zumbini

Many speakers have impedance curves that bottom out under 3 ohms. The important consideration is how wide a frequency range is affected. If it's only a narrow peak below 3 ohms I wouldn't be too concerned about it. As to optimizing the use of your MKII's there are (at least) two ways to look at it. 1. Take advantage of their clarity and soundstage by using them on the highs and/or mids. 2. Take advantage of the available power by using them to drive the (sub)woofers. IIWY I would try both scenarios, or even a mix of both, and see which gives the best result. FYI - The different sensitivities won't be much of an issue if you bi-amp horizontally. (i.e. one amp drives the left and right tweeters; the other drives the left and right mids) This is assuming that you have a way to balance the gain of each frequency range. BTW - I currently use a trio of M-500's in my main system (two M-500t's; one M-500). One "t" drives the tweeters, one "t" drives the dual mids, the non-t drives the dual subs in mono.My M-1.0t is being MKII'd as we speak so I've been giving lots of thought to how to use it. I'm thinking M-500 on the tweets; M-1.0t MKII on the mids and M-500t's bridged in mono on the subs.

Well then, check out the Sunfire True Sub MKII or another of it's powered siblings. The small size, built-in 2700w plate amp and adjustable crossover make integration easy. Just plug it in and run an RCA cable from one of your preamp outputs to the subs inputs. You should be able to pick one up used for around $600.

Nice job Rob. If the wind is blowing south tomorrow point them my way and crank 'em up.

Howdy Bob and welcome to the forum.

EXCELLENT! Thanks Martin

It's your call but the DTL-200 is the same color (brushed aluminum), width (19") and has the same handles as your 900. (My DTL-50 is anthracite and is only 17 1/4" wide.) Here's my DTL-50 sitting on top of an MXR-130 I picked up recently. Here's the DTL-200MK2 sitting under an M-1.0t and CT-Seven (This is my son's system.)

SWEET! Those Altec's bring back a lot of memories. (I drooled over a pair for many years.) You mentioned adding a DTL-50 but I think a DTL-200MK2 would be a better cosmetic match to your 900. Both are old technology but mine sound pretty good run through a tube buffer to tame the brassy high end. This is the DTL-50 This is the DTL-200

I like Road Angel and Another Park, Another Sunday too. Throw in Arlo Guthrie (harmonica), Bill Payne (piano), Skunk Baxter (pedal/steel guitar) and the Memphis Horns. How can you NOT like that?

Howdy Matt and welcome to the forum. Glad you found us. Sorry I'm late to the party but I've been without power for the last week due to Hurricane Irene. I'd looked at buying a PT2400 but wound up with a trio of PM1200's for roughly the same cost. I use 2 of them to drive my home subs when they aren't powering my teenage son's PA system. I'm planning to build some PA subs soon. Maybe you could give me some pointers?

Howdy Steve and welcome to the forum. Nice to have you on board. Looks like you figured out how to reply. For more "how to's" see FORUM HELP. You probably contacted BillD via Private Mail which is usually referred to as PM. Damn you have a lot of turntables.....

They are not mine Michael, just something I found while searching the internet. My mains are custom sub/sats from Legacy Audio. (Real-To-Reel Designs when I bought them in 88/89.) I recently put new drivers in the satellites and bi-amped them (tri-amped if you include the subs). The new drivers are 6.5" Kevlar mids with a 1" ribbon tweeter in a D'appolito configuration. (There's also an adjustable 1" dome tweeter on top.)

It's an interesting arrangement (having the crossover mounted externally).

I found a spec sheet for the RTA 12B. If your speakers are similar there may be more to the crossover. Here is an excerpt that describes the crossover.

Not off the top of my head Michael and that CT-Seven is now double-boxed for shipping. Scaling off the 19" faceplate the exposed green rectangle (part of the foil side of the main PCB) is ~5" x 8". (The main PCB is twice that size as it extends under the tuner board all the way to the right side of the case.) I think the issue is going to be overhead clearance (from the foil side of the main PCB to the case). The height of that plug-in resistor network has me concerned and it's not spelled out by Marchand. You will also need to add the height of the standoffs you mount the XO boards on. Perhaps this would be a good time to pop the lid on your CT-Seven and take accurate measurements.

There should be room for a 2" x 3" board but I think you will need two. "One crossover network is needed for each channel of a bi-amplified system." Here are some photos of the interior of one of my CT-Sevens: Top View (there's about an inch of height available above the middle board and between the PSB and tuner boards) Bottom View (no room here)

Beware of OCCD (Obsessive Carver Collecting Disorder)....

There is a button on the back of the CX2300 and CX3400 that multiplies the low XO frequency by 10. I assume the Ashly and Rane units have this flexibility too. Here's a photo of the front panel of my CX3400. Supplementary XO values are in the white boxes.

I picked up a used Behringer CX3400 on ebay for $80 but you can buy a new one for $120. It can be configured for 2 or 3 way stereo or 4 way mono. Some members favor Ashly or Rane which are sturdier but cost a lot more. The problem is that all of these XO's have balanced inputs and outputs so you'll need to convert. Sometimes you can get away with adapter cables but a balance box or balanced preamp is better. I ran an Aphex 124a balance box initially but now use a modified C-11 preamp with balanced outputs. BTW - Unbalanced XO's exist but they are limited to bass only (Audio Control Richter Scale), are hard to find (DBX), or are expensive (Marchand).

Why rebuild the passive XO's? GO ACTIVE YOUNG MAN!

Howdy spagetti68 and welcome to the forum. Hope you enjoy your stay. Sounds like you've been "infected" with OCCD (Obsessive Carver Collecting Disease). In order to answer your question it would be helpful to know what your goal is. If you want to increase your SPL then do what the pros do and more amps and more speakers. (The larger the speaker cone area, the more air it will be able to move.) On the other hand if you are going for quality I would avoid bridging except possibly on the bottom end. (Bridging tends to muddy the soundstage, probably because it creates differences in the signal paths.) In that case you'll be better off adding an active crossover and bi- or tri-amping your speakers. As to whether your speakers can handle the power of a bridged M-1.0t, your friend is probably correct. Besides the 200w/ch/8R OEM rating is well below it's actual power output capability. Just remember that it's just as easy to fry a speaker by driving a small amp into clipping.

Whatever happened to creativity?

I wonder if they make a wide-screen version?

Howdy Mike and welcome to the forum. Thanks for sharing your Carver story with us. How about posting some photos of your pro gear when you get a chance?