Earthquake Cinenova Grande...do I need to rewire my house?? (1 Viewer)

[Alan Pummill]

I'm getting ready to unpack this 125 lb. beast of an amp. I'm reading in the owners manual...quote:
"To ensure proper operation, make sure that a 20-Ampere circuit is available where the amplifier is going to be plugged. If in doubt, consult an electrician; most homes are wired with 20-Ampere circuits, but there is a chance that the wall receptors are rated only 15-Amperes."

It also states that this amp is equipped with a 20-Ampere circuit breaker. I'm guessing I shouldn't try to run this thing thru my Monster HTS 5000 Power Center??

Help....what do I need to do to assure proper operation of this amp? Any help would be greatly appreciated!!

 

[Dennis Gardner]

The amp suggests the 20 amp circuit since at full power, it might reach beyond the limits of your 15 amp circuits.
Unless you are driving some 1 ohm speakers at insane volumes, you will never reach beyond a good 15 amp breaker's protection at normal listening levels. A breaker is intended to be the weakest link in wiring on purpose, for protection.

A 20 amp plug may have a different type plugin than the normal parallel 15 amp type has.

Look through your Monster manual for ratings on its ability.

Hope this helps a little,

Dennis

 

[Mat_M]

Hey Alan,

Fellow Cinenova owner here... I was wondering if you got the version with the balanced inputs? And also, this amp has been famous for it's power-on "thump", and it's powerdown "screeching fireworks". Does yours have either of these problems?

 

[Alan Pummill]

Mat,

My amp is still in the crate. No balanced inputs. This is the first I've heard about power on and power off sounds??

 

[Minesh Patel]

I remember reading somewhere NOT to plug the Cinenova into any kind of surge protector. I believe the factory recommendation is to plug it straight into the wall.

 

[Andrew Pezzo]

Mine thumps when turned on but nothing when turned off. I love this amp, tons of power and no distortion no matter how loud I go.

 

[Alan Pummill]

I will be plugging it straight into the wall. The circuit that I am using is 20 Amperes, but the receptical is only 15 Amperes. After work, I am going to get a 20 Ampere wall receptical to replace it with, then I should be all set to go.

Can't wait to hear my new Magnepans on this amp!! MG1.6's (front), MGMC1 (surrounds), and MGCC3 (center). Should sound great. When I crank my current amp up, the LED's on front are blinking quite a bit....125wpc is just not enough power for the 4 ohm maggies!!

 

[Alan Pummill]

This amp sounds fantastic!! My maggies are a singin'!!

 

[Alan Pummill]

Finally got my new amp hooked up last night. I'm powering Magnepan MG1.6 (fronts), MGMC1 (surrounds), and MGCC3 (center) with this beast of an amp.

At first, I wasn't happy with the results, but after a little tweaking, it sounds awesome. I lowered the crossover on the MG1.6's to 40 Hz. The center and surrounds remained at 80 Hz crossover. I also did a quick calibration with the test tones from my Outlaw 950 pre/pro. I had been driving the fronts with a 200wpc Rotel and the center and surrounds with a 125wpc Carver. I had to lower the center and surround levels from their +5 or +6 back down, I quess the new Cinenova pushes my maggies much easier.

I am now hearing soundstage, depth, dynamics, and detail that I have never heard before on all formats; CD, DVD, DVD-A, and SACD.

It is now more evident than ever that my Paradigm PW-2200 sub will need to be replaced with one that can reach lower and louder. Since my mains are crossed over at 40 Hz, most music sounds fantastic, but some information from DVD's below say 30 Hz is lacking in SPL's.

Two thumbs up for the Earthquake Cinenova Grande!!

 

[Lewis Besze]

The Paradigm can reach to 20hz with good output from a commercial sub,but I agree there are better ones out there for sure.

 

[zangler]

what are you going to do with the rotel?...(sell it for cheap i hope)

 

[Alan Pummill]

Sold the Rotel to a fellow HTFer in California....

 

[rin]

 

[Lon]

Wow! Outlaw 950, maggies all around, and a cinenova 5 channel. All you need now is dual cs-ultras and a samson amp and we'd have the exact same gear setup!

Hell, pick up a 36" sony wega and a panasonic dvd player and I'll just link your home theater pics in my sig.

 

[Alan Pummill]

Sorry Lon, I'll keep my Pioneer Elite PRO-630HD and AV-47Ai. But it is neat that our systems are that similar.

What crossover settings do yo have your maggies (all of them) set to??

Had a couple of friends over for the Super Bowl, one of them brought his 25-31 pci SVS sub...sounded great. I'm thinking of getting the 20-39 PC+ or the 16-46 PC+.

Send me an e-mail, and I'll send you some pictures of my new set-up!!

 

[John Robert]

Mine came with a card that stated you would void the warranty if you plugged it into anything other than the wall.

Great amp for power hungry speakers like Maggies...

John

 

[Lon]

I crossed them all at 80. I found I missed some of the punch I liked when I set the fronts to large.