M2 Master Reference Monitor Purchase

[Don McRitchie]

Status Update

Had a bit of a snafu with shipping. That's been fixed and I was told that the speakers and amps were shipped out today by truck from JBL's Canadian distributor in Montreal. The road distance from Montreal to Winnipeg is about the same as from New York to Kansas City, so they'll take a few days to get here. I am told they should be delivered on Thursday. That works out OK as the measurement gear and preamp/processor are all arriving at the same time. The Altec Model 19's have just been sold so they should be departing the day before their replacements come through the door. More to come as all the pieces come together.

Don

[Mr. Widget]

Status Update

Had a bit of a snafu with shipping. That's been fixed and I was told that the speakers and amps were shipped out today by truck from JBL's Canadian distributor in Montreal. The road distance from Montreal to Winnipeg is about the same as from New York to Kansas City, so they'll take a few days to get here. I am told they should be delivered on Thursday. That works out OK as the measurement gear and preamp/processor are all arriving at the same time. The Altec Model 19's have just been sold so they should be departing the day before their replacements come through the door. More to come as all the pieces come together.

Don

Exciting!!!

Keep us posted... Model 19s to the M2s. That'll be huge!


Widget

[Don McRitchie]

Not sure if this has been posted previously, but attached is JBLPro's guide for setting up the M2/Crown system.

[Robh3606]

Hello Don

Can't wait to see how you like them in your room and how flexible you find the DSP for the room EQ. Based on the DSP I have installed in a Crown XTI amp it should be quite impressive and intuitive once you get the hang of it. Download the Harman System Architect Software and just start playing around with it on your PC. If it's anything like the Band Manager HiQ net software you will be surprised at how user friendly it is.

Rob

[Don McRitchie]

Two more sleeps and they should be here!!!

[4313B]

Two more sleeps and they should be here!!!

Exciting!

Did you get a dedicated 20A circuit run?

Hello Don

Can't wait to see how you like them in your room and how flexible you find the DSP for the room EQ. Based on the DSP I have installed in a Crown XTI amp it should be quite impressive and intuitive once you get the hang of it. Download the Harman System Architect Software and just start playing around with it on your PC. If it's anything like the Band Manager HiQ net software you will be surprised at how user friendly it is.

Rob

I think it is excellent. The XTI is pretty cool for an order of magnitude less money. It will run most of the M2 configuration, there are a couple things it can't do and it does have fewer PEQ points. I'd have to choose it over the DBX 260 and separate amps. Unfortunately for the $999 DBX 260, it isn't as good as the $99 miniDSP.

Anyway, the IT HD is the current king of the hill, certainly more desirable than the arguably tragic ML/SDEC "solution".

[Don McRitchie]

Did you get a dedicated 20A circuit run?

No. $9 NEMA 5-20 to NEMA 5-15 adapters seemed way cheaper

Seriously, when I saw the 20A circuit requirement, it made me question the viability of this purchase. However, JBLPro told me that the use of adapters is all that they did for their soundroom setup and they have never blown a breaker. They also assured me that there is no safety issue with this kludge. Bottom line is that the Crown's output has so much headroom in this application that two of them should not draw in excess of 15 amps in a home environment. I do have a dedicated 15A circuit just for the two amps.

The other note that gave me pause in the setup document is the clear statement that there needs to be a separate "amp room" to isolate the fan noise. As you can see from the pics of my living room posted above, I have a dedicated equipment cabinet. I hope it provides enough sound isolation, but I won't know until I try. It is not designed for that purpose and has numerous air gaps to ensure proper ventilation that could allow enough noise leakage to be a problem. I have other options if it remains a problem, but they have issues of their own.

Don

[4313B]

Worst case there might be replacement fans which are more quiet. I used to replace fans in my PC's with extremely quiet models and it was worth the effort. I can't imagine Crown going to the effort or expense of using the most quiet fan model given the originally intended application.

[polar_bear_0104]

Awesome! We're living the thrill and excitement vicariously, looking forward to reading your experiences with these babies...

[Don McRitchie]

The unopened boxes. As can be seen, the Altec Model 19's did not leave as planned so they got to meet their replacements. They'll be hanging around for another week or so.

[Don McRitchie]

Unboxing a Crown iTech 5000HD

[Don McRitchie]

Unboxing the M2's. They come appropriately dressed to attend a Klan rally.

[Don McRitchie]

Removing the last of the packing.