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Seeking advice on purchase of an amp or if I would really need to get another one.

BrentWal

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Dec 28, 2024
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I am currently running a home theatre system with a marantz cinema 50 with an Emotiva DR2 running the front LR and an Emotiva XPA running the other 9 channels. The speakers I am running are monitor audio silver 500 for the fronts and centre silver 100's for the back silver atoms on the fronts and surround speakers and some old mirage for the surround speakers. I have started to listen to a lot of classical music because of apple music from an apple TV 4K directly wired to the internet connection. and I listen to a lot of EDM.
I recently pulled the trigger on ordering some legacy focus SE speakers from Legacy audio, should get them in about 4 months.
Now to the question I recently saw your review on the emotiva DR2 and it wasn't great, lots of power but a lot of distortion. I can't hear any distortion with my silver 500's and I think they sound good but I do not have audiophile hearing.
With that amount of distortion would there be a concern that I may be destroying the ribbon tweeter and midrange on the legacy Focus Se speakers.
I do play music loud but never getting higher than 65-70% volume on the cinema 50.

So I am thinking of possibly getting a more distortion free amp such as a Nord Three 1ET9040BA MKII Dual Mono Stereo Power Amplifier.
This would have similar power to the DR2 to run the legacy speakers but have a fraction of the distortion.

The people on this forum seem very knowledgeable.
So do you think this is worth the purchase or not?

I have to add I am not an audiophile and will certainly not hear the difference in the amps, but will this save my speakers from future damage?
Or am I worrying needlessly.
 
but will this save my speakers from future damage?
The easiest way to damage speakers is to play them too loud for long periods, since that can overheat the thin wire that sits inside the magnets. This can melt or get out of shape and rub against the magnets.

High levels of distortion can also cause damage, but only when you listen too loud and the amplifier runs out of voltage. It sounds nasty when when this happens, so you should spot it before doing any damage.

A good quality amplifier, used sensibly (even if it's not state of the art in terms of distortion) will do no more damage than a similar amplifier with slightly lower distortion.
 
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