Axiom Home Page Forums General Discussion Stereo LFR1100 actives

Hi all!

Am considering the purchase of lfr1100 actives. If I am sitting 9 feet away from the actives in a 12 x 24 foot room, woud 2 ada1000-5s be enough application? Thanks for and help.

Absolutely. I'm powering M5's with an ADA1000 in a similar sized room and never run out of power. The LFR1100 Actives are more sensitive, and you're putting 5 channels into each.

Thanks much bman84!

I believe your only reason to go ADA1250-5 would be looking for the lowest possible noise floor.

Andrew stated in his recommendation thread: “As for which type of interconnects to use, we strongly suggest using balanced XLR connections if both your pre-amp/processor/receiver and your amplifier(s) have them available.“

In addition to that, craigsub had this to say in another thread: “We went with XLR's - there is noticeable "deeper blackness" to the overall presentation vs. RCA's - a clear indication of a lower noise floor.”

I don’t believe amplification would be an issue.

Steve - To echo what everyone has already said - the ADA-1000's will kick serious ... power.

Great point. It may be worth it to get the 1250s just for the XLR connections. The ADA1000 only has RCA inputs.

An MLP of 9 feet can instantly phase your cochleas from solid to puddly goo so be careful with the volume control.

Hi All,

Actives on order, the wait is almost to hard to take. My receiver is a denon x6500h and I will be using it's preouts to connect to two new ada1000-5s. Should I set the ohm setting to 4 on the receiver or leave it on the 8 setting? Does it even matter?

Thanks for any help,

Steve

It matters not for the Ohm setting is for speaker outputs and you will be liquefying your cochleas via your pre-outs.

Agree with Mojo and more specifically, your Denon pre-outs will actually be going to the DSPs and the DSPs will be going to your ADA1000-5s.

does anyone find it amusing that with 1000W continuous (3000 dynamic?) per speaker that this question needs to be asked ... ahhh assuming your not planning party at a lake house.

Mojo, what would you say be the dbSPL of 1000W into an active at 9 feet

118dB. In my 1900 cu.ft. living room, at 10 feet away, on a 1000-8 and a 1000-2, I had them up to 116dBC and that was at -12 on my pre-amp. I don't know how much more the ADAs could handle before self-protecting. In that environment, I listened at -34.

I say again, they are a WAD (Weapon of Aural Destruction). You can destroy your hearing and vestibular senses very quickly and before you know it. If you listen to high dynamic range recordings at a few nominal Watts, the peaks will crush you.

Don't know much about good old ohms
Don't know much about big old cones
Don't know much about mighty old watts
Don't know much about mini old pots

But I do know that I love Axioms much
And I do know if all loved Axioms such
What a wonderful world this would be

Thanks to all and Sam Cook for the help!

Ian sent pictures of a pair of LFR1100As in piano finished rosewood. LFRs and a pair of matching EP600s getting closer!

Anticipation!

Hmmmm...some artistic competition.

Pics please, Philip. I'm debating upgrading my dual 500s to dual 600s.

Will do Mr. Mojo. Should be great. My neighbor has already commented on how good the EP500s sound. Interesting how she smiled through her tears though.

Nice one Mr. Hunt!

Now that ancient tune is stuck in my head.

Sorry about that 2x6spds but at least it's a good tune. I was wondering if anyone would get it!

This made me want to watch Animal House again!

Think it was in Witness too when he danced with her in the barn!

Yes, Steve, it is a great tune. A song of its age, a different time.

that's up in the loud rock concert territory ...

Note: common opinion is that prolonged exposure to sounds over 85db can cause hearing loss. Where prolonged means >8hour a day. The louder something is the shorter the exposure needed to make it permanent. charts give 110db for 2min before loss can occur. Just an FYI for those who like to continue their listening enjoyment for years to come.

That said ... hitting 120db for a second or two of dynamics is acceptable in my book ... but you wouldn't want to go much higher or longer ...

Keep in mind my SPL meter likely is not sampling the true peak.

For those who've gotten the Actives, do you have dedicated circuits going to the different amps powering them?

I currently have three dedicated circuits in my HT equipment closet, one feeding the networking and PC devices, another feeding my AV receiver, game consoles, UHD Blu-ray player, streaming devices, and Buttkicker amp, with the final one covering the two Axiom amps I currently have, an ADA1500-4 and ADA1000-4. With the new Actives, I'll be getting two more ADA1500-5s. They won't be residing in the closet since 1) I don't have enough space left to accommodate 2 more amps and DSPs, and 2) the cabling will be easier to do closer to the speakers. However, this means the amps won't be on dedicated circuits, and if I plug in to the nearest receptacles, they'll be on the same circuit as both EP800s. Running dedicated circuits all the way down will be a real chore at this point, but I think it would be easy enough to get them within range of then running power strips to where they are.

What have you done in your setups?

I am running the following from a single 15A, 120V circuit with multiple outlets in my 4200 cu. ft. room. I've monitored for sags at sound levels which are absolutely intolerable and there are none. How can this be possible? Music is dynamic, the dynamics are partially powered from half a Farad of capacitance and the Axiom amps get more efficient with higher demand:

- 55" TV
- Playstation
- Cable modem
- Wireless router
- Firestick
- Onkyo receiver
- active LFR1100 powered by 1000-8, 1500-3 (includes DSPs)
- 160 fed by one channel of the 1500-3
- QS10×2 fed by 1000-2
- 500x2
- 800

Whoa. And here I was worried about only having dual 20A circuits to power my ADA1000's, Anthem 720, and UHD player.

Your 1000 is barely working in your room. It's mostly heating your room rather than powering your speakers.

Good to know, Mojo. I was hoping you'd be able to tell me the capacitance for dynamics made it a non-factor. I'll still keep them off the circuit the EP800s are on, but I won't feel pressed to add more dedicated circuits. Hopefully no ground loop issues arise.

If anything, you're more likely to experience ground loops by adding circuits.

I can tell you the SPL in my 4200 cu.ft. room becomes unbearable very quickly. This isn't just the result of the actives. The triple sealed subs in the room pressurize it to uncomfortable levels even at low volumes. It would be even worse if the room was sealed. This is a relatively new experience for me as of a couple of weeks ago when I managed to sync all my subs and the mains. I am finding I'm listening to music and movies at around -25 to -30 from 15 feet away. With the M100 and single 800, I was listening at about -15 to -20 and with the M5s at -5 to -10. I have a ridiculous amount of headroom that if ever fully utilized, would surely send me to emergency.

Hi again All,

Am waiting anxiously for my actives and in the meantime have been thinking about setup. I will mostly use them for music in a 2.1 setup. If I were to add surrounds for occasional tv and blue ray movies, would axiom m2s work ok or would I have to get m5hps because of the actives? Also, would I need a center speaker?

Thanks much!

For movies it is ideal to have a center channel speaker as that is where the dialog comes from. The two front speakers can create a "phantom" speaker if you don't have a center, but for true movieoholics you need a center. You could use M2s for left/right channels in a 5.1 setup, or 4 if your going to have 7 left/right/ and left rear/right rear. The next step is Atmos and adding ceiling speakers.

It is addicting...

I have found a center to be a "must" even with actives. I've tried listening from many different positions in two different rooms and the results are the same; a center is required. Get the 160.

As for surrounds, I recommend the QS10s. They are linear enough right down to 40Hz at high SPLs for surround duty.

Thanks Guys!

This is addicting and my brain is in overdrive.

So much to know, but it is fun.

Don't use QS10 surrounds if you're going full Atmos. The Atmos spec is built around direct firing (monopole) speakers.

If you are only interested in five surround channels, then Atmos provides no benefit and QS10s are the way to go. I think any Atmos track will just be presented in TrueHD without overhead speakers.

You might want to read my review (the first one) of the QS10 at the link below.

https://www.axiomaudio.com/qs10-surround-sound-speakers

Agreed, QS10 is best if you're wanting to do old school 5.1.

Receivers/processors will only decode Atmos if overheads are present.

I am quite sure a blast from twin active LFR1100s connected to ten ADA-1500s can de-link the polyproteins found in the novel coronavirus and cure anyone.

Cool obliterate the virus with SPL.

I've been saying Alcoholics beware Corona is a killer. In more senses than a virus.

Yeah, it's a funny old world.

At the risk of nitpicking, IIRC the bass channel is 4 ohm and the rest are 8 ohm, so max continuous power would be 250W bass plus 4x 125W for the rest, or 750W, assuming each channel happened to draw the maximum spec'ed power from the amp (which is incredibly unlikely).

That said, your question is just as valid if you replace 1000W with 750W...

... and we'll probably use about 10W most of the time.

EDIT - I don't believe Mojo is quarantined... he's just self-isolating so he can spend more time re-arranging speakers.

Each tweeter array is 4 Ohms, the mid-woofers are 6 and the woofers are 3.8.

Unless you're into flutes, oboes and lyres, typical music is 60% bass, 30% mids and 10% highs. At peak power levels, which is what really matters, those percentages translate to 1800W for the woofers, 900W for the mids and 300W for the tweeters for an available two-channel peak power of 3000W. For this example, a single 1000-8 can source the power for the mids and tweeters. As for the woofers, a 1000-2 with a 600 or 800 can do the job. I'm not sure about a single 500 but duals for sure.

It's an academic discussion because this much power is atypical. I doubt very much if my system has ever exceeded 70W peak per side during movies or music for the mids and tweeters. The bass however may have reached a lot higher with movie effects. Cleaner, lower power, lower cost amplification for the actives would be a very good thing.

I'm doing my part as a good citizen by quarantining myself to prevent infection and transmission. I don't dare touch my holy speakers lest I infect them.

Are you self-quarantined because of a case of Audio Obsession? Maybe I caught it from someone back when?

Should I self-quarantine as well?

Yes, you should. You can use e-mail, Zoom, WebEx or Skype. And don't touch any of your audio equipment!

But, but ... if I'm self quarantined, I need my audio equipment. I suppose I could wear gloves or something, eh?

You could but touch the audio equipment before touching yourself. BTW, cerveza virus can last up to 7 days on gloves unless they're made of cardboard or copper. Only 24 hours on cardboard and 8 hours on copper.

I found out today the majestic, large software factory where I work is contaminated. We have a few hundred in there. I haven't been there in 2 weeks.

Uh oh, I drank a Corona Cerveza, maybe the lime saved me.

Philip, you know that I know you've been caressing your gear. You gotta stop that!

I do admit I like to rub the hexagonal sides of my M2OW in hope of Jeannie smoking out from one of its smoothly-contoured sphincters. I'd give her something to think and blink about.