The system can be had for $20K from major pro audio sites with Crown amps and built-in crossover. Harman dealers will have a package available with Mark Levinson amps and a different crossover for more money, possibly. I am still trying to figure out all the options.
I think these are meant to be used as a system with the dedicated crossover/amp. It looks like they can be purchased separately but I am not sure they work like standard speakers.
You are right, they need a DSP based crossover and a stereo amp per speaker. Alternatively they could be powered by one of the Digmoda Amps which features ICE power modules and a Motorola DSP, that could be done for about $1500 per speaker.
No, you need the active crossover. There's no crossovers inside the M2. It is a superb speaker to say the least from what I hear. I hope they have them on active display (with the Levinson stuff) @ CES! :D
The $46,000 consumer package was shown at the CEDIA Expo combines a pair of M2s with four Mark Levinson No 531H 300-watt monoblock amps and an SDEC 3000 digital EQ/crossover. The SDEC 3000 also allows an installer to do room correction on the speakers.
SDEC software in the SDEC 3000 is in the Crown amps.
Take a look at the connectors on the SDEC 3000, looks like you'll need some break-out cables to connect it to your system. All the A/D/ & D/A digital processing is at 96khz.
The Digmoda amps are fully adjustable to what ever the M2 might need as far a crossover, parametric EQ, Phase adjustment, limiting etc, there is nothing the the active crossover supplied with the M2 that the Digmoda Amplifiers cannot do, and they would supply amplification as well.
It will of course require that you know the specific parameters that the M2 requires for operation.
If I could use my own amplification for the speakers, I'd seriously consider these. I am not sure the Crown Audio amps would be "sweet enough" for my taste. I believe the Levinson amps would sound better, but possibly still not to my taste.
Joeinid, I would like to use my own amps and preamp of my choice too. An alternative to this would be the consumer K29900s and possibly the S4700 or S3900. Do they sound as good as the M2s? I can't say for sure, but the consensus is that the M2s are better. I dunno if these people heard all of these speakers side by side however.
I think the key to these is finding a dealer to work with us. Before I go crazy, I need to hear them and decide for myself if it will be worth it to go further. I know I can hear them with the Crown amps locally.
Where are you located ? Im sure they will be on display in Las Vegas at the CES this January and at the NAM Show in Los Angeles in January also. Guitar center (yes I know) is listed as a dealer, they have stores all over the place, however its unclear if they have them on display.
Exactly right Joeinid, it would be wise to audition them first. And again, I hope they will in fact be at CES. They were at RMAF, so I don't see why not. It would be great to audition them, providing they're on active display, even if it's not in the greatest sounding room.
There is an art gallery in Sedona Arizona that has 2 jbl / levinson systems on display. They were out of my price range but looked beautiful. The gallery is called Exposure. Apparently the owner or co owner is a dealer. You might call them and see what they have on display. Not a great setting for them to demo but looked absolutely beautiful in the gallery. They were priced as a system. Might not be what you were looking for but then again it might be.
Just installed in my living room and the M2 are sublime. Had to run new elec. circuit with true 20 amp capacity to feed the Crowns and had to install the amps remotely to avoid fan noise. If you research these speakers in depth you will find they are currently the best available at any cost.
Did you have dealer support for the install and crossover programming? From what I understand, there are setup "features" that the consumer does not have full access to, only the dealer. Can you make full corrections on your own?
The program can be downloaded from the JBL Pro website onto a thumb drive and then directly into the Crowns. This is a sort of default program to make the speakers generally perform. There is further programming that can be done thru a PC and other programming on line in which you can further tweak the speakers to your specific room. All of this available to the owner directly without having to go thru a third party. I have not done the further (room specific) tweaking since I am happy with the basic program and fear I might mess up a good thing.
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