How's that for a catchy thread title?
As I mentioned in another thread, I auditioned an Anthem D1 Pre/Pro today with two different amplifiers -- an Anthem MCA20 (225 wpc) and a Sunfire Stereo Amplifier (325 wpc). The speakers were Vantages. The differences in sound between the two were not unexpected. The Sunfire was a little darker, but had a nice quality overall sound, top to bottom. It didn't really shine in any particular area. The Anthem was more neutral sounding, but had a nice midrange bloom. Voices took on an ethereal character that was very pleasing. But it was not as coherent overall as the Sunfire.
But what really surprised me was the difference in Bass response. It was a night and day difference. The Sunfire had tight, well-defined bass. The Anthem had wooly, loose, horrible bass. The reason this surprised me is that the speaker was the Vantages, which as we all know, has its own amplifier for the woofer.
This experience has made me re-think some things about the Summits & Vantages. Even though they have their own woofer amps, because ML takes the bass signal from Speaker level inputs (rather than line level off the preamp) the characteristics of the Amplifier that you choose to drive the panels will still affect the bass response that you get. I would probably not have believed that if I hadn't heard it so clearly for myself. So just remember, when you are auditioning amplifiers for your Summits and Vantages, you need to be just as concerned with how the potential new amp will affect your bass sound as you are with how it sounds on the panels.
The question now becomes: Would we be better served if ML had line level inputs for the bass on Summits and Vantages, instead of or in addition to the speaker level inputs? What do you think?
As I mentioned in another thread, I auditioned an Anthem D1 Pre/Pro today with two different amplifiers -- an Anthem MCA20 (225 wpc) and a Sunfire Stereo Amplifier (325 wpc). The speakers were Vantages. The differences in sound between the two were not unexpected. The Sunfire was a little darker, but had a nice quality overall sound, top to bottom. It didn't really shine in any particular area. The Anthem was more neutral sounding, but had a nice midrange bloom. Voices took on an ethereal character that was very pleasing. But it was not as coherent overall as the Sunfire.
But what really surprised me was the difference in Bass response. It was a night and day difference. The Sunfire had tight, well-defined bass. The Anthem had wooly, loose, horrible bass. The reason this surprised me is that the speaker was the Vantages, which as we all know, has its own amplifier for the woofer.
This experience has made me re-think some things about the Summits & Vantages. Even though they have their own woofer amps, because ML takes the bass signal from Speaker level inputs (rather than line level off the preamp) the characteristics of the Amplifier that you choose to drive the panels will still affect the bass response that you get. I would probably not have believed that if I hadn't heard it so clearly for myself. So just remember, when you are auditioning amplifiers for your Summits and Vantages, you need to be just as concerned with how the potential new amp will affect your bass sound as you are with how it sounds on the panels.
The question now becomes: Would we be better served if ML had line level inputs for the bass on Summits and Vantages, instead of or in addition to the speaker level inputs? What do you think?
