For what it's worth, we just finished our basement. In doing so, I added 10 dedicated 20 amp circuits.
I also have a PS Audio P10 which feeds my entire front end (other than my amp, which is plugged into a dedicated 20 amp direct).
All of my subs are each on their own dedicated line.
I'm pretty well set with clean power.
We are going to get a thick area rug, and some corner bass traps, and a few panels to bring down the slap echo as I have a lot of hard surfaces.
Treatments are on the top of my list. And coming soon-
Where I'm still torn, is once I get the treatments right - I expect some improvement, but I know I have some weak links in my system. Source and Preamp are the clear weak links.
I am very much in the mode of finding the right pre-amp (even if I have a lot of tweaking to do)-
My concern dilemma is integrating 4 subs the best possible way.
The MEN220 does a great job taking the lowest frequencies away from the mains and offloading that to the subs. I can imagine the JL Audio CR-1 may do this well (and possibly be cleaner).
My concern is, does having either the MEN220 or the JL CR-1 between between a reference preamp and reference amp water down the connection.
Everything I have read about components is the impedance matching between preamp and amp is the secret sauce for good sound.
Does the MEN220 or JL-CR1 mess with this "perfect matching", or are they designed to pass that through?
(I can certainly get XLR splitters out of the preamp, and keep the signal "pure", but that would result in sending a full signal to the Aidas {which ultimately they can handle}, and working the crossover in the subs alone. Being able to take the lowest frequencies away from the mains, and using an active crossover cleans up the sound and takes some pressure off the amp as well).
Quote:
Originally Posted by crwilli
From afar, I would suggest you prioritize your room treatments over anything else and if you haven’t already, take steps to insure your system has adequate and clean power (dedicated lines, etc).
I have had both the C2300 and an MEN 220 when I was running Infinity IRS Betas. The MEN220 was a necessary surgical instrument. However, as I progressed and moved to the Strads and one Sub, I found the MEN220 was adding a layer of haze/noise into the sound. I moved to a JLAudio CR-1 crossover and it was night and day. Much cleaner sound and just as good if not better mains/sub integration.
I have not heard the D’Ag pre but would assume being solid state, that at a high level it will have less noise than the tube based C2300.
Get your fundamentals right first then move on major electronics.
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