Depends on the amps and the speakers. I use bridged Plinius SA100's into 4 ohm planar ribbon mids/tweeters but that load is purely resistive. These amps were designed to be bridged, unlike many others.
Stats are differerent in that there is a transformer in the chain. |
Hi Ngiockey, I want to use some amp from Musical Fidelity KW range,as I already own a KW DM source system to great effect; my speakers are Martin Logan SL3's.
Reading some reviews of KW 550 amp,the reviewer says not to ground the loudspeakers using that particular amp or there will be a massive failure.
I don't understand what he does mean by that, any suggestion will help.
Thanks |
Don't pay any attention to reviewer. Contact the manufacturer. |
I will, thanks for that..! |
Although you would like to use Musical Fidelity, maybe a Bryston 14BSST would do the trick. It is bridged and has excellent reviews, class A sterophile, etc Click on www.bryston.ca for imfo and reviews.
I read in one of those reviews that they used the 14 BSST with your SL3's with excellent results. I run ML Oddessey's with a Simaudio moon W-5 , which is an excellent match as well, although it isn't bridged. Hope this helps.
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I can't see how it would be possible to bridge an integrated amp like the KW550. |
I mean it is already built in bridged... |
So are you looking for an amplifier that is based on a bridge circuit then?
Atma-Sphere, BAT, Einstein, Joule Electra are a few that come to mind. |
Yes, but they mention not to ground any crossover or tweeter as bridged amplifiers have both red and black terminals "live". I'm confused if I could use an amplifier like that or what I should do to prevent any damage.
Cheers |
I think that there is a confusion of semantics here. Carlos is, I think, talking about bridging a stereo amp to provide more power for a single channel. Some amps are delivered from the factory with a switch to allow "bridging". I am showing my ignorance, perhaps, but I do not think that that is the same think that Atmasphere is referring to. Take this with a grain of salt, because I know nothing about circuit design (but I do know that the tube amps he mentions sound great). |
Sorry I may bring some confusion; I am keen to buy a MF KW amplifier, there are two models. One is integrated delivering 650W and theother is a power amplifier only delivering 750W; both are bridged per se,by design and non-reversable. |
I have recommended this amp alot. Moscode 401hr. I use it with electrostatics. Bridging is acomlpished with a flip of the switch. I am sure you mean bridging and not biamping.Biamping is where you use a different amp for the top and the bottom. |
That's right Gregadd, the amp in question is the MF KW500 integrated and it is built in as bridged...I still look for sombody that has a bridged amplifier/s that uses for electrostatics, what are the precautions?
Thanks all of you. |
because elctrostats are power hungry, I have never heard anyone blow there speakers because of too much power. More likely the panels could "bottom out" by trying to drive them to hard. I do not know whawt speakers you have. If they are under warranty you definitely should consult the manufacturer. Just use the normal precautions. |
My speakers are Martin Logan SL3; I don't mean blow the speaker by too much power (altough it may occour).
I don't understand why it is not safe to have grounded tweeters or crossovers when using a pair of bridged amplifiers.
I think electrostatics are grounded speakers, yes?
So, what to do to use them both?
Thanks... |
Actually the 'bridge' issues is similar for transistor amps. With *any* bridged amp, both speaker terminals should be kept from ground.
BTW, ESLs in general are best driven by tubes. If you plan to do it with transistors, you will need a much larger amp due to the impedances and impedance curve of the speaker- Sound Labs are an excellent example of this: a 200 watt tube amp will play every bit as loud as a 400 watt transistor amp because the transistor amp will only make 200 watts into the load. In some cases, the 400 watts may only be 50! That's why tubes are the traditional choice for ESLs. |
"With *any* bridged amp, both speaker terminals should be kept from ground."
Hallo Atamasphere, by this you mean I should not ground the main for the speakers, yes?
I'm sorry but I find hard to understand what I should do exactly.
Thanks for the patience. |
You can run the speakers with the normal AC ground connection. The concern with most bridged amplifiers is that neither speaker terminal is at ground, so if you connect into a setup that does have one terminal grounded, a potential (pun intended :) exists for damage to the amplifier. The AC ground of your ESLs should have nothing to do with this. I've not heard of an ESL where the AC ground is the same as the '-' speaker terminal, but I suppose it could exist. Check with the manufacturer to be sure.
What ESLs are you using?
All the Best! |
Hallo Atamasphere, I own a pair of Martin Logan SL3's with fully re-worked crossovers and re-cabled with Kimber silver cables.
I am planning to have a listen with Musical fidelity gear, their high-range sports bridged amplifiers so before I even think to go for a demo I want to make sure that nothing is going to go to the moon...! Ha ha ha!
However, I don't know how it may sound with the SL3's as they already tend to be on the bright side and I know bridged amplifiers tend to sound very clean, it may be too much for me.
anyway, I suspect I should contact the manufacturer for peace of mind.
We'll see....
Seeya! |
The nature of ESLs is such that they have an impedance curve that decreases as frequency increases, causing a transistor amp to make more power in the highs. So you do want to be careful! |
I see...thank you for all your time, I got a much better idea now.
I really like this forum, finally a proper place on where to ask for real hi-fi questions.
Ciao
Carlo |
