Moving from a stereo amp to a dual mono set up


I thought this would have been not much a change and easily accomplished.

Boy was I wrong.  I found a second Plinius SA102 on Audiogon a few months ago at a great price. I had it drop shipped to Ralph Abramo for a good going through.  A few weeks later and it was done so I drove to his shop to pick it up. I asked about how to set up the amp for dual mono. A easy thing to do. Change the position of a switch in the back and connect the speaker wires to both R / L positive leads and connect the input to the right channel.

My speaker wires are Straight Wire Cresendo 3's. The leads are not able to reach the 9" spread to the positive speaker connections of the amp.  I spoke with Straight Wire, they can alter the cables to a 12" long lead so they can reach.  OK, shipped them out yesterday.

Now considering my electrical plug issue.  One more plug is something I do not have. I have a older PS Audio AC filter that can receive up to 8 inputs.  But I do not like the idea of running 2 high power amps through it. I want to do directly into the wall for my power.

I called an electrician and he is coming over next week to do a Job Walk. to see what it will cost to add a new circuit to my power panel and run the wires for a new plug. 

Then there is the physical amp to deal with. I need a second stand to get the amp off the floor.

I will have to disconnect and move my existing equipment and stands around to make the system visually balance out.

Then there is still one question I am not sure of. Do my current XLR cables from Preamp reach across to the new positions of the amps. Are they long enough?

All this equipment is between the speakers. I like where the speakers are right now. 

128x128bill_peloquin

Every facet of change always meets with frustration. I don't understand the connections you're making on the back of the Mono.  Is this A biamp exercise? Kind of confusing to my tiny mind.

get listening to some dynamic stuff now, with instant peak needs, so you can hear the difference, if any, when you double your power for peaks.

or, I guess you need to wait till when the speaker wires come back, listen to the single stereo unit before you go dual mono

@61falcon 

I thought you're supposed to keep all the circuits in the same phase for your system.

As long as you don't have components Sharing different circuits ground loops should go away. 

@emergingsoul 

I probably should have said to keep them on the same busbar in the panel e.g. if you're on the L1 bus, ensure both breakers are on the L1 bus. I had a ground loop issue until I put both circuits on the same bus.

I'm certain there are a lot of other possibilities for ground loops though.

@61falcon  yes you are correct thar makes  big difference  more than just ground  loops. I would also suggest  12 3 wire not just 14 3 wire. As long as it is being  rewired heavy wire is a good thing. Make the wires in the wall identical  length  as well. . I changed the feed wire to my house from aluminum  to copper. That was a good improvement  acr9ss the board. Went to a 200 amp service  and when I needed the wire going to the house to be heavier I paid the extra for copper. It was well worth it. Also you might want to have better receptacles put in as well. Furutech  I have been very happy with. Lol power is a slippery  slope. As the improvement is hard to believe.  But much cheaper  than most other items