I guess one option might be to stack the units and dispense with the rack, but that still isn’t the best arrangement, even with the new spikes – and it seems a shame to invest in amps like these and then compromise their performance. The alternative is to place the amps side by side, but that demands four amp-stands, a lot of real-estate and specifying longer umbilicals when ordering them – which is why these practicalities matter and need to be considered long before the boxes arrive.
But the installation challenges don’t end there. Both the L10 and the M10 offer users multiple configurable options when it comes to set up. These include global feedback settings (local only or global in the pre-amp, global feedback – and hence damping factor – in 1%increments in the power amp), unit gain, input impedance and in the case of the power amps, operating mode. In fact, each M10 can be configured for any one of three stereo modes and two mono modes and selecting the correct one for your speakers and system is vital to getting optimum performance – or in some cases, any sort of performance at all. Obvious examples include selecting the high-powered, bridged mono configuration with a low impedance speaker like a Wilson or Magico design. You might assume that all that extra power is what’s required, but in reality it’s current that you need – which is why you should set the amps in high-current mono!
Likewise, if you are bi-amping, then depending on the system requirements you can run the amps in passive bi-amp or active bi-amp mode. The difference? Passive mode only requires a single input channel – so only one input board and one interconnect, saving you a hefty chunk of change. Active bi-amp treats each channel separately, requiring two input boards for each amplifier and two interconnects – thus allowing the use of an active crossover in the case of a hybrid active speaker like the Stenheim Reference Ultime 3 or a four cabinet set up like the Wilson XVX and Subsonic woofers (where each M10 drives one XVX and one Subsonic). In both cases, the ability to set gain and GFB independently for each amplifier channel becomes a vital set up tool when it comes to getting the best out of both the main speakers and the subs/low-frequency output.
Perhaps the real lesson here is simple. You might think you can set these amps up yourself – but you can’t. You WILL need help, guidance and input from the dealer or manufacturer, people who are familiar with and have experience of installing the amps. It’s the difference between talking the talk and walking the walk. These are not just any amplifiers. Assume that they are and you’ll like end up with fingers as bruised as your audio ego…
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