Proper installation of your MiniDSP would be between your preamp and amps. IOW you would connect the left and right outputs from your preamp to inputs 1 and 2 of the MiniDSP. You would then send two of the four MiniDSP outputs to the inputs of your Musical Fidelity amp and one of the remaining MiniDSP outputs to your sub. Technically you could send both of the remaining two outputs of the MiniDSP to the your sub as long as the sub has both a left and a right input but I doubt if you would notice any difference.
What is Floyd Toole saying about extra amplifier power and headroom?
I've been reading Floyd Toole's "Sound Reproduction The Acoustics and Psychoacoustics of Loudspeakers and Rooms" and came across a passage that I wish he went into further detail about. It has to do with whether having amplifier headroom has any noticeable improvement in sq. He happens to be talking about getting the bass right in small rooms, but in doing so, he also touches on the use of a larger amp for extra headroom:
It's the last part ("useless headroom") that I'm curious about. I have notoriously hard-to-drive speakers (Magico Mini IIs). Although the recommended amplification is 50w - 200w, in my experience, that's a bit of an underestimation. I'm driving the Minis with a Musical Fidelity M6PRX, which is rated at 230w @ 8ohms. (The Minis are 4ohm.) The combination sounds excellent to my ears at low to moderate listening levels, but I notice a slight compression in the soundstage at higher levels. My listening room, while small, is fairly well treated with DIY panels made from Rockwool, sound-absorbent curtains, and thick carpeting. So I don't think I'm overloading the room. But I have wondered if an amp with far more power than what's suggested (more headroom) would drive the speakers with a little less effort.
Those of you familiar with Toole or with driving speakers with power to spare, what are your experiences? If I went with, say, a pair of monoblocks that drive 600w @ 4ohm, would the extra headroom address the compression I'm hearing at higher levels? Or am I wasting my time and, potentially, funds that would be better spent elsewhere?
Thanks!
Remedies for unacceptable situations typically included spending more money on a loudspeaker with a “better” woofer (without useful technical specifications, that was a lottery of another kind) and a bigger amplifier (for useless headroom ...
It's the last part ("useless headroom") that I'm curious about. I have notoriously hard-to-drive speakers (Magico Mini IIs). Although the recommended amplification is 50w - 200w, in my experience, that's a bit of an underestimation. I'm driving the Minis with a Musical Fidelity M6PRX, which is rated at 230w @ 8ohms. (The Minis are 4ohm.) The combination sounds excellent to my ears at low to moderate listening levels, but I notice a slight compression in the soundstage at higher levels. My listening room, while small, is fairly well treated with DIY panels made from Rockwool, sound-absorbent curtains, and thick carpeting. So I don't think I'm overloading the room. But I have wondered if an amp with far more power than what's suggested (more headroom) would drive the speakers with a little less effort.
Those of you familiar with Toole or with driving speakers with power to spare, what are your experiences? If I went with, say, a pair of monoblocks that drive 600w @ 4ohm, would the extra headroom address the compression I'm hearing at higher levels? Or am I wasting my time and, potentially, funds that would be better spent elsewhere?
Thanks!
Showing 3 responses by audiorusty
I run XLR cables to my sub because when I've run RCA, there's a low-level hum from the sub that completely goes away when I use XLR cables.DBX makes a DSP unit that has XLR outputs. https://dbxpro.com/en/products/driverack-pa2 If you shop around I think you can find one around the same price point as a MIniDSP. Inline RCA active crossover? They make high pass filters for 70hz and 100hz. Any reason why these wouldn’t work?These would work provided the crossover point the you need is either 70 or 100 Hz and they give you the proper slope. A DSP unit will give you many more crossover point options and should offer several different slopes. @noble100 Hi Tim, I do not have any actual experience with the MiniDSP. My experience is with DBX and XTA and both of those allow you to configure the outputs in any manner that you desire, From what I have read and heard, I'm assuming that the MiniDSP works the same way. |
Hey Diamond, Here is a link to a DBX analog crossover. https://dbxpro.com/en-US/products/223xs The biggest difference between this and the MiniDSP and the PA2 other than the one being analog and the others digital is that the MiniDSP and the PA2 can do everything the 223xs can plus much more, such as time alignment between your sub and mains, equalization, different style crossover slopes, driver protection and I believe user created preset memories so you can tune your system for different genres if you so desired. The 223xs can only perform crossover functions and its slope is predetermined and not changeable. Though that slope is the most widely used slope, at least amongst active crossovers. In full disclosure I have not actually used a MiniDSP and I am assuming it's capabilities are similar to the DBX. I have reservations about the conversion going on inside the MiniDSP, which seems to make my DAC an afterthought.I think I understand what you are saying here, but the MiniDSP or any type of crossover cannot replace your DAC. They have completely different jobs. |