Tengizk
Member
OK, I've been itching for some time to do some improvement to my setup, namely, I wanted to beef up the power stage - Marantz NR1601 that I have is a very decent piece of equipment, however, it is not "officially" rated for 4 ohm load, let alone for Vista's electrostatic panel that goes down to 1.2 ohm @ 20k.
Anyway, long story short, I've bought a couple of ICE Power amplifiers modules, specifically, 50ASX2, a complete 2-channel class D device with onboard SMPS, so that one only needs to provide power directly from the wall socket, the line level input, connect the thing to the speakers and, optionally, to the standby control circuit.
According to the specs, a single module can drive a pair of 4 ohm speakers and provide each with 40 watts of clean power with less than 0.05% THD in full audio range 20-20k. Moreover, in the bridged mode the module can easily drive one 4 ohm load as well (100 watts < 0.09% THD), which, btw, implies that a single channel can also drive a 2 ohm load.
Now, I have a choice to turn my Vistas into 2-way complete active speakers. Or, instead, I could bridge the 2 channels on both modules so that the resulting 100 watt bridged amplifiers will drive the woofers.
I‘ve already played with the modules and they work beautifully – I have not done any measurements yet, but they sound just fine.
Now, my problem is that ideally I would like to mount them inside the speaker base; however, I am pretty sure if I do it I will void the warranty. Also, I have no idea of the internal layout of the base and whether there actually is enough room to place the amplifier module and provide enough air circulation according to the manufacturer’s thermal design guidelines. The modules don’t have heatsinks and use free air for the cooling.
So, for the time being I am going to mount the modules in external vented enclosures – still looking for suitable ones.
Any suggestions are welcome.
Anyway, long story short, I've bought a couple of ICE Power amplifiers modules, specifically, 50ASX2, a complete 2-channel class D device with onboard SMPS, so that one only needs to provide power directly from the wall socket, the line level input, connect the thing to the speakers and, optionally, to the standby control circuit.
According to the specs, a single module can drive a pair of 4 ohm speakers and provide each with 40 watts of clean power with less than 0.05% THD in full audio range 20-20k. Moreover, in the bridged mode the module can easily drive one 4 ohm load as well (100 watts < 0.09% THD), which, btw, implies that a single channel can also drive a 2 ohm load.
Now, I have a choice to turn my Vistas into 2-way complete active speakers. Or, instead, I could bridge the 2 channels on both modules so that the resulting 100 watt bridged amplifiers will drive the woofers.
I‘ve already played with the modules and they work beautifully – I have not done any measurements yet, but they sound just fine.
Now, my problem is that ideally I would like to mount them inside the speaker base; however, I am pretty sure if I do it I will void the warranty. Also, I have no idea of the internal layout of the base and whether there actually is enough room to place the amplifier module and provide enough air circulation according to the manufacturer’s thermal design guidelines. The modules don’t have heatsinks and use free air for the cooling.
So, for the time being I am going to mount the modules in external vented enclosures – still looking for suitable ones.
Any suggestions are welcome.