I’m waiting for a pair of Stellar m1200 to arrive from the states so I’m trying to use the time until they arrive to decide how to put things together. The amps will be connected to a Sonic Frontiers Line 3 SE preamp and Magnepan 1.7i speakers.
Can the trigger relay in the m1200 be activated by the one on the SF? According to the manual latter operates through 30ma AC or DC, 30V max. isolated from chassis, via 3.5 mm stereo jack.
I don’t have any spare shelves so they will be seated on the floor. Any suggestions for decoupling them from it? I was thinking of the Townshend seismic pods, has anyone tried them?
Welcome to the forum Yaron,
Congratulations on your new purchase. It is an exciting moment. Stereo male to male 3.5mm should work, though monos are preferred. It accepts 5 - 12 volts. If you have long trigger cables you can also run one between the 1200s provided the first one comes from the preamp.
In my experience, the Stellars sound best side by side rather than stacked. As for isolation, while it is not the same as a turntable, it is good, and the choices are many, starting with Avid Platform for about $250, to Atacama Evoque for about $200 and Townshend you noted above. Personally, I am old fashioned, and still believe spikes do a great job.
I have my M1200s daisy chained to the trigger output on my P12. When I take the P12 out of standby, the M1200s start up. When the P12 is put back into standby, the M1200s go back into standby. It is, very convenient. I wish my Mark Levinson No. 28 and 390S could be included in that chain as I am constantly forgetting to put them back into standby after listening.
The M1200s are going to sound great with the Sonic Frontier pre and Maggies! As Serhan suggested, 3.5mm stereo should work fine, but mono does seem to work more consistently.
Just got the monoblocks a few days ago, as patience is not one of my stronger points I connected the and started listening w/o proper break in - already sounds great.
However I can’t get the trigger relay to work, how can I find what is the problem?
I must say I didn’t understand exactly what is the output of the relay on the preamp. All it says in the manual is 30ma AC or DC, 30V max. isolated from chassis, via 3.5 mm stereo jack.
@snark I too fired my M700 monoblocks up right a way! Impatient, but I wanted to become aware of the change in output as it was broken in. 3 weeks and all is fabulous. Our trigger is a simple 3.5 cable—one from pre OUT to one of the power amps IN. The second goes from that amps OUT to the the other power amps IN. And you set the delay at the pre amp. I’m assuming it’s the same with the 1200.
I think I found the reason in an old Audiogon post on the SF Line 1 relay (which sound the same according to the manual). If I understood correctly the preamp uses an outdated method, has no power source of its own for the relay but rather leans on an external 12v power source and simply closes a circuit when turned on (between the tip and the ring of a stereo 3.5mm jack). I’m not sure pressing 2 buttons is worthwhile the effort of building the circuit.