[CSI]

It is interesting to note how many Sapphire XL owners have owned Vandersteen's. When I got my XL's I was reminded of how few speakers I've owned over the past 40 years that turned out to be "keepers". My very short list includes Vandersteen's, Spendors, AR3a's (back in the beginning) and Maggies. Each of these speakers took me out of the speaker swapping cycle for many years at a time. They are all quite different from each other yet all have a certain thing in common which I would loosely describe as "musicality". None of them were (are) perfect but the flaws are all of the "sins of omission" variety. And all were a joy to live with. The XL's, particularly with the Force icing the cake, is the best of these by far in my experience. Like the others above, the designer seems to have figured out how to voice a speaker to consistently deliver the essential emotional experience of music. And without exception. (Have you discovered that the XL's sound great with all your music except for two or three CD's that are "unlistenable"? Neither have I). I think that is where the "art" of the art and science of speaker design comes in. I expect to own my Sapphire XL's for a very long time.

[DR]

CSI,

You are so right! I hope Mike doesn't mind me associating him as an equal to Richard Vandersteen.

DR

[DR]

Hi!

These questions are for Mike but I thought I would put them in the discussion in case anyone else has input or is just interested.

I am adding home theatre with out giving up my two channel. So here goes.

For home theatre, I will be using 3 Emeralds (rears and center) and share the Sapphires between two channel and home theatre via banana plug changes between the Amplifier and Receiver. The 2 channel will still go stereo line in to the Force XL with the Receiver going into the theatre input.

The first question is, can I leave both setups plugged into the Force XL as long as I don't turn both sources on at the same time?

Second, I plan to add 6db attenuators to the 2 channel system. Two going into the amp and 2 going into the Force XL. Is this OK for the Force?

For my 2 channel amplifier I am using ACI 65Hz crossovers. Can I use the attenuators with them and if so what order should they be in?

Thanks much,

DR

[Mike Dzurko]

Quick questions Dave, what is the purpose of the attenuators for 2-channel? And do you have a link where I can take a look at them to see what they're like? Thanks!

[DR]

Hi Mike,

The purpose is to allow me to run my pre amp in a sweeter spot. It sounds better at higher volume and the attenuators will reduce the volume to the main amp. I have to do it for the force also to keep it balanced.

http://www.partsexpress.com/pe/showdetl.cfm?&Partnumber=266-242

This is the link.

Thanks

Dave

[Mike Dzurko]

Dave:

Got it, thanks.  To your first question, yep, it is okay to leave it all connected to the Force. Even if both sources are turned on you likely won't hurt anything, but just get some distortion. It would be best practice to only turn on one source at a time . . .

I don't see any problems of using the attenuators with the Force, but I think you could accomplish the same thing by just turning the gain down on the Force. But the attenuators won't hurt anything.

I would install the Filters directly into the amp inputs with the attenuators between the pre-amp and the filters.

Let us know how it works out!

[DR]

Thanks Mike!

I will try the Force XL with and without the attenuators. By the way, that Cherry Emerald you built for my center looks great! Can't wait to get all this done.

Dave