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Monster power mpa 2250 added to denon 4520 setup and no change!!


sully141

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I bought a monster power mpa 2250 yesterday to go with my denon 4520 ci to power my rf83s.  I also bought a mpa 3250 but one of the channels sparked up so that's in my garage to get address later (the 3250 was suppose to power the fronts). So I went ahead and hooked up the 2250 and calibrated everything.  Rc64, rf83s, rs62s, rb81s,rs7 and 2 svs pb12s.  I changed the rf83s to small and set the everything to 80hz.  Well I put in a movie and nothing has changed.  The amp display 000 but speakers are working.  Volume was at -15 which is what I had it at prior to the amp addition. I switched to pure and it really wasn't that loud at -15.  The denon setting I changed to discrete 11.1 and set fronts to pre amp.  So is the amp messed up since it's not showing watts going out or is the avr bad.  Also the denon is getting hot right away when usually it took awhile for it to get hot. 

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Sorry to hear about your troubles.

 

On the Monster amp,

Is the switch set to stereo as opposed to bridged?

Are the switches set to balanced or unbalanced?  Are cables connected to balanced or unbalanced?

Just asking.

Bill

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26 minutes ago, sully141 said:

Set to stereo, unbalanced rca cables used, its in 115v setting.

Just making sure, even seasoned veterans(especially me) have a few missteps.

 

27 minutes ago, sully141 said:

I'm bummed, everyone is like that's a huge upgrade and nothing Haha.

There should be noticeable dynamics at times unless your room is on the tiny side.  With that said, the Denon 4520 is a pretty potent AVR.

 

Bill

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27 minutes ago, willland said:

Just making sure, even seasoned veterans(especially me) have a few missteps.

 

There should be noticeable dynamics at times unless your room is on the tiny side.  With that said, the Denon 4520 is a pretty potent AVR.

 

Bill

The denon at 7 channels prior to the amp was pretty loud, usually watched movies around -22 without the ex complaining.  When I switched to 9.2 I had to drop it down to -10 and it was lacking at that volume.  So with that amp I figured I'd be back up to -24 at least.  After moving everything now my subs hum when plugged into the wall without the avr even on.  Just not catching a break.  Hopefully I can salvage the monster mpa 3250, 250 watts rams per channel is huge step up. 

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I am sorry to hear you didn’t hear a difference. I have the MPA 5750 and it made a huge difference in sound in my system, vs. just using my Denon X3300 but that is with my Martin Logan speakers. Haven’t tried this amp with my Klipsch THX speakers just yet.

 

I used to have the RF-63’s (still miss them) and when I added Outlaw Audio monoblock 2200’s, I didn’t notice much difference either. I believe it is a combination of supper efficient speakers, easy to drive crossover setting of 80hz and the fact that the 4520 is a powerful receiver.

 

That is a beastly amp so I would expect you to hear a difference in demanding movie scenes and high volume listening. How big is your room?

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It's a big room, but something isn't right.  The amp should display some kind of wattage. The watts saved by not having to feed the front sides should of spread out.  The volume that I use shouldn't be the same prior to amp. 

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On 6/16/2019 at 7:01 PM, K5SS said:

I am sorry to hear you didn’t hear a difference. I have the MPA 5750 and it made a huge difference in sound in my system, vs. just using my Denon X3300 but that is with my Martin Logan speakers. Haven’t tried this amp with my Klipsch THX speakers just yet.

 

I used to have the RF-63’s (still miss them) and when I added Outlaw Audio monoblock 2200’s, I didn’t notice much difference either. I believe it is a combination of supper efficient speakers, easy to drive crossover setting of 80hz and the fact that the 4520 is a powerful receiver.

 

That is a beastly amp so I would expect you to hear a difference in demanding movie scenes and high volume listening. How big is your room?

Your right about the efficiency with the speakers.  The extra amp was probably a waste of money.  I should spent the money on a svs pb3000 or the pb4000.  Did you watch movies at a reference level of -8 when you had your 63s. I ran mine to 0 today and it seemed a little to crisp or loud maybe  from the rc64.  

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18 minutes ago, sully141 said:

Your right about the efficiency with the speakers.  The extra amp was probably a waste of money.  I should spent the money on a svs pb3000 or the pb4000.  Did you watch movies at a reference level of -8 when you had your 63s. I ran mine to 0 today and it seemed a little to crisp or loud maybe  from the rc64.  

 

My normal listing level, with demanding movie soundtracks is -15 to -10. I have always found reference level too much for my taste but that isn’t a popular opinion around these parts.

 

Since you tested your system with the AVR vs. AVR + amp and you didn’t notice a difference, I’d probably sell the amp and order a new subwoofer or two.

 

SVS makes some great gear but since you have the loudness handled, you might reconsider your subwoofer setup.

 

If I were in your shoes, I might sell the dual SVS subs and amplifier and pick up some ported flat packs and run dual 18” subs and a beefy 2 channel amp to drive them. Like I mentioned, you have the loudness covered so you might be searching for more impact which dual 18’s would definitely do, if they were properly setup.

 

Just another idea. This isn’t a knock on SVS, I have owned a few, but you can build 2 18” ported subs and buy an amp for under $1,500 that would likely top 2 PB-16 Ultras. This might also be a fun summer project, if you are handy. 

 

These look like they might be a good option, for this type of project:

 

https://shop.gsgad.com/collections/martysub-by-gsg-flat-packs/products/martycube-by-gsgtm-flat-packs-2-pack-discount-pricing-178-50-ea-freight-shipping

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The volume you need isn't the way to compare. When you run room eq it sets speaker levels. So its going to set things based on whats its measuring. Example when I run auto test on L/R rf7-iis my avr set them at around -6 or -7 (been a while). When I run it with kpt904s or la scalas Its sets them at -12. Check your levels 

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Even after I added an amp I still ran things at around same volume levels (how much I turned volume to). That just isn't going to be anything to compare anything to. Your denon has enough power. Amps add dynamics and some argue better sound in some cases. Unless your dealing with speakers that need more power to perform than the avr has. In loud passages as Bill noted you should notice better control and separation. But being louder at same volume level is meaningless to compare anything in your case with what you have imo. 

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  • 2 weeks later...
On 6/17/2019 at 10:57 PM, Heritage_Head said:

Even after I added an amp I still ran things at around same volume levels (how much I turned volume to). That just isn't going to be anything to compare anything to. Your denon has enough power. Amps add dynamics and some argue better sound in some cases. Unless your dealing with speakers that need more power to perform than the avr has. In loud passages as Bill noted you should notice better control and separation. But being louder at same volume level is meaningless to compare anything in your case with what you have imo. 

Amen brother. 

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On ‎6‎/‎16‎/‎2019 at 12:26 PM, sully141 said:

I bought a monster power mpa 2250 yesterday to go with my denon 4520 ci to power my rf83s. 

My guess is that adding the Monster amp did nothing that your AVR-4520ci couldn't do. I have the Denon AVR 4311ci and it runs our system quite nicely at loud level.  -5 on some movies after calibration and 80+ Hz for multichannel music.

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On ‎6‎/‎17‎/‎2019 at 10:14 PM, sully141 said:

Your right about the efficiency with the speakers.  The extra amp was probably a waste of money.  I should spent the money on a svs pb3000 or the pb4000.  Did you watch movies at a reference level of -8 when you had your 63s. I ran mine to 0 today and it seemed a little to crisp or loud maybe  from the rc64.  

I definitely would've spent the money on the sub!

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  • 4 weeks later...

I got the pb4000 yesterday, I'm fixing the bad monster amp and I might try to resale both of them.  The good monster amp might not be good either, there is loud static and snaps coming from one of my speakers but it's very random, I could go 2 movies and nothing then.  I run up and pull the wires out when it does it.  I replaced the banana plugs and checked over the Monster wire and I don't see anything.  So tonight I'm replacing the av cable to the amp.  

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