2. amps-preamps
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VAC Sig Ren MK2a Headscratcher

I am thinking about adding a solid-state amp (DNA-500) to my system to drive the bass cabinets of my VR-7se's. Currently I have 1 set of balanced outs going to 2 VAC 300.1s that are each driving a VR-7se speaker full range. The other set is driving my subwoofer.

If I disconnect the sub and hook up the 500 to these balanced outputs from the pre, with the 500 speaker outputs going to the bass cabinets of the VR-7se's, will this work? Only problem I can see is that both modules of each speaker will be receiving a full range signal, but only using a portion of it depending upon the drivers. Balancing will be a snap as the volume control will control the 500, with the attentuating knobs on the VACs available to balance the rest of the speaker to the bass.

Will I be doing any damage this way? Is there a better way to do this w/o complicating things with crossovers, etc? Does what I'm proposing make sense? The 7's love power and I had the DNA-500 sitting in a closet.... Seems like this way I can get the best of both worlds, with about 750w going to each bass unit and 300 VAC tube watts (50w+/- Class A) going to each mid/tweet/super-tweet module. On paper, seems like a great idea, BUT...Before I go very far down this path, I'd really like to get some feedback and answers to these questions above.

Thanks in advance for any light you can shine in the tunnel.. :-)

BTW- just replaced noisy Dragon 6dj8 pre driver tubes with Seimens NOS 7308's - quieter(obviously), better imaging, bigger soundstage, more air and a bit tighter bass - after 1 hour!! Will only get better - more expensive but worth it IMHO. YMMV.
fplanner2010
dev's avatar
dev
832 posts
 
Hi Fplanner,

Yes I did, I actually owned one. Tried it with Focal Salon's and Andra 2's which I both owned.

I'm waiting to receive my tubes and I'll pass along my thoughts once I log in some time.
kernelbob
51 posts
 
I'm running a similar biamp setup with VR5-Annis. Double Kronzillas on the top and monoblock Spectron Musician III Mk2s on the bottom. Very tight, fast, articulated bass and the Kronzillas doing their thing on the top. A friend is installing a VAC 300.1a this week. He has the same Spectrons as mine and will be comparing running his system full range vs biamped.
fplanner2010 OP
283 posts
 
Kernelbob - That's quite a nice system you've got there. I heard a pair of 4 jrs bi-amped and fully driven this past weekend and the sound was literally amazing. I can only image how much even better your system must sound with the amps you are using. It gives me hope that maybe what I'm about to do might actually work!!

I have some questions, if you don't mind. How did you match the outputs between the top and bottom amps? Also, did you use an electronic crossover, or just the ones in the speakers? Have you always run them this way? Sorry for so many questions, but this is pretty new for me.

As far as your friend's system is concerned, not sure what speakers he's running but regardless, he should hear a significant improvement once those VAC tubes start to sing.

Thanks very much for sharing your experiences.
dev's avatar
dev
832 posts
 
Kernelbob,

Kronzillas, I like those amps. That would be an intersting set-up to hear. How are you dealing with matching, what's the rest of your system?

Does your friend have the same speakers also.
kernelbob
51 posts
 
I had been using Spectron monoblocks full range for a couple of years. When I had an opportunity to get the Double Kronzillas (two output transformers on each monoblock), I couldn't resist. The Krons do some amazing things, but the Spectrons shine on the bass with their grip and definition on the woofers. In monoblock mode, the Spectrons have a 100k bandwidth, so they have the speed to seamlessly blend with the Krons.

I would not recommend touching the internal crossovers nor adding an external crossover. I suppose I could pick up a bit more headroom by putting a high pass filter in front of the Krons, but so far I've never run out of volume and why add more stuff in the signal path? On the VR5-Annis, the Spectrons need to be attenuated by about 3 to 4 dB when both amps are driven by my ARC REF3-- there are lots of options out there for attenuators. The net impedance of the amps is lower than the REF3 published specs recommend, but I've not noticed any audible rolloff of the highs.

I tried the biamping route when I auditioned the Krons just to see if it was worth keeping the Spectrons instead of taking the price hit on the used market. Well, I was amazed how well they worked together and have never looked back. The result is definitely more than the sum of the parts. By the way, my friend is using VR5-Annis also. I don't know if he's going to keep the Spectrons or go full range with the VAC 300.1a.
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