4 ohm to 8 ohm

This may be another one of those dumb questions.... or it may have been asked many times. Newbie

Can I use the Bi-Wire configuration to be 8ohms by wiring in series???

I thought if this is done then the bass frequencys would be crossed out and the woofer would be the same frequency range as the esl's making a midbass. This wouldn't be bad as long as a sub is used for theater.

I mainly ask out of curiosity and the idea of using my receiver without frying the internals.....

Anybody??? No Thoughts... ideas.....

What you're contemplating would be a bad idea, I think. MLs are current-hungry, and really do require something with a bit more umph (that's a technical term! ) than a reciever, especially if you're gonna crank 'em up. You probably won't fry your receiver if you listen quietly (especially if it is capable of delivering high currents), but you'll get much better sound quality if you use a separate power amp (or a high end integrated) amp).

Hello,
What kind of Receiver and what Martin Logans do you own?
Regardless of speaker, I too would caution against wiring in series.
Cheers,
ML

I can run my current receiver just barely enough to have some pleasant sound at 130 watts a channel before it trips the overload circuit. I have a 2ohm stable amp coming in tomorrow but I have another pair (aeon i's) that I thought about doing this with on a Denon 75 watt receiver. These Ascent speakers must love the watts though so I guess wiring them to be 8ohm on a 130 watt amp wouldn't be enough to run with any good clean sound..
I guess my main question is -- Would it be safe to try without causing harm to the speakers?

Regardless of the way they are marketed, I would strongly suggest some very stable amplification that is robust enough to handle sub-2 ohm loads. In other words, no receivers.

Our local , now defunct, chain of audio stores used to routinely sell ML's with all kinds of middle-of-the-road electronics and whether they were able to ultimately handle running ML's in the first place was kind of a moot point, because they sounded like crap anyway just from the sheer strain of doing what they were doing!

IMHO, taking a dip in the ML ESL gene-pool requires investment. There is no way around it.

raygunn said:

IMHO, taking a dip in the ML ESL gene-pool requires investment. There is no way around it.

Click to expand...

True--but what an ROI! :music:

l.groves said:

I guess my main question is -- Would it be safe to try without causing harm to the speakers?

Click to expand...

Yes, it's safe to try, but think about what you're actually doing: Running through a low pass (high cut) filter and then running through a high pass (low cut) filter. What do you suppose will come out?

obviously you would run through the high pass. Nothing ever hurts for someone new to come along and think of otherways to do things. Right or wrong, experience of some kind always helps fill the webs... Now you too have had this experience. Your welcome.....

:rocker:

Here it is the results!!! What everyone has been waiting for---they sound like crap/cocka in 8 ohm mode........
So, I tried what Martin Logan suggested and set them to small speakers in speaker set up, but that didn't work either... so only other option was wire the esl's only and use my sub. Eureka!!!!! They are alive and sounding great with a---RECEIVER-----........ Phew what a mind trip today has been.... Goodbye to all and don't forget to fold your socks and place them in proper thread count order...........

:music: