Fp, are you sure about the DNA-500 being 500 w/ch in Class A? If we are talking about the amp made by McCormack I believe it is an Class AB design although I don't know how many watts are in Class A? A buddy of mine owned one a while ago and I don't remember him advising it was all Class A power. If you are speaking of another manufacturer then never mind....
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.
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.
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- 27 posts total
Dev- The DNA-500 is the sweetest,most tube-like solid state amp I have ever heard, at any price. I used it in my prior system and am very familiar with how it sounds, especially in the bass area. It is very high quality sound and the rave reviews it received were accurate, IMHO. What I don't know is how it will sound with the VACs, but I suspect it will sound much better than it currently does, as the VR7se's crave power, especially in the less efficient lower bass cabinets, which is what the DNA will be feeding. Ran this past Albert VS last night and he also thought it was a great idea, being familiar with my VACs as well as the McCormack. Congrats on the tubes - let me know how you like them. Rgd - I was TOLD by a friend who has had several McCormack amps that mine was all class A. I have a hunch it goes from A to AB at some point, but don't have the manual to confirm where that is. From my standpoint, having heard it extensively several years back, everything I heard sounded like A. In retrospect, I probably should have left out the sound rating comment, since I am *personally* not sure, so as not to unintentionally mislead anyone. Sorry if I caused any confusion by the McCormack "all Class A" comment. |
Steve McCormack as quoted in this review: The DNA-500 is a Class A/B amplifier that's biased fairly rich. Because I don't have to use extremely high voltages, it runs only warm at idle and I don't need a huge amount of heat sink surface area. If it were pure Class A, I would have had to use a huge heatsink to dissipate all that continuous heat. The heat sink in the DNA-500 is actually quite generous and can handle extreme operating conditions, including very low-impedance speaker loads.As Steve explains elsewhere in the review, the need for extremely high voltages is avoided by incorporating two amplifier circuits, bridged together, for each signal channel (left and right). Enjoy! -- Al |
Fplanner- yes I look forward to hearing those tubes. The DNA-500 is an okay amp but really nothing special to me. Your passion speaks volumns, if you feel the 500 is that great why do you have your VAC 300.1's. I have never heard any solid state period provide the same bass as a top notch tube amp can, once you get the 450's and experience such you will know what I talking about and all will be history. |
Al- Thanks for clarifying on the DNA-500 - I feel a bit embarrassed to have caused this mess-up. Dev- Kevin talked to me about the 300 for over a solid year before I would even give the 300.1 an audition. I was THAT happy with the DNA-500. It is quite a bit more than an "okay amp", at least to me, all who have reviewed it and most who have owned it. It also obviously depends on the system it is in and what it is driving. It is very far from just "raw power", which is why I'm so excited about trying this little experiment. I have never heard better midrange than the VACs produce and have come to really like the VAC "sound". The fact that I may be able to free up my VAC amps to only have to drive the glorious midrange and highs with 300 tube watts per speaker is something I really look forward to trying. The sound should be magical with ridiculous headroom :-) In addition, the ability to finally drive the bass enclosures of my 7se's like they were made to be driven means I should no longer need my sub(except maybe for movies). Since the 500 is only driving the bass enclosures, there could be an enhanced positive effect there as well. The 7se's spec down to 18hz, which is probably more visceral and felt, rather than heard - can't wait to find out!! I'm visiting Kevin in May - will hear the 450's if he's got a pair handy. Everyone I have talked to who has heard the 450's raves about them - I've yet to hear them. Quite honestly, I REALLY like my 300.1s, and may like them a whole lot more if my little experiment goes the way I hope it does. Thanks for your responses and enjoy the tubes!! :-) |
- 27 posts total