Jonathan's Toys
Audio / Video / Cars / Gadgets
The ideal equipment to drive Martin Logan speakers is the right mix of front end processor quality and back end amplifier muscle balanced by tools for room correction and time alignment.
Since no one really makes a processor that meets all my criteria (although the 861 from Meridian sure comes close), I have a somewhat complex system.
Processor
At
the heart of his system is the wonderful
Meridian 568 surround
processor.
This unit has the world's best synthesized soundfields, with the exclusive Trifield being the best for enhancing the reproduction from two channel audio sources.
Its implementation of Dolby Digital and DTS is excellent, much preferred to the 'canned' chip implementations other processors use.
Read the rave reviews of the benchmark processor: By John Kotches for WidescreenReview, and the one at Secrets of High Fidelity
And for those
Highlights of this processor are:
- Fully digital signal processing
- Dolby Pro-Logic and Prologic IIx decoding in the digital domain
- THX certified with THX DD and DTS modes
- Eight Digital or Analogue outputs
- Ambisonics decoding
- Trifield soundfield processing
- Dolby Digital with EX support
- DTS
- Upsampling inputs with Jitter reduction
- 7.1 outputs with support for steered sides and rears
- Time aligned speaker outputs
In addition to the 568, I have a Meridian 518 processor to handle de-jittering the various DVR box digital audio outputs. Review of the 518 here.
Amplifiers
Driving
all those speakers is a ton
(well not quite, just about 324 pounds and 15 channels worth) of
amplifiers. Driving the panels of the
Monoliths, the panel of the
SL3XC center channel and the rear
Sequels is the powerhouse Sunfire
Cinema Grand Signature amp. This five channel amp delivers 810w/ch
into the ~4 Ohm MartinLogans. Featuring a Load invariant
design, the Sunfire can (and does) deliver as much as 1,620 w/ch
into the demanding impedance load of the MartinLogans. However, more
important than watts is the Sunfires ability to deliver up to 120
amps of current to speaker loads. And since electrostats are current
driven, the Sunfire is a great match.
The Infinite Baffle subwoofer is powered by a 1,200 watt Crown XLS602 pro-sound amp, with inputs from the mixer and active external crossovers as described by the bass management page.
Source Routers
Since the
S-Video is scaled by the HTPC for display on the projectors using
the
Immersive H3D scaler card and software.
And now that I have three HDMI devices, I also use a 5x1 HDMI switcher with remote control.
The
With its remote controllable switcher and volume control, it
integrates wonderfully with the system.
An Audio Authority 1177 digital audio autoswitcher / converter was added to handle more than one optical input into the 568/518. It now switches audio between several DVR's .
Signal Processors
The
best crossover for any speaker is an active crossover. After playing
with a few active pro-gear analog crossovers with decent results, I
went for the best speaker manager unit out there (in early '03).
This is the DBX
DriveRack 260.
In my rig, I use it to replace the factory passive 2-way crossover
in the Monoliths. For around $900 it is an amazing value, and made a
huge difference in the soundstage presentation from the
Monoliths. I attribute this to the (better) phase coherence of an
electronic crossover and the steeper slopes achievable in this unit.
Additionally, the ability to fine tune the crossover points, filter
types, phase, timing and individual gain for each output is a
winner. Oh, and it's a gangbusters EQ as well, with several
parametrics to play with. Bonus is a Sub-harmonic synthesizer for
those old bass-shy recordings.
Using its balanced outputs to feed the Sunfire also helps further
lower noise floors.
This has been one of the best tweaks I've ever done, probably the
best bang for the buck in a while.
And when I needed another speaker processor for the new center channel SL3XC, I also used another DriveRack 260.
When I added DVD-Audio playback back in 2001, I had to deal with the fact that one really needs external bass management solutions, as few DVD-A players integrate good solutions. Therefore a Behringer DCX-2496 and an MX882 mixer were added to the mix to handle the redirection of bass for the surround channels.
Since the nastiest room modes are those created by low frequencies, I use a Behringer Feedback Destroyer Pro 12 band stereo parametric EQ for the subwoofers. This allows extremely fine grain control over the inevitable humps and dips in the low frequencies.
Just to prove I can go totally overboard on processing, I also use one channel of the DriveRack260 for the center to provide discreet time delay signals and EQ to the tactile transducers. This is required due to the time differential between speed of sound and direct transduction. So I add an 12 millisecond delay to the transducers so they 'synch-up' with the sound waves arriving from the speakers.
To adjust all of the above, one needs to use real pro-level tool, such as the ETF 5 product, which generates the appropriate test tones, and using a calibrated Mic, analyses the results. The ability to sit in the room and do real-time measurement and adjustments of EQ's, crossovers and delay's is awesome. Highly recommended for really getting it right.
Source Devices
The system has the following sources:
- Universal player (CD/DVD/SACD/DVD-A): Denon DVD2900
- HD-DVD player: Toshiba HD-A1
- BluRay Player: Sony PS3
- Home Theater PC
- SACD and PAL DVD player: Philips DVD-795SA
- Laser Disc player: Pioneer Elite CLD-97
- S-VHS VideoCassette: RCA VR730HF
- DSS / TiVo Philips DSR7000 DirecTiVo w/120 GB (107Hrs)
- HDTV Digital Satellite System:
- Hughes HD10-250 HighDef DirecTiVo
- DirecTV HR20-700 HighDef DVR
Click for full size image
Topics:
Bass Management
Sites:
Meridian Owners
Martin Logan Owners
AVS Forum
Cult of the Infinitely Baffled