Merlin & CJ

[CJinSC]

Anyone using this combo? I see a pair of VSM-mxm's with Master BAM on Audiogon for $4650 with sensitivity rating of 89db, 1w/1m (8 ohm nominal - 6.5 ohms min.). Sounds like a much easier match to my LP140's than my Dynaudio C-1 ii's at 85db, 4ohm nominal. My wife won't be lovin that ruby heart red though!

[ronenash]

Do you feel that the LP140 is not driving the Dynaudio well? My LP125m has no problem driving the SF Amati's to insane levels.

[CJinSC]

The LP140's drive the Dynes to high levels, but I am using Magnan Signature interconnects which are quite resistive, lowering output by 6db. So I end listening at around 70 - 80 clicks out of 99 on my CT5. I don't know where the gain of the preamp kicks in, but it has to be close to this level. I sent one of the amps back to CJ for a bad capacitor & the tech told me not to worry about driving the amps too hard when I described my usual listening sessions & equipment. Two nights ago though I heard some low level crackling coming from the right channel. I stopped the cd player & the distortion continued so I turned off all the equipment - no red fuse lights were lit. Makes me wonder if I have another bad capacitor.
Keep in mind I put new tubes in the amps & preamp when the last capacitor went bad to make sure it wasn't a tube issue. Maybe I'm just gun shy with these amps, feeling like I'm torturing them. I thought about trading them towards some LP 275's or just switching camps to some Pass Labs solid state.
In the end, I guess I'm just curious about how well the 140's would drive efficient speakers...

[Joe Appierto]

If the CT5 is like earlier c-j preamps, then unity gain occurs at a volume setting = 66. So, yes you'd be into the gain portion. I had the Magnan Signature interconnects (and speaker cables, for that matter) and loved'em but they do cause you to turn up the volume.

I used a Premier 140 with the Magnan Signatures (again, both the interconnects and the speaker cables) driving 83 dB speakers (Quad 989s) and never had any crackling issues. I realize we're talking different amps but rated output is the same. Difficult to tell really what the problem is. I know, lot of help, but there are some similarities.

[CJinSC]

Last night I didn't notice any crackling. Go figure. I'm auditioning a pair of the Magnan Signature speaker cables built by the fellow that bought the intellectual property rights from Dave Magnan. They are not broken in, sound quite nice in mids & highs, but seem to lack some weight in the bass. The signature interconnects I like much more than the speaker cable. I may give Harmonic Tech Pro 9 SE a try.

[Joe Appierto]

Originally Posted by CJinSC

Last night I didn't notice any crackling. Go figure. I'm auditioning a pair of the Magnan Signature speaker cables built by the fellow that bought the intellectual property rights from Dave Magnan. They are not broken in, sound quite nice in mids & highs, but seem to lack some weight in the bass. The signature interconnects I like much more than the speaker cable. I may give Harmonic Tech Pro 9 SE a try.

If the Magnan Signature speaker cables were anything, it wasn't light in the bass. Of course, different systems, equipment, etc.

[ronenash]

Just to clear things out, your preamp has the same gain regardless of volume setting. Changing the volume merely inserts different value resistors between your input source and the preamp gain section. You are not stressing your preamp at higher volume, you will stress the power amps though as they have to deliver more current to your speakers.

Even new tubes can go bad after only a few hours of operation and it can be temperature dependent so it might be noisy only after a few hours of operation. It is more likely to be a noisy tube than anything else.

[CJinSC]

Thanks Roneash. So the preamp is operating at full gain once a signal is flowing to it, but the output is attenuated via the volume control? So it could just be a noisy tube. I believe the music had been pumping for several hours prior to the distortion. I certainly would rather have noisy tubes than have to send an amp in for repair. I have been thinking about the input tube matching design issues with the LP140's & have contemplated switching to LP275, as I believe someone said they didn't have these issues. Of course expensive to retube, but I bet they are glorious with well recorded material.

[CJinSC]

Joe, these cables are brand new & have roughly 10 hours of use on them. Maybe when broken in they will sound fuller in the bass. The dealer said they need 100 hours to break in. What caused you to move on from the Magnans? I love the sound of the interconnects, but not yet sold on the speaker cables. Not loving the 6db attenuation though…but can live with it as long as I don't destroy my CJ gear

[Joe Appierto]

Originally Posted by CJinSC

Joe, these cables are brand new & have roughly 10 hours of use on them. Maybe when broken in they will sound fuller in the bass. The dealer said they need 100 hours to break in. What caused you to move on from the Magnans? I love the sound of the interconnects, but not yet sold on the speaker cables. Not loving the 6db attenuation though…but can live with it as long as I don't destroy my CJ gear

Audiophilia nervosa. Seriously, in many ways the Magnan Signature were unparalleled IMO. Imaging was three dimensional and voices especially were lifelike. Eventually I moved into other directions and tried Nordost and XLO. I'm still using some of the XLO interconnects (Signature 1.1 and 3.1) but of late, I've been especially keen on Acoustic Revive and find they have many of the same characteristics as the Magnan: dimensional images and a naturalness on both voices and instrumentation. So, maybe I've come full circle.

I used both the Magnan Signature and Type Vi interconnects and preferred the former but didn't want to use more than one in my system for just the reason you cite: signal attenuation. Haven't heard the present models so maybe I'm speaking out of school.

Give the speaker cables some time because if the modern incarnation holds to the originals, and I'm betting they do, you're going to be very satisfied with them in general and with the bass response as well.