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improving my system, please help

I have just got a system together recently after a period of no system at all (wife factor). I currently have a CJ PV-7 pre-amp, Oddessy Stratus amp (120,000 uf upgrade), Adcom GCD-750 CD player, Martin Logan SL-3, Gronberg interconnects, Tara Labs (not sure the model) bi-wire speaker cables, isolation cones on the pre and cd player. I have no sound treatments, nor do I understand anything about them. I am on a more restrictive budget than most here on Audiogon. I am considering going to Stratus monos, upgrading to a CJ PV-5/BAT 3i or 5i/Rogue 66 or 99 and perhaps swapping out the GCD-750 for a transport/DAC setup. I am also planning on bringing in 2 dedicated lines and purchasing a HT-2000 for use with all but the amps. If I were to use the HT-2000, would I still benefit by using a dedicated line? any suggestions will be greatly appreciated.
pmwoodward

Showing 3 responses by sedond

sedond
1,387 posts
 
dedicated line is a good idea. for amp conditioning, i'd suggest the vans evers unlimited - it won't degrade the amps' sonics; may even improve them a hair. re: getting odyssey monos, i'd suggest getting another stereo amp & running in a wertical bi-amp mode. doubles your power, ya still have a different amp for each speaker, & ya got a separate channel for each driver. kinda like 4 monos on the cheap... ;~)

doug s.

sedond
1,387 posts
 
blueswan & pmwoodward - vertical bi-amping *is* dual mono - one amp for each channel. ewe give up a tad power compared to bridging the amps, but bridging causes the amp to see a speaker af half its ohm-rating, ie: it's like a 4-ohm speaker is really putting a 2-ohm load on the amp. also, wertically bi-amping is better than two mono-amps, because ewe can only bi-wire, not bi-amp w/monoblocs.

regarding upgrading yer cd-player, i'd upgrade the preamp 1st - my experience has been that a killer toobed preamp makes differences between $500 cd players & $3k cd players disappear.

ymmv, doug s.

sedond
1,387 posts
 
crossing over subs to the m-l sl-3 is a whole lot different than crossing over to cls's or some other full-range esl. the sub is being crossed over to a dynamic driver w/the sl-3's: m-l awreddy botched the integration of the e-stat w/the dynamic driver themselves! ;~)

the trick to crossing subs to e-stats (or any speakers, imho), is to use a *pair* of passive subs, a hi-quality *flexible* active x-over, w/steep-enuff slopes, crossed-over as low as possible.

ymmv, doug s.

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