Axiom Home Page Forums General Discussion Home Theater One pair or two pairs of M3 ceiling speakers?

Edvacdude, receivers made over the last 20 years have some pretty effective dynamic compression methods implemented. I'd be wondering if that compression is kicking in. The protection circuit on my Onk is quite effective. I can crank it all the way to +15 and my Onk won't shut down or get hot. It's bloody aggravating though!

I really like the protection on the ADAs. It silently turns the channel off and brings it back on when the "overload" has cleared.

I lean towards the 1500 just because I am of the mindset of it's better to have it and not need it vs not having it and needing it. The 1500 although more expensive affords me the flexibility and it gives me more reserve power if it were ever needed. Unfortunately, I haven't had the pleasure of hearing the 1100s but I have been running the 100s full range especially for movies. I sometimes flip between full range and 80hz for music. For studio music I tend to like full range and for live concerts 80hz. Mostly due to the fact I listen to studio on direct setting and live on multi channel surround setting.

That's a great point Mojo. In my prior receiver (Denon 3805, a high current beast), it would get VERY hot at high listening levels, but it would keep on cranking. I sold it after 10 years of use on ebay, and it was working just fine .

I will check the Marantz today to see how 'hot' it gets. Not sure if it does dynamic compression, I will check it out.

The active 1100s are far more linear than the M100s on the low end. Take a look at how Ian tuned them. That makes them excellent, bass-wise, even for smaller rooms like my 1920 cu. ft. living room. The only problem with the smaller rooms is that they may not totally acoustically disappear.

That freakin' active LFR bass man...it was just so unholy in my living room!!! I'll never forget that and neither will all those who listened to them. On the Model C, Ian will have 12" drivers with improved compensation for room sizes and boundaries.

You can easily hear the difference in imaging, bass, mids and treble with the actives vs. the M100s.

You don't need so-called golden ears. And it doesn't take a rocket surgeon to compare the listening window and sound power curves to know that the spinorama for M100s is a roller coaster ride compared to the actives. The M80s are even worse!

The M100s sound so good until you hear the actives. It's all a matter of perspective I suppose.

Most of my freinds, even the ones who claim to want and appreciate great sound, are not willing to sit down and do any critical listening for more then 30 seconds or so. I do think your right in the respect that if they hear the right recording on a great system their ears would perk up ... and perhaps I’d get a “Whoa”

For my family on the other hand sound systems fall into the category of It’s good enough if it fills the room (or in the case of my kids and their iPhone if it’s below 40% THD). They are not interested in sound stage, dynamics, or actuate reproduction. Although, my wife asked me the other day when was I going to fix the setup in the kitchen (M3ic). Maybe things are looking up.

Edvacdude, Marantz claims that receiver can play at 70% of continuous rated power on each channel with every channel driven. That's fine but it's not so much about continuous rated power as it is with peak or dynamic power. You'll never listen to 70 continuous Watts but you may have a need for 320 peak Watts on two or more channels. I'll bet the Marantz or my Onk can't do that. The ADA-1000 can - on up to 8 channels!

Careful. Don't blow it up!

My friends and family were the same way, Rich. Now they demand the same experience I enjoy. Properly placed M100s and M5s are not enough for them. It actually makes me very sad because actives aren't for everyone. There are room and financial constraints.

Yeah... Im not allowed to sell the old surrounds off until the replacements are here. Was going to use the money to put towards them with tax return.

I was warned. “Zero downtime permitted.” Lol.

My replacement ALFRs came yesterday and today I thought I'd get them out of the garage. While at it I thought that you guys might enjoy a picture: