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

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!

The reason I bring up relative amp power is that for someone like yourself, for which too loud is NEVER loud enough, you theoretically want both amps to redline at the same time. You can always turn the 'louder' amp down, but did you turn it down because it was too loud relative to the other freqs or distorting...ran out of juice? or the panel is at redline? You may end up needing an SPL meter and a calibrated disk, like the one from RIves Audio, which is a match for my RadioShackup analogue meter.

Extreme example. Your kilowatt amp on the lows. coupled with say.....100 watts on the highs. Kilowatt amp doesn't get out of first gear while the 100 watter is off scale. You're looking for the highest peak power without clipping.

Now, something you might NOT know about ASP modules and 'd' in general. They rate power for SHORT TIME PERIODS.

http://www.icepower.bang-olufsen.com/en/solutions/speaker/ASP_SERIES

Go to link an poke around in the data sheets. you'll find the kilowatt amp is that lofty 1000 watts....for 30 seconds. The 500? Time limit is 60 seconds. Both are limited by cooling. Run 'em upside down in some LN2 (liquid nitrogen) and you could get away with it for far longer.

I think that amp amps is sort of a red herring, but may be wrong, if someone can tell me why. It would seem that in order to keep from running the power devices out of the save operating range, you'd have to run that high an amperage at some very low voltage. After all, 40 amps at 50 volts is 2000 watts. My 1.6s have a 4 amp fuse and crossover about 600hz. If thats near the 50:50 point (it's a little high) I'd have to call the entire panel 8 amps MAXIMUM. I'm not going to do the math. My head is killing me from a long day, but you can work out the power. If you don't know off the 'topofyourhead', look up ohms law calculators.

I have measured voltage to my panels using a DVM. This is NOT accurate at all, but I double it and call that 'peak'. Music is much quicker than most meters. If I had access to one, I'd use an O'Scope. Preferably one with 'peak capture'.

Good for you that you've never blown a fuse. In maggie circles, the ribbon is known as a fuse protector.

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.

"There's a Monarchy SM70 listed for $400 (no relation). Wouldn't hurt too much to try."

True, but I didn't much like the sounds of them driving my highly improved Audio Physic Avanti IIIs...very clean but rather uninvolving and a bit thin.

I'd look for smaller solidstate Class-A amps such as the 20-year-old Marantz MA-22 (50 or 75 into 8 or 4) or the more-expensive MA-24 (30 or 60 into 8 or 4). Even older would be a Bedini 25/25 or a Lazurus HA-1A, rated 50 or 100 or 200 into 8 or 4 or 2 Ohms. The Lazurus is hybrid, with a pair of 6DJ8s in the frontend and MOSFETS in Class-A in the output stage. I know of one Lazurus that I owned and a friend does that might be available.
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