OTL Asylum

Anyone know how the MA-1's would pair up with Meadowlark Blue Heron II's?

199.172.204.57

Will2

I have a pair of MA-1's and I'm looking for a good speaker match for them, and yes, unfortunately aesthetics are relevant - why not make both of us happy! I'm hoping to get a great pair of used speakers and I'm thinking of some Meadowlark Blue Heron II's. Does anyone knew how the MA-1's would pair up with them? They have a nice high sensitivity of 91.5 but they are a 4 ohm speaker and that worries me a bit. I know I can use zero's but I'm thinking if I can avoid that so much the better. My room is 24x17x9 and I listen to a wide variety of stuff, other than hard rock. Any views or ideas would be great.

Cheers
Will

Follow Ups:

RE: Anyone know how the MA-1's would pair up with Meadowlark Blue Heron II's? - Mike Galusha 09:03:20 03/15/09 (4)
Attached is an impedance/phase plot of the actual speaker. Will is considering buying these from me and I suggested he post here as I don't know how well the MA-1s deal with low impedance loads. Most OTL's don't care for them but with the amount of output tubes the MA-1 may have an easier time but I really don't know.

In the plot, the impedance drops to about 3.2 ohms at 160Hz though the phase angle is only 1.7 degrees at that frequency. If the MA-1 won't drive these satisfactorily please say so, I don't want Will to be disappointed if they are not a good match with the amps.

mike
- Mike, thanks, but... - Lew 12:00:19 03/15/09 (3)
  I can't see much on that graph. Most importantly, neither set of labels on the axes are discernible (to me on my 14" laptop screen). Anyway, an impedance of 3.2 ohms at low frequency is not good news. But I have no experience trying to drive any comparable speaker with an Atma-sphere amp. Surely, all would be well with the use of the Zero Autoformers, set to increase impedance seen by the amp by a factor of 2X. The Zeros are quite transparent; I use them myself in driving Sound Lab ESLs.
  - RE: Mike, thanks, but... - Mike Galusha 13:54:21 03/16/09 (2)
    Yes, it was resized when I uploaded it. If all goes well there will a link to the full size image below. I agree, the 3.2R is a tough load with with a low phase angle.
    
    Mike
    - RE: Mike, thanks, but... - Mike Galusha 13:56:05 03/16/09 (1)
      Somehow the link was duplicated. Trying again and posting in the text
      
      http://www.mikegalusha.com/images/BlueHeron2impedanceplot.jpg
      - RE: Mike, thanks, but... - Mike Currie 06:02:33 03/17/09 (0)
        
        In Reply to: RE: Mike, thanks, but... posted by Mike Galusha on March 16, 2009 at 13:56:05
        
        Given the relatively benign phase angles at the lower impedances, I would suggest that the MA-1s will not have a problem with these speakers. You really should ask Ralph, though.
RE: Anyone know how the MA-1's would pair up with Meadowlark Blue Heron II's? - Lew 22:22:09 03/14/09 (0)
With the application of a little negative feedback to lower the output impedance of the MA1s, I think you would be fine. I don't know whether Ralph still puts the feedback switch on his products, or whether your particular amp has it, but if not, you can probably get help from Ralph. OTOH, Ralph may say that you are better off with the Zeros than with NFB.

Post a Followup:

FAQ

Post a Message!

Forgot Password?

Moniker (Username):
Password (Optional):
	Remember my Moniker & Password (What's this?) Eat Me
E-Mail (Optional):
Subject:

Message:	(Posts are subject to Content Rules)

Optional Link URL:
Optional Link Title:
Optional Image URL:
Upload Image:
E-mail Replies:	Automagically notify you when someone responds.

To view your new posting or follow-up, click on the RELOAD or REFRESH button on your browser.

This post is made possible by the generous support of people like you and our sponsors:

Signature Sound

[ Signature Sound Lounge ]