Axiom Home Page Forums General Discussion What's New At Axiom LFR1100 Active

I'm eventually going to replace the passive M5s with active M5s in the living room. I'll be using an ADA-1000-6 and a DSP that hopefully incorporates at least one subwoofer output. If the active LFR1100s are so much better than the active M5s, I will seriously consider upgrading the active M5s.

If those active M5s were available today, I'd buy them. Is there anyone else out there interested in these?

think if you really like the active LFR1100 that you maybe better off going to an active LFR660 then a active M5 (if they show up in the future).

That's a good thought Rich but I don't think Axiom will develop an active LFR660 or active M60. BTW, the active LFR660 would need as many amp channels as the active LFR1100.

I'm not sure I'd even try an active M60. John said he liked his M5 better than his M60. I can't explain it and I have no data or listening impressions to go by but I have this gut feel the M5 sounds more refined than the M60.

I have no doubt BTW I will like the actives more than any other speaker I've heard. I don't know however if they will fully satisfy my need for deep, wide and 3D-like soundstage with pin-point imaging. So I hope Axiom is working on the active LFR1100 successor. :p

Think Axiom could do well if for under a $1K they came out with a 10 channel amp that's sub 100W/channel.

If one did 75W/channel continuous into 8 ohms, all channels driven then the 4 ohm woofers could steal extra current from the other channels if they needed it (for 150W continuous or more depending on the Voltage on the rails). Given the extra efficiencies of active speakers I think this would be a great trade off ... and ...

I bet it would satisfy 95% of the people out there (i.e. those who listen at reasonable levels in moderately sized rooms) ...

Note: IMO this would be more power then 99% of receivers "spec'ed" in the 125W/150W range (it's amazing how one can get 100W/ch, 2 channels driven with a power draw at the wall of 60W ... one of the more egregious specs I've seen)

As a side note for Ian and Andrew (and I expect that they know this already) ... There are many really good inexpensive chips (like the TDA3255) which can do 2ch/chip at 100-125Watts ... and if your willing to drop down to half that ... 4ch/chip ... most of the cost in a unit like this is in the power supply ...

For a full-on experience, you need:

HP drivers: 700W x 2 channels --> 65V rails into 3 Ohms
mids: 175W x 4 channels --> 46V rails into 6 Ohms
highs: 30W x 4 channels --> 16V rails into 4 Ohms

That's a 2.5KW toroid to do the above and you are approaching the limit of a 20A outlet. The toroidal transformer cost for that beast alone is 300 bucks in large quantities.

Now if you are using a sub to off-load the LFRs, the equation changes quite a bit. You could probably get away with 50W x 2 for the HP drivers and go with a toroid of the size in the 1000.

It can't be done for $1000 and be profitable. Andrew, prove me wrong.

On the surface, that TPA-3255 chip looks absolutely awesome! And it's less than 10 bucks for 2000 pieces. I think Andrew should dig into that one.

Mojo, you have a way of twisting statements ...
I’m stating that a compermise amp may enable more people to try a smaller A-LFR like an active LFR660. And suggesting that for most people who are not going to crank their system it maybe a plausible way to make the jump. So ...

10 channels at a nominal 75 watts a piece would probably take a 900 to a 1000 watt supply.
There are other trade offs to save money like lowering the headroom to 2x instead of 3x. Or going with a really good switching supply keeping some extra storage capacity.for both headroom and extra filtering.. lower rails means lower heat and smaller heat sinks ... etc etc

Agreed, Rich.

I calculated I need no more than 446 peak Watts per channel in my large room at a 12 foot MLP.

There could be significant savings by combining the DSPs and "lesser" amps directly into the speaker. If Axiom can drive significant volumes, the A/Ds, D/As and DSPs can all be FPGAd.