Yeah Mezmo, 12 channels of amplification just to do 2 channel stereo. They are all "SET" amps though, so you're looking at a total of about 30 watts per speaker. JUST KIDDING : )
I do know guys that are doing stuff like that ( multiple set amps actively crossed over ) and they absolutely love it. Just have to start off with far more efficient speakers than what i have in this specific system. Actually, my horn based system does run about 30 wpc courtesy of an old original Marantz model 8. With 104 dB speakers though, you don't need much juice at all but it can sometimes "help". This is currently my only system that runs a single amp :(
For my "big and sloppy" system discussed here, i've got two Forte' 3's driving the array of RTR E-stat tweeters ( 350 wpc x all 4 channels ) with Goertz MI-2's as speaker cable and high capacitance power cords of my own design. I also have two Forte' 6's driving the stacked E-stat mid panels ( 350 wpc x all 4 channels ) with Goertz MI-2's as speaker cable and high capacitance power cords of my own design. Two Perreaux PMF-3150B's ( 500 wpc X all 4 channels ) driving the subs with Fulton Gold ( 4 gauge ) as speaker cable and Audience powerChord's. These PC's seem to work very well on Mosfet based power amps, especially in terms of bottom end. I have inspected their internals though and they are a very simple design that i could EASILY duplicate.
Each amp was selected for specific traits within the frequency range that they are being used in. Parts have been added, changed, replaced, etc.. as needed on the various components, but i still want to play around with changing the bridge rectifiers out for "fast recovery" types. One of my friends insists that this "tweak" will make more of a difference than any mod that i've ever tried to any component.
This arrangement gives me 2400 wpc on command. Keep in mind that this rating is based on factory 4 ohm output ratings even though the impedances that the amps see are probably somewhat lower. The woofer amps will easily do WAY more power than they are rated for, probably closer to 700-750 wpc rms at the low impedances that i'm using them at. I think that they were rated for an additional 2.2 dB's of dynamic power above the rms levels too.
Due to the sheer amount of driver area, driver speed and reserve in terms of the amplifiers never being pushed, this results in utter clarity, liquidity and slam at any volume level. The versatility added by the crossover, which allows for a large variance in "driver blending" or "overlap" at the hinge frequencies, made things much simpler than i had thought possible. I switched to this crossover at the suggestion of a friend for this very reason. For the record, the active crossover is a Marchand XM-9 Deluxe. The three racks in this system are all modified Premier's as discussed on a previous rack related thread.
Most all of this stuff has been purchased courtesy of the good folks here on Audiogon and / or other audio related websites. Some of the folks that i bought merchandise from may recognize some of their "old junk" listed here. Believe me, if it wasn't for sites like this and great people to deal with, i could never begin to think about affording this or any of my other systems.
I'm currently working on tri-amping my bedroom system. Right now it's only bi-amped. My girlfriend is the primary user of this system, so she probably feels "deprived" : ) Sean
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