Anthem MCA-20 x 2

[frankphess]

Anthem MCA-20 (2-channel) = 225w 1 channel driven, 200w 2 channels driven

I have been using an Anthem MCA-20 with a Bottlehead forplay (w/RF-7's) for about a year, and have loved it, but I've always wanted monoblocks, so recently I bought another MCA-20. One was good, so 2 must be better right?

While I wasn't looking for more volume, I was hoping to get an even wider soundtage imagining, etc., however that was not the case. Actually 2 sounded "worse" than the single stereo amp. I think it was because my first one was "broken in" and the second was brand new out of the box and therefore was getting different sounds from the two "different" amps. Has anyone else been down this path with the same results? Or are these amps not suitable for use as monoblocks for some reason?

Also, I know this has nothing to do with the sound, but cosmetically it is something I did not even think about, but should have, when I purched the second amp. My first amp goes from a red LED light on standby, to a green when receiving a signal. The newer one I just purchased goes from red to BLUE. I about hit the floor when I saw that. (It is a "cool" blue though.)

[Speedball]

Wow, nice amps for sure.....

Maybe the amps being stereo amps have something to do with the odd sound versus being true monoblock amps....? The one being much older makes sense to me though.

[jorjen]

I had an MCA-50 and an MCA-20 that I was using with an AVM-20 for 7.1 and it was truly great gear. I loved the amps. The AVM-20 was an impressive processor also. I would have liked to try the MCA-20 in a 2 channel only setup but never got around to it.

[ironwoods]

Hi, I wouldn't expect to hear much of a difference, but certainly not for the worse. Maybe try running the new one on it's own for a couple months, so as to give it a chance to catch up.

How do you have the RF-7's placed in the room? - IMO, this would be the place to look for better imaging.

Are you using good quality RCA's or the XLR inputs?

Actually I'd prefer the two different color signal lights. [:|]

[Strabo]

Anthem MCA-20 (2-channel) = 225w 1 channel driven, 200w 2 channels driven

I have been using an Anthem MCA-20 with a Bottlehead forplay (w/RF-7's) for about a year, and have loved it, but I've always wanted monoblocks, so recently I bought another MCA-20. One was good, so 2 must be better right?

While I wasn't looking for more volume, I was hoping to get an even wider soundtage imagining, etc., however that was not the case. Actually 2 sounded "worse" than the single stereo amp. I think it was because my first one was "broken in" and the second was brand new out of the box and therefore was getting different sounds from the two "different" amps. Has anyone else been down this path with the same results? Or are these amps not suitable for use as monoblocks for some reason?

Also, I know this has nothing to do with the sound, but cosmetically it is something I did not even think about, but should have, when I purched the second amp. My first amp goes from a red LED light on standby, to a green when receiving a signal. The newer one I just purchased goes from red to BLUE. I about hit the floor when I saw that. (It is a "cool" blue though.)

Can you give us more detail on how you are using these as mono amps? For example, do they have a mono switch, are you biwiring, biamping?

[jorjen]

The MCA-20 is a 2 channel stereo ONLY amp . It is not bridgeable to mono as far as I know. You are not trying to use it this way, are you?

[Strabo]

The MCA-20 is a 2 channel stereo ONLY amp . It is not bridgeable to mono as far as I know. You are not trying to use it this way, are you?

That is what I was thiking but I wasn't certain. I have the PVA series (lower powered Anthem) and it isn't bridgeable. Hopefully his is either:

A.) Only using one channel from each amp, or

B.) Biamping, using each channel for each set of (unstrapped) inputs.

If B I can understand the bad sound because of the lack of crossover.

If neither A or B, well let's just hope not.

[frankphess]

I'm inclined to agree with ironwoods. I think the problem is that the new one isn't broken in yet. These are stereo amps that cannot be bridged for mono.

I tried using one channel from the old amp for left, and one channel from the new amp for right. I did not change anything else. Same speaker placement, same cables, etc. There just was no "synergy" between the left and right, as there normally was when using the old amplifier.

I have since gone back to my original amplifier and have placed the new one back in the box. I'm now torn between keeping it for the upstairs system or just returning it or selling it as I really do not want to spend the time to break it in. I do love my current one though.

Thanks for everyones time and help. You may see a "for sale" sign here in the future if I decide to go that route.

[TheSoundBroker]

If you have not tried it this way already...set it up as a vertical biamp. This means each amplifier runs a speaker (left amp runs the left speaker, right amp runs the right speaker). This gives you the advantage of monoblocks (one amp per channel) and the advantage of biamping. Only disadvantage to this is that unless your preamp has dual outputs, you must use a Y-splitter...which can have insertion losses and degrade the sound if you get a poor one. And yes, it will take some time to break in. Keep in mind, your original amp probably sounded the same when you first brought it home...it just has had time to cook. Unless you have an amp with a problem or or they've changed the design...it needs time to break in.

Perhaps your dealer could let you borrow a demo to try (assuming the demo has time on it).

[frankphess]

If you have not tried it this way already...set it up as a vertical biamp. This means each amplifier runs a speaker (left amp runs the left speaker, right amp runs the right speaker). This gives you the advantage of monoblocks (one amp per channel) and the advantage of biamping. Only disadvantage to this is that unless your preamp has dual outputs, you must use a Y-splitter...which can have insertion losses and degrade the sound if you get a poor one. And yes, it will take some time to break in. Keep in mind, your original amp probably sounded the same when you first brought it home...it just has had time to cook. Unless you have an amp with a problem or or they've changed the design...it needs time to break in.

Perhaps your dealer could let you borrow a demo to try (assuming the demo has time on it).

That is how I tried it, however I only used 1 channel from each amp for each speaker instead of 2. I do have splitters but I think I would get the same results using the splitters. I'm convinced that it needs break in time, which I'm now thinking about doing. Thanks.