Bottlehead Forum
Bottlehead Kits => Mainline => Topic started by: willemave on April 07, 2019, 08:45:47 AM
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I’m curious if there is a mod available for the Mainline to drive high efficient speakers? I’m looking to power some Blumenstein Orca’s.
I was thinking about building a SEX 3.0, but then thought, wonder if I could just mod my mainline to serve the same purpose? I’m guessing 600ma would be enough to drive some Orca’s to a sufficient listening volume. This is for my office which is for near-field seated listening and don’t need a ton of dB anyways.
Thanks!
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It won't hurt anything to try it, but the S.E.X. amp is a better choice.
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I’m guessing 600ma would be enough to drive some Orca’s to a sufficient listening volume.
I would not imagine that you will be particularly happy with 600mW into an 87dB sensitive speaker. The lowest impedance configuration that the Mainline transformers could be wired for is 16 ohms, so this is another issue.
If you had four pairs of Orcas and you did a line array wired to 32 ohms, this might be more promising.
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What they said...
While I don't have direct knowledge of using a Mainline for speakers, I can attest to what similar speakers need as far as power. I have a small (135 sg. ft.) enclosed office and the SEX amp, augmented by a powered sub, drives very similar speakers in the near-field. At normal office listening levels, where a conversation can still take place, the amp is running at about 70% on the volume control. At volume settings down around half, dynamics start to suffer as do perceived extensions. While volume settings are not the whole story, it tells me that the speakers might deliver even more with more power on tap. My 2C, YMMV and as Doc said, it won't hurt to try.
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There is disagreement about using "underpowered" amps for loudspeakers. Some say it's no problem while others claim that by doing so you risk sending distorted waveforms to the drivers that could be damaging especially if it is done for extended periods. I have never damaged a driver wih a low powered amp, but a half watt on 87 db speakers is probably not going to be enough, even in the nearfield.
Jamie