Bridged Amp Power?
Comments
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I'd get away from thinking biamping ... with a Parasound or other equally good amp it won't be needed and without an x/o or high pass filter in front of the amp you'll be wasting most of the power you're trying to send to the higher frequencies.
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Something I wouldn't have thought about...thanks for the input.Originally posted by PolkWannabie
I'd get away from thinking biamping ... with a Parasound or other equally good amp it won't be needed and without an x/o or high pass filter in front of the amp you'll be wasting most of the power you're trying to send to the higher frequencies.
This leaves me with scenario 1 then, which is the one I'm leaning towards anyway just because it gives me a bit more power.
So I probably shouldn't bi-amp the center either then? Do you think the bridged 400 watts will be too much for the 250 watts center? I know that overpowering is better than underpowering, but I wonder about 400 just being too much??? -
You won't damage the center with more wpc unless you play them at insane levels but remember you'll only really use the extra watts when you turn it up i.e. all the extra watts really do is provide extra headroom.
A 200 wpc amp will provide another 3dB of headroom over a 100 wpc amp and a 400 3dB over a 200.
My experience with speakers in general is that your ears will be the limiting factor in that they'll force you NOT to listen at high volumes unless the speakers are of exceptional quality regardless of what amp you are powering them with.
In my own situation I can listen to the SRT's at significantly higher volume than the RTi12's simply because the quality that comes out of them is a whole different level i.e. they really don't sound that loud and are not fatiguing at all at much higher volumes than what I could play on the 12's. I suspect this is why there are warnings on the speakers regarding playing them too loud as unlike the 12's it is conceivable that one could play them loud enough to do damage without running out of the house because of what they sounded like at that volume.
As far as amp connections go although I have three amp connections to each main i.e. Stereo array, SDA Array & Subs there really is no biamping going on as they all need to be independantly powered any way. I do have my center biamped but only because I had a leftover amp channel but it's not likely that it's producing anything much better because of it. -
Just to clear up part of this earlier discussion I talked with a few knowledgable audio folks (and one guy who didn't know ****) and the ratings for peak amps are listed as a total. Example, 120 amps peak is the total, but it applies to both channels, however it is not doubled. The rating for max. power consumption is listed as the total. Example, 1500 watts max. is the total and is not per channel nor is it doubled. It is, as Mark stated, highly unlikely that one would ever reach these totals under normal playback, but the figures will give you a good idea if the amp is a high current design and how much potential juice the thing may use.
An interesting discussion, eh?Political Correctness'.........defined
"A doctrine fostered by a delusional, illogical minority and rabidly promoted by an unscrupulous mainstream media, which holds forth the proposition that it is entirely possible to pick up a t-u-r-d by the clean end."
President of Club Polk -
That's all well and good, but I verified that power consumption and amperage value with Parasound, and it's valid. It is per channel by design, and per John Curl. It's a theoretical limit.
I did not mean to imply that it was what was occuring at my home, I simply stated a value potential.
He also said, as mentioned previously, that it is close to impossible to reach those kind of values under anything but the most extreme conditions. That would be a transient level as well, not a sustained level, as the amp would give out prior to the condition.CTC BBQ Amplifier, Sonic Frontiers Line3 Pre-Amplifier and Wadia 581 SACD player. Speakers? Always changing but for now, Mission Argonauts I picked up for $50 bucks, mint. -
I think the ways amps are listed depends somewhat on the manufacturer. For Example, HK lists their amps as total for the unit, so my PA 2000 has 45 amperes total.Originally posted by F1nut
Just to clear up part of this earlier discussion I talked with a few knowledgable audio folks (and one guy who didn't know ****) and the ratings for peak amps are listed as a total. Example, 120 amps peak is the total, but it applies to both channels, however it is not doubled. The rating for max. power consumption is listed as the total. Example, 1500 watts max. is the total and is not per channel nor is it doubled. It is, as Mark stated, highly unlikely that one would ever reach these totals under normal playback, but the figures will give you a good idea if the amp is a high current design and how much potential juice the thing may use.
An interesting discussion, eh?
Parasound lists their amps per channel. I just got off the phone with John in their technical center and had two questions:
1 - THe HCA 1000A shows 45 peak per channel. Is that in fact peak per channel or peak total for the unit...he advised it was peak perchannel, not total for the unit.
2 - If I run in bridged mode, will I get 90 peak amps? He advised that sort of, but not really, it is combined, with one channel handling the top of the waveform and the other handling the bottom...but I think I'm still really only getting 45 amps total, just + and -. -
So I wonder if maybe that was John Curl I just sopke with??? That would be cool...Originally posted by dorokusai
That's all well and good, but I verified that power consumption and amperage value with Parasound, and it's valid. It is per channel by design, and per John Curl. -
I'm sure you guys already have this, but I thought I'd share...good reading...
http://www.parasound.com/pdfs/JCinterview.pdf -
not likely, I would rather have him designing new AMPS, than answering tech calls.Sometimes good command decisions get compromised by bad emotional responses."
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Oh I know, but that would still be coolOriginally posted by lonwa
not likely
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Originally posted by Polkmaniac
THe HCA 1000A shows 45 peak per channel. Is that in fact peak per channel or peak total for the unit...he advised it was peak perchannel, not total for the unit.
It is both, per channel and total for the unit. See my comments above. There isn't any way that HCA 1000A produces a total of 90 amps peak.Political Correctness'.........defined
"A doctrine fostered by a delusional, illogical minority and rabidly promoted by an unscrupulous mainstream media, which holds forth the proposition that it is entirely possible to pick up a t-u-r-d by the clean end."
President of Club Polk -
Yea PM, don't listen to those who manufacture and repair the amplifiers, listen to the Polk forum :rolleyes:CTC BBQ Amplifier, Sonic Frontiers Line3 Pre-Amplifier and Wadia 581 SACD player. Speakers? Always changing but for now, Mission Argonauts I picked up for $50 bucks, mint.
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My info came from 2 different manufacturers, Musical Fidelity and Audio Research.
"120 amps peak is the total, but it applies to both channels, however it is not doubled."
You could take that and say it's per channel I suppose. :rolleyes:Political Correctness'.........defined
"A doctrine fostered by a delusional, illogical minority and rabidly promoted by an unscrupulous mainstream media, which holds forth the proposition that it is entirely possible to pick up a t-u-r-d by the clean end."
President of Club Polk -
Whatever, you win Jesse, this is utterly pointless. My information is from THE manufacturer in question here. If this was a MF issue, I know you would be all on top of the mountain at that time huh?
I don't want you to lose sleep over vintage gear that comes close to the performance of new, limited production MF gear.CTC BBQ Amplifier, Sonic Frontiers Line3 Pre-Amplifier and Wadia 581 SACD player. Speakers? Always changing but for now, Mission Argonauts I picked up for $50 bucks, mint. -
I'm not looking to win or lose, just find out the answer. As I see it, it is a "any amp" question and I wanted to know.
Comes close? Hell, it probably spanks my little amp, but don't you worry bro, I'm not losing any sleep.:DPolitical Correctness'.........defined
"A doctrine fostered by a delusional, illogical minority and rabidly promoted by an unscrupulous mainstream media, which holds forth the proposition that it is entirely possible to pick up a t-u-r-d by the clean end."
President of Club Polk -
Just in case anyone cares, I decided I think:
I'm gonna go with 2 HCA1500As, one for each front. And 2 HCA1000As, one for the surrounds and one for the center...
I decided on the 1500s not really for the extra power, but for the MOSFET driver stage. After reading and understanding the added advantage of the MOSFET design, I decided that I wanted to get that for the fronts.
Now to figure out where to get everything and how to pay for it...guess I still have a couple of months to work that out... -
We care.......and wait with baited breath for the review.Political Correctness'.........defined
"A doctrine fostered by a delusional, illogical minority and rabidly promoted by an unscrupulous mainstream media, which holds forth the proposition that it is entirely possible to pick up a t-u-r-d by the clean end."
President of Club Polk -
Excellent choices.CTC BBQ Amplifier, Sonic Frontiers Line3 Pre-Amplifier and Wadia 581 SACD player. Speakers? Always changing but for now, Mission Argonauts I picked up for $50 bucks, mint.
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you guys know of a decent pre/pro I can get for around $500, or should I just save and spend more?
I need at least DD and DTS 5.1... -
Audio Advisor's have some B Stock Parasound 1000 and 1500. These carry the full 10 ten year warranty on parts and 5 years on labor.
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Thanks for the link. I have three amps to buy at first and was hoping to buy used a bit cheaper, but I'll keep that idea around in case nothing pops up...Originally posted by tonyv1
Audio Advisor's have some B Stock Parasound 1000 and 1500. These carry the full 10 ten year warranty on parts and 5 years on labor.
