Legacy Speaker Owners Assistance Request

HI Doug! First, thank you for the lengthy and informative reply. Honored that you have replied to my post!

50% of listening will be 2 ch and 50% HT/5.1 music(bluray only).
If I recall, in one of your articles you opted to use an AB amp vs an ICE for the W-HD!?
If so how did you find the comparison?

My intentions, so far, are to Mono the XD or Bi the HD.
Stereo amp the rear F-SE's and use bi-wiring.

The M-HD Centre has me a little perplexed as what direction to actually go as, you stated, it has a lot of relevance.

Room correction: Bill will be employed,directly,to set the system up, using his Xilica system for the LRF's.

Been looking @ Triannov, Dirac, XTZ pro etc. for others.

Also looking at 5.1/2 pre/pro's/server.
Memory Player 64u modded to 5.2 w/ B ray built in.
Krell 707 w/ modded Oppo 105
New Emotiva - not yet released
Any suggestions?

No analogue planned at this time but may look at adding a UHA R2R and associated gear later for 2ch listening only. I'll probably be lambasted for this but that is what I'm planning for now.

Amplification:
Been looking at Coda; 15.5(new) for XD's
33.0(5) for SE's?

M-HD has me perplexed as to which is most suitable considering it can handle up to 400w, and to attempt to match it (timbre) to the XD/HD LRF's.
Definitely looking to use the same brand throughout!
That said, I welcome any recommendations!!!

As previously mentioned my room size is Mod-large (10,800 cu/ft) w/ a high sloping cieling. It has an Equi=Tech 150A (220 stepped down to 110)dedicated service and Cardas wire to Maestro outlets. Two separate grounds: 1 for Electronics and one for Amps etc. Each (floor)outlet is within 3-4 ft of the proposed speaker/sub placement and 2/20A outlets proximal (3-4/ft) to the electronics etc.
I have done this to reduce wire length (read;costs) requirements for each component.

Appreciate any additional input for sure!!!
Kindest Regards,
Tom

Tom, in my use class D amps have been superb at transients and clean, but lacking somewhat in fullness and tonal richness that good Class AB amps have. I requested specifically that the Whisper I have not use internal Class D amplification so that I could use whichever amp I chose to drive the bass. I have never regretted that decision. I recommend to anyone considering the Whisper that they strongly consider an outboard amp for the bass. Bill D. prefers the convenience and ease of setup etc. of the Class D internally, especially since some customers do not want to mess with yet another amp/cables for the bass. But I wanted complete control over which amp I used for the entire speaker and I am very happy with the results. I spent enough time with the Helix and its onboard Class D amp for the bass that I felt I would prefer the flexibility of my own amp choice for the bass with the Whisper. Some individuals are not so senstive to the nuances of the lowest bass, but I always wish to have complete freedom in working with all frequencies when system building.

You're doing a lot of 5.1, so you will definitely put much more emphasis on continuity of the amps with the surrounds/center than I have. With that much surround play I would attempt to get same brand for amps for all channels.

Conducting direct comparison with my Whisper DSW between passive X-over mode and active x-over/processor mode the fully active speaker is superior. It costs a fair bit more to realize its full potential, but you can start with relatively inexpensive multi-channel amp or a couple stereo amps (if you use the internal class D; if you opt for external bass amplification like me, then you're looking at 6 channels of amplifiction) and upgrade them over time.

The HD will be a relatively plug and play thing if you don't want to mess with the processor much, and it will cost less. To push the speaker to ultimate perfomance you will need to do the active speaker top to bottom and more channels of amps. If I recall correctly, I was able to get as good or better sound with less expensive amps from the fully active mode. I would not obsess overly about Mono/Stereo as the quality of the company's amps is at least as important, and often more important than if the amp is mono/stereo.

You may wish to hold off on the room correction for all the other speakers until you run the rig for a while. You may find that you are content without it all. I have heard some correction which left me thinking it was not so impressive.

I haven't heard Doug D.'s latest Coda amps in my room, but they sounded quite nice with Legacy at shows. The Wells Audio Innamorata (and the lower cost Akasha for the price point) have sounded excellent on a variety of speakers including the Whisper.

Currently I'm using a Musical Fidelity CDT-1 Transport- I asked MF to demo it and ended up buying it - with the Eastern Electric Minimax DAC Plus (reviewed), which I have rolled discrete opamps from Burson and DEXA's NewClassD offerings (I wrote an Audio Blast article about discrete Opamp rolling). This flexibility has allowed me to take Redbook and Sonos sources and obtain very high sound quality. I can adjust any components and speakers to suit my taste. Adding in power cord and digital link selections I have a dozen ways to present digital signal to the rigs I build for two channel.

There's a hundred ways to do digital!

Hi Doug! Thanks again for the detailed input.
Much appreciated.
Since the bass section of the XD's have 2 500 ICE amps...what AB amps for the bass have you tried?
I'm going to only converse on two channel and the Whispers.
Since I already have the power supply installed near each XD/HD placement I would like to Bi them since I have incurred that expense in room/system preparation.
I know that there will be extra expense to the Whispers but I want the flexibility, as you stated, to dial them to the material and sound for 2 channel playback.
Did you run the Innamorata with another amp (AB or?) for bass?
May I also ask what speaker cables you use(d)?
Regards
Tom

Tom, glad you are finding the conversation helpful.

Over the years pretty much the listing of amps above; I tend to work with pairs of stereo amps especially if they can be bridged to Mono. I do so because some of the speakers I use are only single wire capable and others are bi-wire capable, and the Whisper is tri-wire/tri-ampable.

I used the Cambridge Audio Azur 840W a fair bit for the bass; I had two of them and bridged them to Mono, something like 800+ wpc. But they throw off a lot of heat, fyi. I'm currently looking for a new amp for the bass.

I have two Innamorata which are superb, and I thought of buying an Akasha just for the bass for the Whsiper; that's a sizable outlay primarily for one task as it would not be needed for any other installation. I am considering options for an alternative class D amp which could be stout enough to use as stereo amp for other speakers, perhaps 500wpc to 1,000 wpc. I would also consider monos.
It's been a couple years since I did some serious comparisons of Class D and it's about time again. That may sound contradictory to my statement about not wanting to be locking in with a class D amp for the bass, but I need flexibility in cables and for other rigs. Based on sound alone I would not hesitate to add the Akasha simply for bass, but I have to consider varieties of systems and other utilization.

Regarding speaker cables, the two brands I have used the longest are WireWorld and Clarity Cable. If I use WireWorld I typically will use a mix of the silver and copper cabling. I place passively networked cables in the same category as power conditioners/filters; in my experience they alter the signal in some respects which might be considered beneficial, but also damage it as much as help.

Yes! Enjoying the ongoing Doug!

Regarding new D class.

I have been investigating non ICE powered for the W-HD.

So far the Anthem M1 (1000@8 & 2000@4) seems to be getting some good ink.
Also the Pascal is also garnering favor from the DIY'ers.
Others are Ncore based and numerous. prices can be stiff on some though.

Been thinking 1-M1 and an Innamorata per W-HD might be worth a try if the impedance is matchable.

Also looking at used Krell FBP600 for the bass amp. Again, if it can match impedance.

Thanks for the Innamorata input! I have read all that is available now.

Thanks for the wire info also> What gauge would you recommend for low range and also for the mid/high?

The runs will be quite short: 3-5ft

The longest interconnect runs will be to the rear amp(s) and rear sub. That will be up to 20ft!

A little concerned about signal degradation at that distance.
Any Thoughts on this?

Pre-amp: Some of the new pre's I have been looking at offer variable input/output gain management.

he new CODA 7x has great specs for this and multi out's.

But also been considering VTL 7.5 and ARC 40th/10 for two channel??

This is too much fun!!!
Kindest Regards,
Tom