Greetings once again…The never ending infection continues to broaden with the usual unforeseen consequences. :rolleyes:

The Mackie’s arrived and are no longer considered for HT duty, they have replaced the Vandersteen’s C1’s in the audio only section. The Vandersteen’s are now the mains in the HT section, and all remains as per last communication.

The ICBM is connected as you advised, with the Vandersteen’s.

I’m planning on purchasing another identical amp for two possible purposes: Option one, would be to run them in mono block mode, Option two, might be to power the center and connect it to the ICBM.

The concern on this day, after reading the manual seems to be “Large and Sub Off/On”, where I don’t believe applies in my scheme, where the present configuration is: Sub/LFE off, the mains are large, and the rest are small.

If Option two is employed and keeping in mind the Stereo Subs is the applicable format in the 5.1 scheme, would I continue with the Sub/LFE off with this configuration and still maintain the present settings on the ICBM?

Elaborate, and suggest please...also, might you explain any speaker not connected to the ICBM in a “small” setting, is it still controlled by the receiver’s crossover? Hence, the receiver’s crossover is defeated only by the “Large settings?

Thanks,

So you currently have a two-channel Audiosource driving the Vandersteen C1's and want to add a second amp? With option one (running the Audiosource amps as bridged mono amps), you would need to make no changes to the bass management. With option two, I would do one of two things: leave the ICBM exactly as it is, or change the center to "large" at the receiver and pass the pre-amp signal through the ICBM.

You are currently running the receiver with the sub off, the mains large, and the center and surrounds small (if I recall the setup correctly), which means that the LFE track and the low frequency data from the center and surrounds is all being redirected to the mains, at which point the ICBM splits the signals between subs and speakers. The system would continue to function exactly as it does now if you were to put an amp in to drive the center. This is an acceptable approach, but I'd probably recommend something slightly different...

Since you have an ICBM already on hand, you can use it to gain greater control over the center channel crossover point. Set the center channel to "large" in the receiver, connect the center channel pre-amp output from the receiver to the ICBM's center input, connect the ICBM's center output to the amp's input, and hook the center to the amp. At this point, you can use the center channel control on the ICBM to select the most appropriate crossover point for the center channel speaker.

This is correct. If a speaker is set to "small" at the receiver, then the receiver applies bass management to the signal using the receiver's crossover point (with low frequency data steered to the subwoofer - or the "large" mains in the event that there is no subwoofer). If a speaker is set to "large" at the receiver, then the receiver does not apply any bass management and the signal bypasses the receiver's crossovers.

That is correct.

To summarize and conclude, it’s either fish OR fowl.

The extra amp for the mono block mode OR the extra amp to power center while utilizing the ICBM’s center channel control.

Is this the bottom line?

If so, your reply will influence the purchase of not one but two amps, one for center/ICBM, and the other for the mono block mode.

Thanks Again,

That is correct. The only way to use the ICBM to control the center's crossover point is to add an amp to drive the center channel. You can buy one additional amp (for a total of two) and have two monoblocks driving the mains (with the center and surrounds still on the receiver's power and the ICBM only providing crossover control for the mains), or have one amp driving both mains and another in mono mode driving the center (with the ICBM providing crossover control for the mains and center).

You could get two additional amps (for a total of three) and do a couple of things: three mono amps driving the mains and center (with the ICBM in line with all of them) while the receiver drives the surrounds, or one mono amp on the center channel and two stereo amps each driving a main and a surround (with the ICBM handling all bass management).

Thanks again,

You are truly helpful, as well as being knowledgeable of the product.

Until next time.

No problem, glad I could help.