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meltdown

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My Mac puts out 200 watts at 4 ohms. The Sequels do 200 watts at 6 ohms. Therefore if my amp peaks out on ocassion, I'am only putting around 150 watts into the ML's. Why I ask this question is because while playing Telegraph Road there was a point where the needles on the Mac were burried and I had the Power Guard light blink on a off. Could this be caused by the ML's calling for more then the amp can deliver. Or could the Amp be trying to draw more power then the wall circuitry can deliver. The same line that supplies power to the amp also supplies power to a plasma downstairs.
 
My Mac puts out 200 watts at 4 ohms. The Sequels do 200 watts at 6 ohms. Therefore if my amp peaks out on ocassion, I'am only putting around 150 watts into the ML's. Why I ask this question is because while playing Telegraph Road there was a point where the needles on the Mac were burried and I had the Power Guard light blink on a off. Could this be caused by the ML's calling for more then the amp can deliver. Or could the Amp be trying to draw more power then the wall circuitry can deliver. The same line that supplies power to the amp also supplies power to a plasma downstairs.
Hey there!
First off, your Sequels are RATED at 200 watts. They don't "do" their own power! BTW what Mac amp do you have? It shouldn't be a problem for your amp, unless it's rated power is exaggerated. And is that 200 watts per channel, or total? Even fast transients down to 2 ohms or less should in theory not bother it. I drive my Sequels with a Harman/Kardon Citation II with has a rated output of 60 w/channel, and I can't even get it to clip driving them. Bear in mind a speaker's rated/advertized impedance has almost nothing to do with it's dynamic impedance. Depending on the frequency, the real-time impedance will go all over the place while playing. The problem in your case may be that you're saturating your speakers, which will just waste power and sound bad, or the power reserves in your amp can't keep up with the transient demands of the speakers. In any case, double check that there's not a problem with your amp. The Power Guard indicator shouldn't be lighting up. Yes you could have power line "sag" but you'd be likely to trip the breaker for that circuit if your amp were drawing that much current, if not the fuse in the amp itself. Hope this helps!:D
 
Well Tube, its like this. Mac 6500 rated at 120 per into 8 ohms and 200 per into 4 ohms. Running my Maggie Mg1c's I never had a problem. Volume of speakers was loud at 20 watts, sometimes peaking higher depending on what you were listening to. With the ML's to get the same volume I would have to run the dial up, and when you hit those guitar riffs the needle jumps into the red zone. Listening to vocals or Jazz no problem. Come to Stevie Ray Vaughn, and you have to be carefull. Never had a problem with Amp, have run all kinds of speakers with it. She only had the power guard light blink once, and I reduced the volume, a bit to give me some leway. ML's deliver the best sound I've heard, I think that my amp may of ran out of gas on a couple of those tunes.
 
meltdown,

I am running original Sequels, driving them with a pair of Carver Silver Seven-t monoblocks,which are rated at 575 wpc into an 8-ohm load. I think that into the 4-ohm load that the Sequels present, the Silver 7-t's are capable of more like 900 wpc. I've had them loud enough to literally knock pictures off the walls, and I've never had the meters above about 2 o'clock. I've never really even got close to a wattage that might harm the Sequels, to my knowledge. And besides, the only part you really need to worry about is the woofer. The crossovers and ESL charging circuits in the Sequel line are pretty well-protected.

Maybe you just need a subwoofer. The Sequel series ARE a little bass-shy, even with a high-current amp, and depending on you rlistening material, you may be pushing them harder than you need to, just to try and get that extra bass "umph... ;)

I know that since I added a 15" Velodyne to my rig, I don't run the Sequels nearly as hard as I used to, even with music that I loke loud, like Pink floyd, or big orchestral music like Mahler or Janacek...

--Richard
 
AH.... You may be on to something there. I was useing a sub with the Maggies. I know for a fact that with ML's you have to run with higher watts on the meter to get about the same volume that I was experiencing with the Maggies. I hate comparing apples to oranges, and I believe thats what Iam doing here. Its just during those more dramatic points in some music, the wattage spikes can be high. I'll intergrate my sub and let that do some of the work. I had a couple of those Silver 7's at one time, all I have left now is a couple M 500's. Well, if using the 7's I know that Iam not over amping for sure. Its got to be something simple, or Ive gotten dumper then a door knob in my old age.
 
I got it. Dreamer got me thinking about subs. I was using a sub to augment those Maggies....why, because they dont go much below 50 Hz. You see, everything from the back of the Mac funnels into a MDS4(Macs surround processor)where I had the front speakers set to small because of their range, and using a sub. I merely set the selector to Large and did a bit of adjusting in the front volume calibration and I believe I hit it. About 4 minutes into Dire Straits' Telegraph road will start pegging the needles but not nearly as bad. Got a couple flavors of cable here, that Iam going to give a whril. Iam going to swap around some Gas and Carver amps I have and play around. Thanks all.
 
Meltdown, I believe the key is when you describe the high-power draw occurring during the intense guitar riffs. Those are chock-full of high-frequency harmonics and that’s what’s causing the power draw.

The ML panel dips in impeadance as the frequency rises. So the more signal you are trying to reproduce that is in the over 8Khz range, the harder the amp is going to have to work.
Yes, bass does draw power as well, but nothing draws current like the panel doing upper mids and highs.

The Mac protection circuit light is indicating that you have reached your amps current supply limits. The fix is to either get an amp that can deliver more amperage or to split the loads by doing bi-amping.
Oh, lowering the volume also works, but then, who wants to do that ;-)
 
Not being all the that audio articulate, thats what I figured. My amp ran out of gas during some of those musical extenstions. I do have another Mac amp, maybe I'll bi-amp, or just keep the volume level lower. System sounds pretty good, although a bit bright(knotty pine tonque and groove walls). Bass is a bit boomy, more then likey due to the accoustics of the room. A little fiddling around and Ill get her. Plus my ears are use to the Maggies, and these ML's are something new. I think wedsday, Ill check out some other amps, maybe get into something a bit bigger, I do have a Rotel 1090, wondering if anyone here has used this amp with ML's. Dont mind me, Iam just having fun.
 

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