ML Aeon i with denon 4806

MartinLogan Audio Owners Forum

Help Support MartinLogan Audio Owners Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

Scumurculum

Well-known member
Joined
Mar 26, 2006
Messages
256
Reaction score
2
Location
East Coast of the Antipodes
I am about to take delivery of a pair of Aeon i, which I am looking forward to very much.

However, my main question is that will my Denon AVCA11XV (equivalent to 4806) have enough juice to run these speakers well.

The A11 has 140 watts/channel which it 10 watts higher than the 4806, i believe.

Any advice would be apreciated.
 
I think they'll run them ok but it would definitely sound better with a nice amp.

I have a 3806 with a hybrid amp, love it.
 
Thanks for the response, in terms of sound quality, I think you will be suprised, in pure direct mode, the denon amp sounds actually really good.

My main concern is whether there is enough power to run the speakers to their potential.

I am planning in the future to get a Krell 400xi but that is at least a year away.
 
I also have the 4806 and just love it. Adding a amp might help(Depending on the Quality), But you will not be disappointed with the 4806 and the MLs
 
Scumurculum said:
Thanks for the response, in terms of sound quality, I think you will be suprised, in pure direct mode, the denon amp sounds actually really good.

My main concern is whether there is enough power to run the speakers to their potential.

I am planning in the future to get a Krell 400xi but that is at least a year away.


When you get the Krell, you are going to wonder what you were thinking with the Denon. The Krell will be your first step towards "Sonic Nirvana".
 
MarkNewbie said:
When you get the Krell, you are going to wonder what you were thinking with the Denon.

As an owner of the Aeon-I's I couldn't agree more with Mark. I would try to get up to 200 watts per channel to avoid clippping and also pay close attention to how much, 'Current Peak to peak' your amp is capable of producing.
 
Thanks for the feedback.

Well my Aeon i's have arrived and I have connected them up to the A11 amp, with a shanling cdt80 cd player.

All I can say is oh my god!!!! (in a good way :))

I have never heard such detail, the a11 seems to handle things fine, in contrast these MLs are louder at the same volume setting as my previous aurora mk 3s which are Australian made speakers, I am in Australia by the way.

In fact, I dont think I will ever have to go over -3db on the volume, and the amp seems to handle it with no difficulties at all.

now to more listening......
 
FWIW, I do not think the primary benefit of better amps is louder peaks w/o distortion. I run a Rotel 1056 receiver with my Aerius i speakers. When I upgraded to a 1080 amp to drive them, it did not play louder per se. Rather there was an effortlessness to audio peaks not present with the receiver alone. The receiver sounded good, the amp sounded better. Down the road, give it a try and see what you think. :)
 
SugarMedia said:
As an owner of the Aeon-I's I couldn't agree more with Mark. I would try to get up to 200 watts per channel to avoid clippping and also pay close attention to how much, 'Current Peak to peak' your amp is capable of producing.

As as ex-owner of a 200 wpc amp. I have to disagree. You just need plenty of current. I am very happy with 50 wpc using original CLS's.
 
jjqiv said:
As as ex-owner of a 200 wpc amp. I have to disagree. You just need plenty of current. I am very happy with 50 wpc using original CLS's.

Fair enough response if you're speaking about tubes; but with speakers of anything less than 95dB efficiency (Aeons are 89db) it is a fact that amplifiers with less than 200 wpc are clipping (and that means distortion and non-linearities) frequently.

Current peak to peak, we all agree on. But back to the topic at hand... The greatest compromise in a receiver is the use of a single power supply for all three sections (the pre amp, power amp and tuner). The needs of the power amp section affect the preamp section. The result is receivers are not as smooth, effortless, open and full sounding as separates.

Until tomorrow.... goodnight boys.
 
Last edited:
Well we're very glad that you're happy with the ML + Denon set up. However if you ever want to add something to the system, an amp would probably be a good choice. :)
 
SugarMedia said:
But with speakers of anything less than 95dB efficiency (Aeons are 89db) it is a fact that amplifiers with less than 200 wpc are clipping (and that means distortion and non-linearities) frequently.

SugarMedia-- do you have any articles or papers that expound on this fact re: distortion/clipping with less than 200 wpc? I'd be interested in learning more about this.
 
The more i listen the more I am enjoying these speakers.

Due to room constraints I cannot get them as far from the wall as i like, so i dont quite get that fantastic disembodied sound which i heard in the showroom.

Fortunately, in about a year we will be renovating and increasing the size of the lounge. So hopefully then I will be able position them for optimum sound. Also, about that time I should be able to afford the krell.
 
SugarMedia said:
Fair enough response if you're speaking about tubes; but with speakers of anything less than 95dB efficiency (Aeons are 89db) it is a fact that amplifiers with less than 200 wpc are clipping (and that means distortion and non-linearities) frequently.

Current peak to peak, we all agree on. But back to the topic at hand... The greatest compromise in a receiver is the use of a single power supply for all three sections (the pre amp, power amp and tuner). The needs of the power amp section affect the preamp section. The result is receivers are not as smooth, effortless, open and full sounding as separates.

Until tomorrow.... goodnight boys.

Are you sure you are not missing a couple of decimal points? A good 2 wpc amp should be able to do a 95dB efficiency speaker justice.
 
SugarMedia said:
Fair enough response if you're speaking about tubes; but with speakers of anything less than 95dB efficiency (Aeons are 89db) it is a fact that amplifiers with less than 200 wpc are clipping (and that means distortion and non-linearities) frequently.

hey Sugar Man, I think you've been drinking too much Mountian Dew to make such a foolish statement like that !! ???? My Vantage's are less than 95db efficient and if you think for one minute they put a strain on my Plinius SA-102 your nuts !!!
 
twich54 said:
SugarMedia said:
Fair enough response if you're speaking about tubes; but with speakers of anything less than 95dB efficiency (Aeons are 89db) it is a fact that amplifiers with less than 200 wpc are clipping (and that means distortion and non-linearities) frequently.

hey Sugar Man, I think you've been drinking too much Mountian Dew to make such a foolish statement like that !! ???? My Vantage's are less than 95db efficient and if you think for one minute they put a strain on my Plinius SA-102 your nuts !!!

I agree and disagree :)

The above numbers are measurements of Sound Pressure Level at one meter, normally weighted around a particular frequency based on human hearing. Research has shown that to create what is perceptibly a doubling of sound (twice as loud), the SPL needs to increase by 10dB. A 3dB increase in SPL represents a doubling of acoustic power, and a 10dB increase represents ten times the acoustic power. If (big if) you assume that the speakers are 100% efficient at converting electrical power to acoustic power, then to make them sound twice as loud as the rating above you need roughly 10 watts of continuous power. The more efficient speaker above will be louder at that level than the less efficient speaker. Ten or twenty watts is plenty, right?

Where the above falls down is in transient demands. These ratings are based on a steady pink/white noise, as opposed to dynamic music. The instantaneous power demands could be much higher, which is where clipping becomes an issue. This is where the amplifier's peak power rating comes into play. A 200wpc amp with a peak of 400wpc is a different animal than a 200wpc amp with a peak of 2000wpc. The latter is what we mean when referring to "headroom" in a system - how high can a peak power demand go before it clips...

For the Plinius as described above (actually for the 103, couldn't find specs for the 102), the rated continuous output is 125wpc. If this was it's hard limit, then it could play peaks roughly four times louder than the average level at 1watt/meter (e.g. - either 109 or 115 dB using the speakers above). Luckily, Plinius and other quality manufacturers have substantial momentary peak power handling in their amps above the continuous power rating.

Few of us sit within one meter of our speakers, so the power requirements are that much higher to achieve these sound pressure levels at our listening position, which is probably closer to three meters.
 

Latest posts

Back
Top