Use vertical bi-amp with active crossover. Martin Logans known to like that.
2x Stereo Power Amps 4 MartinLogan Monolith IIIx??
Hi,
First time poster... I just bought a lot of gear but am having trouble figuring out how to configure it correctly for *optimal* bi-amp'd performance. Any Monolith IIIx owners would be helpful.... First the gear:
___________________________________________________________________
*Warning - a lot of questions are going to be listed below....* :P
2x Martin Logan Monolith III
1x Martin Logan Monolith IIIx Active Crossover
2x Musical Fidelity M1-PWR Power Amps
1x Musical Fidelity M1-SDAC
1x Cary Audio HH-1 Hybrid Headphone Amp (which I'm using as a pre-amp.... is this ok??)
40ft of Audioquest Rocket 44 Bi-Wire cable/16x Audioquest Banana Plugs
4x Audioquest 0.75m King Cobra RCA Interconnects
1x Monster HTS5100-MKII Power Conditioner/Protecter
7x Various High/Low output Power Cables (PS Audio, Analysis Plus, etc.)
___________________________________________________________________
Setup: DAC -> Cary HH-1 -> IIIx Crossover -> L/R Power Blocks (stereo) -> Monolith III's - (Active Vertical Biwiring)
I'm going to follow this diagram more or less... http://s322.photobucket.com/user/VintageAudi0/media/Stereo%20Configurations/9_Vertical_Active_Bi-Amp.jpg.html
1) Can I use the Cary Audio HH-1 as a Preamp (technically it's a hybrid headphone amp but has RCA in and out)? If not, why, and is there a better option? With the active crossover, is there much of a point in investing in an expensive preamp?
2) For the Monolith IIIx crossover, there is L/R RCA in, High Frequency RCA out for L/R, and Low Frequency RCA out for L/R... can I use the Left LF and Left HF interconnect outputs from the IIIx to the left M1-PWR to feed into the "L/R" inputs of the M1-PWR, put the M1-PWR into stereo mode (NOT Monoblock, or would that work?), and bi-wire the Rocket 44 cables accordingly?
3) Dumb question for a 1st time bi-amp'r: The 40ft. of Rocket 44's are like 2 cables, with 4 wires in each (2 treble, 2 bass), so 2x4 = 8. I'm looking at a 4x4 biwire configuration, and to save money I'm doing it myself. So I just twist 2 matching strands (of the 8) and mark negative (LF/HF) and positive (LF/HF) for the 4 banana plugs for each end, and connect them accordingly to the power amp and speaker? With Left RCA = LF (+/-) and Right RCA = HF (+/-)? Sorry the terminology is confusing me... left/right/negative/positive.
4) If I do (2) and (3), how do I change the power supplied to my bass and treble? Or is there even a way, besides the attenuator on the back of the IIIx crossover? No pre-amp will do this for me because of the active crossover. And I don't feel like horizontal bi-amping because then I'd have to buy another power amp...
5) For "Active" Bi-amping, I do need 2 Power Amps and 2 4x4 speaker cables, right?
6) Lastly, do I have any equipment or gear blatantly setup incorrectly, e.g. insufficient power, incorrect wiring, etc? Or any other suggestions on how to do this? My gear arrives in a few days.
Thanks so much in advance!!
First time poster... I just bought a lot of gear but am having trouble figuring out how to configure it correctly for *optimal* bi-amp'd performance. Any Monolith IIIx owners would be helpful.... First the gear:
___________________________________________________________________
*Warning - a lot of questions are going to be listed below....* :P
2x Martin Logan Monolith III
1x Martin Logan Monolith IIIx Active Crossover
2x Musical Fidelity M1-PWR Power Amps
1x Musical Fidelity M1-SDAC
1x Cary Audio HH-1 Hybrid Headphone Amp (which I'm using as a pre-amp.... is this ok??)
40ft of Audioquest Rocket 44 Bi-Wire cable/16x Audioquest Banana Plugs
4x Audioquest 0.75m King Cobra RCA Interconnects
1x Monster HTS5100-MKII Power Conditioner/Protecter
7x Various High/Low output Power Cables (PS Audio, Analysis Plus, etc.)
___________________________________________________________________
Setup: DAC -> Cary HH-1 -> IIIx Crossover -> L/R Power Blocks (stereo) -> Monolith III's - (Active Vertical Biwiring)
I'm going to follow this diagram more or less... http://s322.photobucket.com/user/VintageAudi0/media/Stereo%20Configurations/9_Vertical_Active_Bi-Amp.jpg.html
1) Can I use the Cary Audio HH-1 as a Preamp (technically it's a hybrid headphone amp but has RCA in and out)? If not, why, and is there a better option? With the active crossover, is there much of a point in investing in an expensive preamp?
2) For the Monolith IIIx crossover, there is L/R RCA in, High Frequency RCA out for L/R, and Low Frequency RCA out for L/R... can I use the Left LF and Left HF interconnect outputs from the IIIx to the left M1-PWR to feed into the "L/R" inputs of the M1-PWR, put the M1-PWR into stereo mode (NOT Monoblock, or would that work?), and bi-wire the Rocket 44 cables accordingly?
3) Dumb question for a 1st time bi-amp'r: The 40ft. of Rocket 44's are like 2 cables, with 4 wires in each (2 treble, 2 bass), so 2x4 = 8. I'm looking at a 4x4 biwire configuration, and to save money I'm doing it myself. So I just twist 2 matching strands (of the 8) and mark negative (LF/HF) and positive (LF/HF) for the 4 banana plugs for each end, and connect them accordingly to the power amp and speaker? With Left RCA = LF (+/-) and Right RCA = HF (+/-)? Sorry the terminology is confusing me... left/right/negative/positive.
4) If I do (2) and (3), how do I change the power supplied to my bass and treble? Or is there even a way, besides the attenuator on the back of the IIIx crossover? No pre-amp will do this for me because of the active crossover. And I don't feel like horizontal bi-amping because then I'd have to buy another power amp...
5) For "Active" Bi-amping, I do need 2 Power Amps and 2 4x4 speaker cables, right?
6) Lastly, do I have any equipment or gear blatantly setup incorrectly, e.g. insufficient power, incorrect wiring, etc? Or any other suggestions on how to do this? My gear arrives in a few days.
Thanks so much in advance!!