I received my Stellar M700 amps and am using them as the front channels of my Marantz av8802A Pre/Pro. My Pre/Pro is having difficulty with setting them up due to the M700’s higher output than my Outlaw 7.1 amp. I went into the Marantz av8802A setup and checked it with my sound pressure level meter and see that the M700’s are set as low as the Marantz av8802A is able to. Therefore I’m unable to manipulate the SPLs. To get around this I set all of the 9.1 channels 3dB higher to allow myself some adjustment. Does anyone have any suggestions on a better way of doing this?
Hmmmm. Well, other than going with M700s for the system I think what you’re doing seems like the best idea.
Thank you for the personal response.
P.S. Congratulations on all of your innovative and excellent products. I started with the S300 and that led me to the M700s.
SIncerely,
Drew Braun
My pleasure. Thanks to you!
Drew
As the front channels will get the most use on your main speakers what you are doing is the way I would do it. Set the 700’s as the baseline and then either using the Pre’s automated setup procedure or manually with the meter set the other channels to match by raising each ones output level one at a time.
Thank you.
I believe I solved what is causing this. My M700’s are running balanced and my Outlaw amp is running single ended. If i remember correctly, this is a 6db difference. If i was prepared to sacrifice the sound advantage of my balanced connection it would even out the output of both amps. Alas, I’m unprepared for that sacrifice.
That would certainly explain it and fixable if you have that much adjustment on the controls. If not bring the fronts down a bit and the others up until you balance.
Well, This is quite fascinating…
I moved from an S300 to the M700s. As mentioned in user and professional reviews, it has MORE dynamics. I’m so pleased and impressed by this. Alas, it has SO much more detail with the same power modules as the S300s that it appears that the detail was deliberately throttled down. If this is so, I’m VERY disappointed.
Sincerely,
drewmb1
You are suggesting PS Audio’s designers deliberately made the S300 to sound less good than it would have otherwise?
Perhaps, or perhaps there is another explanation… All I know is that there is no comparison between the two with all other system variables remaining the same. That includes cables and power cords. Perhaps I didn’t make myself as clear earlier as I might have. There is a RADICAL difference in detailed information. Things I have never heard before at LOW volumes or loud. Loud I understand could come under the dynamics description. I would think at low volumes power levels would be similar and therefore have similar levels of detail if the same power modules are being used. I’m certainly open to explanations…
Yikes. Well, we would never throttle one back to make room for another. That’s not our style. We worked our butts off making both as good as they possibly could be within the constraints of their budget.
I think where you might be getting off track is that the two ICE modules aren’t even close to the same. The S300 is based on an older ICE design that is very good, but not the M700.
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What a wonderful explanation. They are REMARKABLY different. Thank you for responding.
Indeed, they are.
Hi Paul,
So is there any plans for the S300 to receive the updated ICE module that the M700 has? Or is it a complete different design that only the M700 can take advantage of? Thanks!
Completely different design using that specific module and for different reasons. The S300 is a great amp on. Its own, but as in most things, not as good as its step up partner.
Thank you for reaching out to comment, Paul. I appreciate it! I actually just posted another question in the amplification section expanding on the S300 vs the M700’s in my specific application/set-up.
Also, as a side-note - thank you for your awesome videos. Thank you for taking the time to put them together and educate the audiophile world. I’ve learned a lot and it’s helped educate me and better-appreciate music and the gear used to make music enjoyable at home!
My pleasure.