Welcome! Need support, you got it. Or share you ideas and experiences.
Return to Planar Speaker Asylum
82.171.43.207
Hi,
I hear all the time that the big Maggies need a lot of current. If I have two identical pairs of powerful monos, is it better to bridge them (more voltage) or connect them in parallel (more current)?
I'm using a pair of Musical Fidelity MA-50X for the mid/high band of my 3.6 Maggies and a pair of Marantz MA-700 for the bass. The Marantzes are built to be used in bridged mode but then they would see only 2 Ohms load. Is this OK?
The MA-50X can't be bridged but can be connected in parallel so they would deliver more current, I guess this is safer than bridgeing. Any comments or ideas?
I like my setup now but I have another set of idle MA-50X and would like to add some bass power in the form of another pair of MA-700s, for just in case ...
Thanks a lot in advance.
Regards, Jörg.
They don't need extra current''' Their loading of amplifiers is relatively friendly for a 4 Ohm speaker - no bad phase angles. I'd go for power - just make sure you amp can handle 2 ohms in stereo, 4 ohms in mono. Note also that in bridged mode the output impedance of the amp is doubled. Again not that much of an issue with maggies, Unless the output impedance is already a bit high... then the midrange impedance bump may cause shift the tonal balance a bit.
Maggies couple well to the room air and the amplifier output impedance controls the degree of damping they provide to room modes. Lower amplifier output impedance is better. Bridging amps causes higher output impedance and would reduce the speakers' ability to damp the room modes.
Hi Al,
So you would recommend to wire the Marantz MA-700 in parallel mode, too? Even though they are prepared for bridgeing? In case I can find a second pair, that is. So they would deliver more current instead of more voltage, isn't it?
BTW, I'm using a tube preamp again and the midband really has come alive now. I love it.
Cheers, Jörg.
The amps may appear to be identical, but it is unlikely that they have exactly the same gain. If you connect them in parallel, one will overpower the other and you may end up with damaged amps.
When tubes or transistors are connected in parallel to increase current capability, the designer usually has to provide some resistors in series with each separate device to balance out the currents. These are called ballast resistors. They would take away much of the benefit you expect to get from adding the extra amp.
I don't know about any Maggies but 1.6 and OLD MG1s, but the 1.6s have a 4 amp fuse from 600hz up and the MG1s had a 1.5 amp fuse also on just the hi frequencies.
As near as i can tell, even with 60 volts, thats 'only' 240 watts for the 1.6s and 90 for the MG1.
And, as gymwear notes, the phase angle and impedance curve are reasonable.
The power factor for either of these should never drop below 0.8, a very good value to get the most out of each available watt.
Post a Followup:
Top of Page ]
[ Contact Us ]
[ Support/Wish List ]
[ Copyright © 2009, Audio Asylum, all rights reserved ]
[ Go Green ]
[ Take5 ]