CH M1.1 or A1.5 x 2

[Kadoorie]

Hey guys I recently acquired a pair of Magico S1 MK2 and bought a second hand CH Precision A1.5 power amp from a friend to pair with them. After almost 2 months break in, I found the bass is not as good as I heard from the dealer before I bought them. The amp used were Diablo 300.

Consider my limited budget, I have three obvious options. 1. Buy another A1.5 to go the mono block path; 2. upgrade to M1.1 ; 3. switch to higher efficiency speakers. Any advise is welcome.

 

[GSOphile]

I am a former S3 MkII/Diablo 300 owner. The Diablo 300 is a powerful integrated noted for its strong bass. I doubt that the CH Precision options mentioned will surpass the Diablo bass. (However, they may provide a more refined sound.) Before swapping equipment, you might want to spend some quality time experimenting with speaker placement. S1 bass is limited, but optimizing speaker placement (and maybe cable choices?) may get you closer to what you heard at your dealer's. If you like the Magico sound, you might consider swapping your S1's and for pre-owned S3 MkII's or A5s.

 

[mtemur]

Hey guys I recently acquired a pair of Magico S1 MK2 and bought a second hand CH Precision A1.5 power amp from a friend to pair with them. After almost 2 months break in, I found the bass is not as good as I heard from the dealer before I bought them. The amp used were Diablo 300.

Consider my limited budget, I have three obvious options. 1. Buy another A1.5 to go the mono block path; 2. upgrade to M1.1 ; 3. switch to higher efficiency speakers. Any advise is welcome.

M1.1 is much better than two A1.5 IMHO. I heard exactly that specific comparison and that's my opinion. Even though CH Precision is not my cup of tea there is significant improvement from A1.5 to M1.1. There is small improvement on adding another A1.5.

 

[heihei]

Personally I think adding more CH power amps to the situation is throwing good money after bad. If you don't like what you are hearing with one A1.5 then I don't see things improving much from there. Yes you might get more but the signature is the same IMHO.

 

[bonzo75]

Hey guys I recently acquired a pair of Magico S1 MK2 and bought a second hand CH Precision A1.5 power amp from a friend to pair with them. After almost 2 months break in, I found the bass is not as good as I heard from the dealer before I bought them. The amp used were Diablo 300.

Consider my limited budget, I have three obvious options. 1. Buy another A1.5 to go the mono block path; 2. upgrade to M1.1 ; 3. switch to higher efficiency speakers. Any advise is welcome.

If you go 3, you will save much more on amps because there are many inexpensive amps that can be great, but you will have a hell of a time searching for the right speakers if you are on Magico at the moment. Unless you know your higher efficiency landscape already or have a friend to show you.

 

[owen lawlor]

Sorry, S1's just don't do bass so the amp is not your issue. The recommendation above to get S3MkIIs is excellent if you like your low end. Be careful of pairing the Diablo 300 with Magico S class however as the tweeters are more extended and the Diablo can be bright with those tweeters. The Diablo is a match made in heaven with the A series Magicos however! A5s might be your ticket due to powerful bass but I can imagine a lot of S3Mk2s will hit the market soon due to upgrades to the new S3.

 

[NekoAudio]

Have you tried changing the feedback setting on the CH Precision A1.5, to see if that makes the bass more to your liking? "Good bass" can mean different things.

 

[hogen]

I agree that the problem might be somewhere else in the chain. My experience is that the A1.5 has a very good bass response indeed (I have no experience with Gryphon though).

 

[pweg]

i owned S1 mk2 for a long while as they were the fronts in my HT...... I also have an ChP big system using 10 series amps..... so i know the sound of both.

i demoed the A1.5 as an amp for my centre channel (SCC) and it was just ok. It simply doesn't have the current to make those speakers work properly. Having said that, there is only so much bass you can get out of those speakers.

i think the M1.1 would be much better but i think different speakers might be better again

 

[JackD201]

Hey guys I recently acquired a pair of Magico S1 MK2 and bought a second hand CH Precision A1.5 power amp from a friend to pair with them. After almost 2 months break in, I found the bass is not as good as I heard from the dealer before I bought them. The amp used were Diablo 300.

Consider my limited budget, I have three obvious options. 1. Buy another A1.5 to go the mono block path; 2. upgrade to M1.1 ; 3. switch to higher efficiency speakers. Any advise is welcome.

If you do go with another A1.5, it should be noted that the bass (as well as lower midrange texture) takes a big jump when set at Monaural Mode. In this mode, the wattage goes up while the amp ups power by using both rail power supplies on the output rail used. If you opt for Bridged Mode you get even more power but the balance is more similar to stereo and that of bi-amp.

The same is true going to Monaural from Stereo for the M1, M1.1 and M10s.

Good Luck but more importantly, Enjoy!

 

[Kadoorie]

Thank guys for your great inputs.

Regarding using bi-amp options, i used a single speaker and switched my current A1.5 to high current mode and bridged mode. The bass performance did not seem to improved much.

And upgrade to S3 is still one of my option but used S3 does not agree with my budget yet. I think I will wait until the price comes down a bit.

My short term solution is to go the subwoofer way. I have order the new ATC sub and expect to arrive mid year. After a few sessions at the showroom, i found it works exceptionally well with atc speakers, even the bookself models. I was told it is designed with stereo system in mind rather than home theatre. Cost wise it is the least expensive investment. Hope that works.