Sunfire Cinema Grand Signature series II questions? (1 Viewer)

[Seth V]

I recently purchased a Sunfire Cinema Grand Signature series II for$2,395. I'm very happy with the sound quality that this 5 channel amp provides, it works great with my Martin Logan setup. As a new owner of this amp, i'm not all that familiar with it.
On the back right side of the Sunfire it has a small switch that you can turn the amp on, off or set it to "auto". On auto it turns the amp on when it senses a signal. Although this function does work, I have to turn the volume up a bit on my receiver(i'm using it as a pre-amp) for the amp to turn on. Is this normal? Another thing that i've noticed is that the top of the amp stays slightly warm when not in use. It doesn't matter if the switch on the amp is in the "auto" position or off( again is this normal?). What i'm gathering is that the unit is constantly drawing power even if the switch is set to off.
Just a few more questions? I have all my equipment connected to a Monster Power reference power center 5000. Is it safe to connect the Sunfire amp to the Monster Power, and will it degrade the sound?? Should I leave the amp on all the time or have it turn on and off automatically?
I really like this amp a lot, and want to get the best performance I can get out of it. Any help you all can give would be appreciated very much.
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Seth

 

[Seth V]

C'mon guys, any input?

 

[Dan Krieg]

I have a Cinema Grand and it also requires quite a bit of volume before it fires up. On mine, only the main channels (and I think only one of them - I can't remember if its left or right) sense an input signal. Your manual should have this information if the signature series II is different.

When mine is turned off it seems to be really off - not drawing any current and not generating heat.

Dan

 

[David Judah]

Hey, Seth, how are things in T or C? Congrats on the amp purchase. I have an original Cinema Grand and have been very pleased with its performance.

The auto turn on is the weak point of the amp. I thought they would have refined it a bit with the new generation, but I guess not from what you are saying. The amp should not be warm when not in use(actually, it should barely get warm even when you are giving it a good workout). Perhaps it's not shutting off for some reason in auto mode. Leaving it on won't harm the amp in any way, but I always turn mine off when not in use.

I would not run the amp into the HTS 5000. It says it has a high current pass-through, but I'm a bit skeptical and wouldn't want to risk it clamping down on the current draw.

How are you running your outputs? Are you bi-wiring into the MLs using the current source and voltage source outputs? If not, give it a try.

I'll bet the Sunfire really makes those Martin Logans sing.

DJ

 

[Seth V]

David,

Thanks for replying,and for your input. It's great to talk with another forum member who lives here in New Mexico. Yes the sunfire sounds great with the ML's. Now I just need to figure out what's going on with my amp. I'm planning on calling Sunfire and asking them about the heat issue, i'll let you know what they say.

How long have you had your Sunfire Cinema Grand,and what speakers are you using with it. As for me, right now I have ML Aerius i's for Mains, ML Cinema center, ML Scenarios for surrounds. I do have the Aerius i ML's bi-wired with the current out going to the stat panel and the voltage out going to the woofer. Awesome Sound!! So if I don't plug the Sunfire into the HTS 5000, should I plug it directly into the wall outlet? And if I do this, what about power surges and spikes, couldn't this harm the amp?

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Seth

 

[David Judah]

I run B&Ws all the way around(click on the house icon for pics of my set-up)and have them wired like Sunfire suggests with current source to the tweeter & voltage source to the woofer. I've had my amp for about a year now.
I run my amp directly into the wall and haven't had any problems. I have a Monster HTS 2000 and even though Monster says it won't clamp down on the current, I have a hard time believing that to be the case. I suppose there is a risk from surges, but the chances are very slim that any damage would be done. I just unplug it during storms(not that we've had very many lately).
Sunfire has very good customer service, so you shouldn't have any problems contacting them about your heat problem. They are a very small company and often you'll get to talk to one of the head honchos, not a customer service rep. that has to pass it through multiple levels like at a larger company. I'm sure they'll take good care of you.
Take care,
DJ

 

[Seth V]

David,
I called Sunfire and talked to a techinician about the heat problem. He said that it was completely normal for the Cinema Grand Signature vesion II to be slightly warm when in auto mode or off position. He told me not to worry about it. I also asked him if it was ok to plug the Sunfire into the Monster Power, and if it would degrade the sound. He said that as long as the Monster power was rated for 15 amps, and could handle a 2,000 watt load I should be fine. He also said that there should be no problem if I wanted to plug the unit directly to a wall outlet.
Just to be sure, I also called Monster Power, and talked to one of their technicians. What he told me is that as far as the Monster Power HTS 5000 was concerned, it would not choke down the Sunfire amp whatsoever. He also stated that the HTS 5000 was so ruggedly designed and built, that they tested the unit by connecting 21,000 watts of power through the Monster Power HTS 5000 and it didn't phase it. Now that's EXTREME!! Just for kicks I connected the amp directly to the wall to see if I could tell a difference in sound quality, there wasn't any.
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Seth