    You may be right but this is what I got now so I may as well make the best of it and learn as much as I can in the process.
    Current Configurations
    Master Bed room:
    Polk Audio RTI A7
    Nad 1155 Preamp
    Nad Stereo Tuner 4155
    2 Cerwin Vega CV-1800
    Panasonic 42 inch
    PS3
    Apple Ipad 3
    Pure i-20
    Alienware X51
    DBX 234xs


    Living Room:
    Bose 301's
    Nad 1155 Preamp
    Nad 2200 Power Amp
    Nad Stereo Tuner 4130
    Panasonic 50 inch
    Sony DVD Player
    Apple iTouch 4
  • tonyb
    tonyb Posts: 32,981
    edited March 2013
    Knock your socks off then, tear 'em up. If education is your goal, nothing like alittle experience under your belt. I just assumed sound quality was the end goal. Good luck on your project, let us know how it turns out.
    HT SYSTEM-
    Sony 850c 4k
    Pioneer elite vhx 21
    Sony 4k BRP
    SVS SB-2000
    Polk Sig. 20's
    Polk FX500 surrounds

    Cables-
    Acoustic zen Satori speaker cables
    Acoustic zen Matrix 2 IC's
    Wireworld eclipse 7 ic's
    Audio metallurgy ga-o digital cable

    Kitchen

    Sonos zp90
    Grant Fidelity tube dac
    B&k 1420
    lsi 9's
  • FTGV
    FTGV Posts: 3,649
    edited March 2013
    mralexny wrote: »
    More than enough .....
    I was being facetious.
  • mralexny
    mralexny Posts: 39
    edited March 2013
    Update:

    @ load of cables but not the one I needed. Well I connected everything anyway; so I had mid and low connected all the way to the A7's. Without the high section connected---well WOW what a difference. I've been listening for about an hour now and mann as late as it is I'll be up a lot longer. I raised the the mid/high xover point alittle to compensate for the lack of the high section. People its awesome. Its expensive I'll admit for such a mid grade set of speakers but well worth it IMO. Its not as scary as some people make it out to be. Just start with low settings and get comfortable with it. Of course after dialing in the correct manufacturers xover settings. Well tomorrow I'll be off to Sam Ash again to get the missing interconnects and then I'll be home listening.........F that I'll be cranking that bad boy up. "Comment as you see fit"
    Have a great weekend I know I will. Laters
    Current Configurations
    Master Bed room:
    Polk Audio RTI A7
    Nad 1155 Preamp
    Nad Stereo Tuner 4155
    2 Cerwin Vega CV-1800
    Panasonic 42 inch
    PS3
    Apple Ipad 3
    Pure i-20
    Alienware X51
    DBX 234xs


    Living Room:
    Bose 301's
    Nad 1155 Preamp
    Nad 2200 Power Amp
    Nad Stereo Tuner 4130
    Panasonic 50 inch
    Sony DVD Player
    Apple iTouch 4
  • mralexny
    mralexny Posts: 39
    edited March 2013
    Got the wires for the high section today. Well its awesome!!! Im still listening; throwing as much of my music collection at it before it gets to late. Made some tweaks on the xover; alittle here alittle there; but I think I found some middle ground for the types of music I listen to. The main thing of it all is there are no audible distortions in anything that I've played: its all christal clear. For now I'll just listen and save some pennies for a good cd player and turntable. Oh and lets not forget the ton I'll spend on cd's and LP's. It was all worth it. Active is definately the way to go if you can afford it. I suggest you read as much on it before you take the plung. It not for the faint of heart. Either you're all in or NOT!!! Take care people. "comment as you see fit" oh I said that already................LOL PEACE OUT!!!
    Current Configurations
    Master Bed room:
    Polk Audio RTI A7
    Nad 1155 Preamp
    Nad Stereo Tuner 4155
    2 Cerwin Vega CV-1800
    Panasonic 42 inch
    PS3
    Apple Ipad 3
    Pure i-20
    Alienware X51
    DBX 234xs


    Living Room:
    Bose 301's
    Nad 1155 Preamp
    Nad 2200 Power Amp
    Nad Stereo Tuner 4130
    Panasonic 50 inch
    Sony DVD Player
    Apple iTouch 4
  • jaygax
    jaygax Posts: 153
    edited March 2013
    can you post some pics of your work and the equipment here? thanks. i wish i could listen to your babies sing.
  • mralexny
    mralexny Posts: 39
    edited April 2013
    Too late for pics but If you want to do this I recomend you first lay the tower down on its back(drivers facing up towards the ceiling.
    For easy reversal start by removing the tweeter and unpluging the terminals instead of cutting the wire. After removing the drivers remove the passive xover mounted on the post inner panel. Dont cut any of the speaker wire. Rewire with 14 gauge and new female spade terminals for the drivers and eyelet terminals for the post panel - or and you will have to add a couple of post to complete the triamp setup. Leave enough wire sticking out of the driver sockets for easy installation. The 2 lower bass drivers must be wired in series to give you around 8ohms. The mids going to be around 8ohms and the tweeter is going to be around 4. Its a lot of work but well worth. oh and solder everything. I'm still tweaking the DBX xover I have but I think I may have a bad rca wire in the mix somewhere. It sounds great but requires retuneing for different type of music ( salsa, dance or even jazz). Miner adjustments(I'm still in the learnig curve stage). Good luck
    Current Configurations
    Master Bed room:
    Polk Audio RTI A7
    Nad 1155 Preamp
    Nad Stereo Tuner 4155
    2 Cerwin Vega CV-1800
    Panasonic 42 inch
    PS3
    Apple Ipad 3
    Pure i-20
    Alienware X51
    DBX 234xs


    Living Room:
    Bose 301's
    Nad 1155 Preamp
    Nad 2200 Power Amp
    Nad Stereo Tuner 4130
    Panasonic 50 inch
    Sony DVD Player
    Apple iTouch 4
  • mralexny
    mralexny Posts: 39
    edited April 2013
    People
    Need help big time.
    What I have put together is to much for my bedroom.
    Please help
    I f up the passives when I tried to put them back in.
    They sound great but way too much power for my bed room in an active configuration
    I want to put the in the much larger living rm
    So im going to tak my 2 bose 301 an put them back in my room
    Need advice on a used amp for them please help
    Any suggestions will be appreciated
    Current Configurations
    Master Bed room:
    Polk Audio RTI A7
    Nad 1155 Preamp
    Nad Stereo Tuner 4155
    2 Cerwin Vega CV-1800
    Panasonic 42 inch
    PS3
    Apple Ipad 3
    Pure i-20
    Alienware X51
    DBX 234xs


    Living Room:
    Bose 301's
    Nad 1155 Preamp
    Nad 2200 Power Amp
    Nad Stereo Tuner 4130
    Panasonic 50 inch
    Sony DVD Player
    Apple iTouch 4