Maxx3 ideal for home theater

[Charles]

All of you by now may know my saga over the last 3 years. Finally, I think I may have things sorted out. This has resulted in some interesting happenings. I'll tell you about the latest one. I occasionally watch a Blue Ray movie. The latest one was Transformers Extinction. Ok, I like Optimus Prime. I admit it. So I'm about 3/4 way through the movie admiring the incredible sound effects and the earth shaking bass. I'm thinking, "Man, my Thor is working overtime in this movie." I looked at my 601 thinking the needles would be moving up to at least 6 watts. They weren't moving at all. Then it dawned that the crossover wasn't even on. I was only hearing the Maxx3 woofers. Of course, previously with everything going through the crossover if its not on, I got no sound. One of the reasons the XLF was developed was that the Maxx3 actually had more and deeper bass than the Alexandria in some rooms.

Also, at this point I must conclude my crossover might be defective. I have had no "glitch" since the Maxx3 has been run from Main 2 full range. I must conclude it was not the MCD1100. How could it be? It is proximal to the crossover. I am going to listen to computer audio for a month or two. If no more "glitch" I believe it must go to Wilson to be examined. I want a fully functioning piece of equipment. But if not the MCD1100 re-clocking, why just through the computer? I have a mystery in my system. Also, I cannot tell you how much better the Maxxes sound. If everything had glitched I'd know it was the crossover, but apart from computer audio, nothing did. We never think about crossovers going bad but I have been like a person being cooked in a pot of water very gradually increasing in temperature, until all of a sudden he becomes aware of it. I can't believe this is what my system sounded like 3 years ago with the crossover in. I initially listened to my system both ways and decided I liked the sound in a fully active implementation. In the meantime I upgraded from USB 1.0 to 2.0. I am writing this rather long winded discussion in the hope of helping someone else who might be experiencing a similar problem.

[BillK]

Since it was a Blu-ray, are you sure that your processor wasn't only sending the Thor the LFE signal and sending a full range L/R signal to your Maxxes?

Your local crossover wouldn't have anything to do with it; it would all be dealt with in the Blu-ray player or surround processor.

[Charles]

Originally Posted by BillK

Since it was a Blu-ray, are you sure that your processor wasn't only sending the Thor the LFE signal and sending a full range L/R signal to your Maxxes?

Your local crossover wouldn't have anything to do with it; it would all be dealt with in the Blu-ray player or surround processor.

The Maxxes receive the whole signal. So does the sub of course with the LP in. I don't have a surround processor. I'm not in to movies very much but it is surprising how good movies sound through my "music" system. I have had several glitches listening to computer audio. This is a relief. I believe the crossover is functioning properly. Looking back on my whole ordeal, I was absolutely convinced the correct way to run a sub was with an excellent electronic crossover and run it fully active HP/LP implementation. I was incorrect. I should have listened to Wilson. For my system the "augmentation" implementation is much better. Subs like the Thor make a tremendous "change" to a speaker like the Maxx3. Meanwhile, I upgraded to USB 2.0 with my MCD1100 and had a tweeter go bad in my right channel. This created so many variables my ears were totally confused. Truthfully, I was seriously thinking about trading my Maxxes for another speaker or just getting out of the high end audio altogether. Especially, after listening to the ML Ethos. I knew something was wrong and I was tired of fighting it. I think my ordeal shows just how careful one should be to attributing a change in sound to a particular driver like a tweeter or midrange. It may be for example the way the new speaker's impedance is interacting with the amp. I would be interested to hear from Magico owners who have added Qsubs to their Magicos. Are they running an active implementation or augmentation? Is Toga with his new subs experimenting with his Q7s as to which is better?