Confused on MonoBlock

[petenad]

Am I right to assume that a Monoblock is only to run one speaker? As in that's why they call it a mono block? Or can you run two speakers off it like this one http://emotiva.com/xpa1.shtm Is the two connections in the back to biamp or bi wire the one speaker?

[naturephoto1]

Originally Posted by petenad

Am I right to assume that a Monoblock is only to run one speaker? As in that's why they call it a mono block? Or can you run two speakers off it like this one http://emotiva.com/xpa1.shtm Is the two connections in the back to biamp or bi wire the one speaker?

Yes a monoblock amp is for driving a single speaker. The speaker connectors on the back of the amp in question should be set up for the purpose of bi-wiring a single speaker. But follow the instructions for the amp. I glanced at the instructions and the amp is only designed for 8 and 4 ohms. They indicate not to stack 2 banana plugs since this is in parallel and would result in lower than 4 ohms, quite possibly 2 ohms which would damage the amp.

As an example, my much more expensive Aragon Palladium 1K amps can go down to 2 ohms. Some of the more expensive amps by Krell as an example used to be able to go down to 1 ohm, but I am not sure if they are still designed to play such low impedance.

In order to bi-amp you would require 2 amps per speaker and depending upon the set-up it would done as either a passive or an active bi-amp method.

Rich

[petenad]

Thanks Rich you answered my question.

[Big Daddy]

Some monoblock amplifiers are priced reasonably low. These are a few examples from High End Palace.

The new XA-8800 MNE Mono Blocks (200 Watts Per Channel 8 Ohms and 400 Watts Per Channel 4 Ohms) have an introduction pricing of $1295.00 each. The matching preamp for these mono blocks are also $1295 each.

The new XA-8800 MNu Mono Blocks (160 Watt Per Channel in 8 Ohms and 320W Watt Per Channel in 4 Ohms) have an introduction pricing of $895.00 each

[zicmubleu]

Those monoblocks are well above my price range but that one you have opened up certainly looks substantial compared to the subwoofer plate amps I was looking at. My real question: what is the balanced input vs the coax input? Obviously they are designed for different cables but is there a difference in power levels, maybe the balanced is not a ground shield type cable, etc.?

Frys has a Velodyne 150W powered 10" sub on sale for $129, I am thinking of getting that and using the amp for at least a short term approach. But if the Velodynes sound really good maybe I will just stick with them as is, but I really want to build my own speaker cabinets. I need to refresh my memory on speaker enclosure design, all I remember is that you try to avoid parallel surfaces, but maybe that is not important if you have enough sound dampening material.

[Opips2]

I'm curious, I'm stupid...

If centre speaker is 400 watts at 6 ohms impedance, monoblocks amp spec 200 watts at 8 ohms and 320 watts at 4 ohms.

it would full power amp 320 watts at 4ohms or less power like 200 watts at 8 ohms?

[naturephoto1]

Originally Posted by zicmubleu

Those monoblocks are well above my price range but that one you have opened up certainly looks substantial compared to the subwoofer plate amps I was looking at. My real question: what is the balanced input vs the coax input? Obviously they are designed for different cables but is there a difference in power levels, maybe the balanced is not a ground shield type cable, etc.?

Frys has a Velodyne 150W powered 10" sub on sale for $129, I am thinking of getting that and using the amp for at least a short term approach. But if the Velodynes sound really good maybe I will just stick with them as is, but I really want to build my own speaker cabinets. I need to refresh my memory on speaker enclosure design, all I remember is that you try to avoid parallel surfaces, but maybe that is not important if you have enough sound dampening material.

Most subwoofer plate type amps are a Class D design. The amp posted above as are many other high end amps are Class B and/or Class A (top one is a Class A). Class A run very hot and tend to be the most expensive. Many of the better class "B" amps are actually Class A/B that switch from a class A at a certain wattage output to a class B. Class A, Class B, and Class A/B amps are generally considerably larger than Class D amps due to the design as well as the large transformers.

The connections on the back of the pictured amp are for XLR/Balanced cables and the second connection is for single ended RCA cables. The XLR connectors normally have a lower background floor level and as much as 4 to 6dB louder output than the RCA connectors.

Rich

[zicmubleu]

Thanks naturephoto1. A brief trip to wikipedia on XLR explained a lot to me, even the look of the internals of the monoblock amplifier. I am very relieved to see the concept of balanced, impedance matching and shielded being used afer reading so many posts on RCA Y-cables yesterday, life has returned to normal. The amp layout is obviously a balanced design, mirror halves. Many pixels to you.

[zicmubleu]

Originally Posted by Opips2

I'm curious, I'm stupid...

If centre speaker is 400 watts at 6 ohms impedance, monoblocks amp spec 200 watts at 8 ohms and 320 watts at 4 ohms.

it would full power amp 320 watts at 4ohms or less power like 200 watts at 8 ohms?

I would think it would fall somewhere inbetween, roughly 250 watts power available. But I am assuming you are saying your center speaker handles 400 watts.

[bigred7078]

Originally Posted by naturephoto1

Yes a monoblock amp is for driving a single speaker. The speaker connectors on the back of the amp in question should be set up for the purpose of bi-wiring a single speaker. But follow the instructions for the amp. I glanced at the instructions and the amp is only designed for 8 and 4 ohms. They indicate not to stack 2 banana plugs since this is in parallel and would result in lower than 4 ohms, quite possibly 2 ohms which would damage the amp.

As an example, my much more expensive Aragon Palladium 1K amps can go down to 2 ohms. Some of the more expensive amps by Krell as an example used to be able to go down to 1 ohm, but I am not sure if they are still designed to play such low impedance.

In order to bi-amp you would require 2 amps per speaker and depending upon the set-up it would done as either a passive or an active bi-amp method.

Rich

the XPA-1 is stable down to 2ohms FYI