Old Kenwood KM-X1000...can it be set to mono without issues?

[gaby95]

So I was thinking of using it for the Center only and then grabbing an Emotiva BasX A300 from a local at a good price to drive my mains.

Kenwood KM-X1000(G) Stereo Amplifier User Manual - Online & Download | Manualzz

Read the complete Kenwood KM-X1000(G) Stereo Amplifier User Manual online or download the PDF for offline access. Explore features like THX Cinema compatibility, BTL connection, and more.

manualzz.com

I see there is a Mono option on the manual but I am not sure what they mean by BTL mode. Just want to make sure I dont kill something by using that mode

Thanks

 

[TLS Guy]

So I was thinking of using it for the Center only and then grabbing an Emotiva BasX A300 from a local at a good price to drive my mains.

Kenwood KM-X1000(G) Stereo Amplifier User Manual - Online & Download | Manualzz

Read the complete Kenwood KM-X1000(G) Stereo Amplifier User Manual online or download the PDF for offline access. Explore features like THX Cinema compatibility, BTL connection, and more.

manualzz.com

I see there is a Mono option on the manual but I am not sure what they mean by BTL mode. Just want to make sure I dont kill something by using that mode

Thanks

It stands for balanced transformerless connection. Looking at the manual, it looks as if that switch sets the two amps into bridging mode.

This is risky to a degree, as if you do it wrong you will do a lot of damage. If you use this amp for the center in bridged mode, then you need to make sure you connect to the correct input terminal and the speaker to the correct output terminal.

Now there is one big caveat to all of this. When an amp is bridged, it tolerates only twice the previous impedance. So you need to make sure your center channel really is an 8 ohm speaker. The truth is that is is very unlikely your speaker is an eight ohm speaker. Manufacturers lie about this all the time. So you need to look for independent measurements about this, or measure it with a Dayton woofer tester yourself. If your center is a four ohm speaker, and it likely is in the power band, then your amp in BTL mode will see a 2 ohm load. That could easily spell disaster.

Since the difference between using just one of the amps in the Kenwood rather than two bridged is only 3db, your safest approach is to use just one of the amps in the Kenwood and not two. Many amps have gone to the recycling center after being bridged.

 

[Eppie]

It stands for balanced transformerless connection. Looking at the manual, it looks as if that switch sets the two amps into bridging mode.

This is risky to a degree, as if you do it wrong you will do a lot of damage. If you use this amp for the center in bridged mode, then you need to make sure you connect to the correct input terminal and the speaker to the correct output terminal.

Now there is one big caveat to all of this. When an amp is bridged, it tolerates only twice the previous impedance. So you need to make sure your center channel really is an 8 ohm speaker. The truth is that is is very unlikely your speaker is an eight ohm speaker. Manufacturers lie about this all the time. So you need to look for independent measurements about this, or measure it with a Dayton woofer tester yourself. If your center is a four ohm speaker, and it likely is in the power band, then your amp in BTL mode will see a 2 ohm load. That could easily spell disaster.

Since the difference between using just one of the amps in the Kenwood rather than two bridged is only 3db, your safest approach is to use just one of the amps in the Kenwood and not two. Many amps have gone to the recycling center after being bridged.

Would this be an instance where bi-amping would make sense? The op could use the mono input and use both amps without as much concern for speaker impedance, assuming the center speaker has bi-amp terminals.

 

[TLS Guy]

Would this be an instance where bi-amping would make sense? The op could use the mono input and use both amps without as much concern for speaker impedance, assuming the center speaker has bi-amp terminals.

Passive bi amping is a waste of time and wire, unless the center is a three way with the split between woofers and the mid. Usually due to the perverse nature of manufacturers, in a three way the upper terminals just connect to the tweeter and not the mid and tweeter. In a two way you will always just connect to the high and low pass. Since the tweeter takes only a small fraction of the power in the high pass, the gain in output is not even measurable, and only a small fraction of 1 db.

 

[gaby95]

Thanks

It stands for balanced transformerless connection. Looking at the manual, it looks as if that switch sets the two amps into bridging mode.

This is risky to a degree, as if you do it wrong you will do a lot of damage. If you use this amp for the center in bridged mode, then you need to make sure you connect to the correct input terminal and the speaker to the correct output terminal.

Now there is one big caveat to all of this. When an amp is bridged, it tolerates only twice the previous impedance. So you need to make sure your center channel really is an 8 ohm speaker. The truth is that is is very unlikely your speaker is an eight ohm speaker. Manufacturers lie about this all the time. So you need to look for independent measurements about this, or measure it with a Dayton woofer tester yourself. If your center is a four ohm speaker, and it likely is in the power band, then your amp in BTL mode will see a 2 ohm load. That could easily spell disaster.

Since the difference between using just one of the amps in the Kenwood rather than two bridged is only 3db, your safest approach is to use just one of the amps in the Kenwood and not two. Many amps have gone to the recycling center after being bridged.

Thanks for the info. Considering the center is 4ohms, I will surely not be doing any bridge but using one amp seems to still be a good idea then