Couple of Amp setup questions

[admin_exported]

Hi, My setup is very budget compared to the regulars on this forum, but everyone has to start somewhere! CA Azur 540a Mk2 integrated amp, CA P500 power amp, Gale 4040 speakers (no dedicated CD player yet - cheap DVD player doing the job poorly).

I bought the P500 from eBay to give the 540 a bit more beef in my long narrow listening room – it has, a little – currently setup as “single amped” (540 to P500 via pre out, speakers connected to P500) and “single wired”. I plan to bi-amp in the short term, but that’s not my question.

1) My first question is just to fill a gap in my understanding (having searched this forum for previous posts):

With my current setup (i.e. “single amped”), do any of the 60WPC power from the 540 contribute to what the speakers are producing? Or am I simply hearing the 65WPC from the P500?

2) My second question is of particular interest to my in my quest for a more “full” sound at higher volumes in my volume-sapping listening room:

As well as signal inputs, my P500 has a set of output terminals. If I had another P500, could I use these outputs to daisy chain the two, effectively doubling the power output to 120WPC? (so 540 linked by pre out to P500a linked to P500b)?

I look forward to your comments.

Thanks,

Jules

 

[Anonymous]

Hey Jules,

I had a CA C500 & 2 P500's so can comment on your set up...

Your Azure540 will have a 'pre-out', which is where you have connected your P500, so you have effectively reduced your 540 to a pre-amp - it controls which source you are listening to, and volume, tone and balance. From there, the signal is sent to your P500, where it gets amplified and sent to your speakers, because presumably your speakers are only connected to the P500?... At least i can't see why you would still have them connected to your 540?

The C500 had 2 pre-outs, the idea being you can run a bi-amped set up if you so wished. You could run independent cables into amp1 and into amp2, them being wired in parallel - or you could, if using P500's, run them in a serial configuration, output 1 to amp 1, then the output of amp1 into amp2's input. If you get me? You would have to run them in series as your 540 only has one pre-out.

You wont double the power of the P500's though. When Bi-amped you can connect them like 'mono-blocks', and run left speaker from amp1, and right from amp2 for example, and each speaker will receive a dedicated 55W @ 6ohms.
Cambridge Audio actually recommend running them slightly differently, with one P500 being used for bass to both speakers and the other P500 for treble to both.

I hope this has helped and not just confused the hell out of you hehe

Neil.

 

[Anonymous]

Hi,

Thanks for the response.

Surely if you ran 2 P500s in series you would get something close to twice the power of using a single P500?

Azur 540 --> P500 --> P500 --> speakers = 2 x P500 Power?

I understand that if you ran 2 P500s in paralell from the 540 (one for LF one for HF) you wouldn't increase the power.

How would you connect the speakers if you used two P500s as mono blocks? Would you need to bridge the L and R speaker terminals of each P500?

Thanks,

Jules

 

[fatboyslimfast]

[quote user="jbadman"]
Surely if you ran 2 P500s in series you would get something close to twice the power of using a single P500?

Azur 540 --> P500 --> P500 --> speakers = 2 x P500 Power?
[/quote]
erm nope. It doesn't work that way, and you would almost certainly blow the P500 at the end of the chain...

By running the two in parallel, although the total power would be similar, the amps are only having to run the load of either a LF or HF unit, not both, which generally allows for a more punchy powerful sounding erm sound.

But whatever you do, don't go connecting the output of 1 P500 into the input of another. That would be a very expensive mistake...
FBSF.

 

[Anonymous]

[quote user="fatboyslimfast"]But whatever you do, don't go connecting the output of 1 P500 into the input of another. That would be a very expensive mistake...[/quote]

So what's the output on a P500 Power Amp for then?

Thanks

 

[fatboyslimfast]

Sorry - misunderstood. I was (perhaps slightly patronisingly - which was not the intention) thinking you meant the speaker outputs!!!

If there is a set of phono-type outputs, then it will be for bi-amping (if the pre-amp only has a single set of outputs). This won't add to the power, merely allowing another amp to be connected - it will be at the same level as the pre-out...

 

[Anonymous]

Not at all - my original post was somewhat waffled.

Ohhh I see - so to confirm my understanding:

The output on a P500 is merely "pass through" of the pre-out signal fed in from the pre amp - basically eliminating the need to use Y connectors should you want to bi-amp when only one pre-out is available?

 

[fatboyslimfast]

Yes - the amp lists itself as "Bi-amp capable", so you are quite correct in your understanding!

 

[Anonymous]

Thanks for clearing that up!

So, how would you mono block these amps then - surely that would effecitvely give twice the power?

I understand you could use Y connectors from the pre-out of the pre amp to split the left channel into one P500 and the right channel into the other, but how would you connect the speakers to the P500s?

Is is simply a case of using the LH speaker terminal of the "Left channel P500" and vice versa?

To my mind this doesn't make sense... surely you'd need to bridge the speaker terminals of each P500 somehow?

 

[fatboyslimfast]

erm, you don't I'm afraid - a power amp has to be designed to be "bridged", and the P500 wasn't...

 

[fatboyslimfast]

As an aside (and I know you mentioned this at the start), I would use the speaker outputs of the 540 to power the HF units of the speakers, and the speaker outputs of the P500 to power the LF units - I think you will be plesantly suprised by the improvement...

 

[Anonymous]

Fair enough... I figured that maybe the case.

So, in a mono-blockable amp how does it work.... do you flick a switch (or whatever) and then internally the 2 channel power is directed via on channel in series giving twice the power?

 

[fatboyslimfast]

There is normally, as you say, a switch on the back that puts the amp into "bridged" mode, and the manual will explain how to connect the speakers. It does vary from manufacturer to manufacturer though.

I just wish I could get sign off from her indoors to get a bi-amp setup (sniff)...

 

[Anonymous]

Thanks for the insight.

I'm looking for more power to give decent quality sound at high volumes.... in my horrible shaped room (Speakers about 15ft away from sofa, in an offset alcove).

I get a pleasing sound, but when you really want to go for it or if you've got a load of people in a party situation it runs out of puff way too early.

Im the sort of person who needs the maximum of anything to be way more that I need - it's like a car - I don't need the turbo charged version - the 2 litre would be ample for a family estate, but it's nice to know the power is there should you occasionally need it, and every so often it's great to sample it just for the excitment. I want the same for my HiFi. You know?!

Now then... about that Roksan Kandy on ebay.... 120WPC out to sort things out a bit!

In the mean time, I'll bi-amp using the Azur 540 for HF and P500 for LF.