Tri-amping 3.6R's; what amp for the ribbons?

Bill,

Thanks for the advice. Until recently, I had the crossover closer to 300hz. But I experimented with it a great deal, and putting it at 200hz seems to make for a much tighter and faster bass. (That's also the crossover freq used by Magnepan.)

I'm amazed to hear you suggest the ribbons should be crossed at 10khz. I was thinking something around 1.7khz, which again is what the factor setup uses.

Have you tried this?

BTW, I really like the Class D technology, and would be reluctant to move to Pass amps. I think Class D sounds great with Maggies, and I like the lower power bills, less heat, smaller size, etc.

PS - I just figured out your name isn't Bill...

Gahh... typos.

"factor setup" -> "factory setup", meaning Magnepan's own crossover point is 1.7khz between the ribbon and mid panel.

Well it's not that I don't like my current setup, just trying to improve on it. I thought there was a big improvement when I moved to a bi-amp setup, and I'm thinking tri-amping would be another step up.

It's my general impression that tube amps are known for their sweet highs.

I totally get the point about less power being necessary for the higher frequencies. I was thinking I wouldn't need anything near 125 watts, even with the crossover at 1.7khz.

And do you really think I'm underpowered with 500w per channel on the mids/ribbons right now? I'm surprised to hear that.

BTW, re the "farting" -- if you turn up the volume loud enough, peaks in bass will cause the panels to "rattle" or emit an unpleasant "thwapping" sound. At that point, I know I have to back off, and that's as loud as I can go.

I'm about to move into a bigger room. Wonder if I'm going to need to upgrade to the 20.1's...

What difference does it make how many watts I have on the bass panel relative to the mid/ribbon?

Keep in mind, with the DEQX unit as my pre-amp and crossover, I can set the volume level of each independently. So as long as I've got a sufficient number of watts for each, why should it matter that I've got 1000 watts on one, and 500 on the other? I can still get a flat frequency response just by matching the volume levels.

Oh, and I've never blown a fuse, so far.

I'll have to pick up a voltmeter to answer your question, I don't have one, and I don't know the answer.

Supposedly, peak output on the 1000ASP modules is > 50 amps (yowsa). Not sure what it is on the Bel Cantos, but it's substantially less -- probably around 20-30A.

Re what's left of my ears: I have to play it loud to drown out the tinnitus!

I don't think the amps are coming close to red-lining; it's the speakers, if anything. I get mylar slap and have to back off the volume long before I get anything like clipping from the amplifiers.

That's why I think it probably doesn't matter that there's twice as many watts for the bass panels.

I'd heard about the power ratings for the ICEPower modules, so I'm aware it's not really comparable to the ratings for something like Pass Labs amps.