Can I put EE MiniMax pre amp on top of a Polk SDA 2B speaker?

pglbook

Siilly question I know - but I just got my new-to-me McCormack DNA .5 Deluxe amp and Eastern Electric MiniMax pre amp set up yesterday and need to get a new rack or media console to fit everything. Yesterday I just put the MiniMax pre on the floor to one front side of my TV stand (amp is on bottom shelf of the stand). The pre is quite small (hence the name "MiniMax"). It is approx. 12" long and 4.5" deep and weighs only approx. 10lbs. I am thinking of putting it on top of one of my Polk SDA 2BTL speakers until I can get a new space for it as it would fit nicely there. Would it harm the speaker in any way if I did so (in terms of weight or electronic interference or anything)? Thanks. BTW, I am loving the sound of the McCormack amp/MiniMax pre combo. The sound is so musical - neither warm nor bright, just very alive and detailed and musical. I played all types of music and, on certain CDs (Ommart Liebert, North African Rhythm world music CD) the SDA effect and soundstage were just amazing.

tonyb

Shouldn't hurt anything, though not an ideal spot because of vibrations.

FestYboy

There may be some induced noise via the speaker coils while they're active, but there are ways to prevent that.

Only one way to find out...

pglbook

tonyb wrote: »

Shouldn't hurt anything, though not an ideal spot because of vibrations.

Thanks, Tony. I wonder if I can get a vibration pad and put it on top of the speaker and place the MiniMax on top of that. Perhaps that may help reduce any vibration. What do you think? If so, any idea where I can get a decent vibration pad? I am just looking for a temp location to put the MiniMax until I can get a new media console for all of my equipment (trying to find a media console/TV stand that accommodates audio components is quite the challenge; unfortunately a rack won't fit my living room layout). Thanks again.

tonyb

If it's short term, don't fret over it. Get yourself a new stand and move on. Curious though, what kind of interconnects are you using because that seems like it would be a distance to the minimax on top of a speaker.

pglbook

tonyb wrote: »

If it's short term, don't fret over it. Get yourself a new stand and move on. Curious though, what kind of interconnects are you using because that seems like it would be a distance to the minimax on top of a speaker.

Tony: I got some Wireworld Luna 8 RCA interconnects from DSkip, including a 2m long pair which I think would reach from the amp to pre amp if the pre were on top of the speaker. But it really is not a big deal. As long as there is no risk to speaker in putting it there, I will give it a shot and will, of course, get a new stand in the near future. Thanks,

tonyb

Cool man, if it makes you feel better, throw some cork board under it from Home depot until you can grab a stand.

Congrats btw on the new toys, I can't imagine anyone not liking the McCormack and minimax. WW cables are also a good choice to run with them also.

The rabbit hole opens...lol

pglbook

tonyb wrote: »

Cool man, if it makes you feel better, throw some cork board under it from Home depot until you can grab a stand.

Congrats btw on the new toys, I can't imagine anyone not liking the McCormack and minimax. WW cables are also a good choice to run with them also.

The rabbit hole opens...lol

Thanks, Tony. I appreciate it. The upgrade has really exceeded my expectations so far. It's been a long journey to get to this level (which I know is far from the big league, high audio level, but it is a big step up for me) and I am extremely happy with everything. The sound and synergy of the new equipment is magical. And it's all thanks to this forum and the great people on it...because I did not know anything about McCormcak amps or the EE MiniMax pre until recently when they were recommended to me in a post.

tonyb

Hearing is believing my good man, enjoy !

Clipdat

Personally I wouldn't want to have SS gear on top of a speaker, let alone tube gear. I would expedite the new rack/console.

dhart86

Glad you took the advise. I told you you would like that combo! When you get ready we can discuss what tube might sound best in the middle position.

pglbook

dhart86 wrote: »

Glad you took the advise. I told you you would like that combo! When you get ready we can discuss what tube might sound best in the middle position.

Thanks. I am currently using two RFT 12au7 tubes that the Seller included and they sound great. I will stick with them for a few weeks or a month but the fun with the EE MiniMax is experimenting with different tubes so I will definitely reach out to you in the future for some tube recommendations.

pglbook

I decided not to put the miniMax pre on top of the SDA speaker. Thanks for the advice, it was not a good idea. However, I thought of another temp option that may work. I currently have a wooden TV stand that had 2 glass middle shelves (top and bottom shelves are nice thick wood). The stand is an oval design so the 2 middle glass shelves are curved. I removed one glass shelf and am only using 1 glass shelf at present. The stand measures approx. 45" long x 18" deep. I took one of the glass shelves out so the amp could sit on the bottom wooden shelf and have a lot of open space above it for it to breathe (about 8" or 9"). The amp measures 19" long so, if I moved the amp to one side of the bottom shelf, I'd have room to put the MiniMax pre next to the amp. But I do not know if that is a good idea because the pre would only be about 3" from the side heat sinks of the McCormack amp. Would that be a problem? The other option is putting the MiniMax on the glass shelf next to my Rotel RCC 1055 CD player. However, I do not know if the weight of the CD player (17lbs) and the pre amp (10lbs) would be too much for the glass shelf to support. The glass shelf is 3/16" thick and sits on top of plastic supports that fit in the wooden vertical pillars of the TV stand.