I hope this is the correct forum.

I am not ready to upgrade my 1050 at this point (wife has mentioned the word "divorce" in conjunction with my budgeting for A/V toys) and am really happy with it in any case. I have my eye on an Outlaw 7 channel setup that will be procured as soon as sufficient goodwill has been accumulated (or at such time as we can get one of the kids adopted by Trump).

Here's the rub. I recently came into a pair of gorgeous speakers that I would like to drive as fronts. I already have a pair of fronts. I want to drive both sets simultaneously.

Is there some technical solution to driving an additional set of main speakers?

Can some good soul outline my options, if any?

Thanks!

M1iS

If you want to drive both sets simultaneously (both active at once), you'll probably want to use the 1050's pre-amp outputs and a separate power amp to drive the second set while leaving the first set on the 1050's internal amp. I never tried that with the 1050, but it should work fine. If you want to be able to drive either set of speakers but not both at once, there are some good speaker selector boxes around that would let you choose speaker set "A" or speaker set "B".

Thanks, gonk.

Do you think a used M200 might fit the bill? I might be able to sneak that under the wife's radar screen, budgetwise!

While I'm on that topic, what is a fair price to pay for an M200, assuming excellent condition.

Thanks again.

M1iS

The M200 is a mono amp, so you would need two of them......higher budget!

Ahhh...so that's why people were looking at me funny when I insisted I only needed only one M200.

Even if I sell my hair to a wigmaker there's no way to shake that kind of cash loose. Hmmm. Any thoughts on a specific amp for this application?

I'd suggest checking out Audiogon for used two-channel amps. You may find something in your price range with an older Parasound, Rotel, Adcom, or some other pretty respectable brands.

Thanks, Gonk. I also appreciate your PM.

Sorry to see you live in Memphis! I served on NSA Millington and could never quite get around to liking Memphis much.

Thanks again.

M200s have been selling for $200 each plus shipping lately on ebay and audiogon.

I grew up in midtown (near Rhodes College) and have spent most of my life around here - it has its issues, as any city its size does, but it's home. Don't know when you were here last, but downtown's seen some remarkable improvements in the last ten years or so. Best of luck with the amp search. If you do decide to track down some M200's, they'll serve you well (they're what I'm using to drive my mains currently), but I suspect that any of the options I mentioned in my PM would work for you.

i guess you are using 5.1 already? just want to add two more fronts along with that? or is this for stereo use?

George,

I have the full array of 5.1 speakers. I am simply looking for a means of using this beautiful pair of speakers. They are, btw, Canton PL-260s, which are small (even for) bookshelf speakers that rock like plate tectonics.

My existing fronts are Dahlquist tower models. My beef with them is that they could use a touch of brilliance in the high end.

Hooking up the Cantons separately has given me the idea that the two sets running concurrently could compliment the heck out of each other.

I have owned a very nice pair of Axiom, incidently (I believe they were the M3?) and these Canton make them sound like tissue boxes with strings attached by comparison. The clarity and warmth is devastating.

Gonk, just teasing about Memphis...but I WAS there recently. My Navy command was relocated there after Katrina.

Do you think that remarkable Super-T would be a match for my Cantons? I think they must be pretty danged efficient, no?

Thanks, too, to Bug for his/her recommendation. But $425 is out of my pathetic price range! That's a doggone nice amp, tho.

Thanks everybody.

M1i6

What are the specs on the Cantons?

GL 260
IMP: 4....8 Ohm
DIN Power handling: 45 Watt
Music Power handling: 70 Watt
Frequency Range: 42....30000 Hz
Made in the Federal Republic of Germany * West Germany

This is all I have.

For just $25-$30, you might give the T-amp a try and see if it can at least let you hear the Canton/Dahlquist combo together to decide if you like the arrangement (since it's a rather non-typical arrangement, I'm not sure what it'll end up doing for you). If you do like it, you can always watch for a beefier used amp in the $100-$150 price range.

Well, I made an offer on one of the amps you highlighted for me. If the guy accepts my insultingly low bid, I'll have a gorgeous amp that I can use anyway.

And yeah, I'm willing to accept that my proposed setup is a little whacky, but if it turns about to be just dumb, I can use the Cantons to listen to music in the kitchen. Have the Dahls etc in the living room.

Of course, I could also have just discovered audio gold, and the next big thing will have everyone going out and buying Canton / Dahlquist combos.

Thanks.

I was thinking of taking one of the Cantons and using it as the center surround ("rear") speaker, but that's just blasphemy to use such a nice speaker for such drudge work.

I can't figure the T out...is that a stereo amp, then I take it? Thanks.

Scratch the question on the T-amp...just read all about it. That's perfect. I'll tell my wife it's a wireless mouse receiver.

Let's see if the audiogon guy takes my bid. If not, I am T'ing it. Also neat in that it draws so little juice. Not a bad thing in these energy challenged times.