2. amps-preamps
  3. 1368453565

Rogue Audio Sphynx and Martin Logan Odysseys

I was awe struck by this amp when I auditioned it 2 weeks ago and bought it while at was at the dealer's shop. I hooked it up at home to Martin Logan Odysseys and was completely satisfied except for a somewhat muddy sounding bass when listening to low passages of Michael Hedges' guitar music and other similar music. I was told by someone quite knowledgeable that the best way to tighten up the bass is to bi-amp using at least 200watt amplifiers. The preamp of this integrated unit is one of the best I've owned and I don't want to change the amp but it does not have pre out capability. It may be time to change speakers, and I would like to trade them anyway, unless there is another approach that will get me where i want to be without losing this wonerful amp. Any suggestions will be appreciated.
jimbreit
tls49's avatar
tls49
1,318 posts
 
Rogue's website shows the Sphinx with a variable output, and states it is for subwoofer or biamping. Just add a Medusa power amp @ 200 WPC.
roscoeiii's avatar
roscoeiii
1,155 posts
 
I am a speakers-first kind of fella. Settle on speakers, and then look for the best amp pairing for those specific speakers.

It also occurs to me that you may want to let the Sphinx settle in a bit, and see if the bass tightens up.

I am also a bit surprised you are hearing muddy bass. Those Class D amp modules have pretty high damping factors which tend to do a pretty good job controlling the bass.

What were your dealer's thoughts on the match of the Sphinx and the Martin Logans?
jimbreit OP
8 posts
 
Thanks for your responses and I guess I exposed my ignorance of both biamping in general and the capability of my own amp. I'm in the process of learning terms such as active, passive, horizontal, vertical, etc., and I think what I needed to ask has to do with using pre outs from the Sphinx to a more powerful stereo amp supplying the speakers. I'm not totally convinced that my bass needs more damping or even if simply adding more power would accomplish this. I spoke with a Martin Logan tech who didn't disagree with the logic of this proposed solution, but my very expert audiophile Rogue dealer believes that the Sphinx should keep the bass pretty "tight" by itself. I'm just starting my learning curve and have a relatively limited budget as regards equipment purchases so any and all advice will be appreciated.
roscoeiii's avatar
roscoeiii
1,155 posts
 
I would not assume that the bass issues you are experiencing are necessarily due to not having enough power. There is much more to amplification and speaker-amp interactions than power.

You bought your amp at a dealer. So have you inquired with this dealer about this issue? Dealer support is one of the main advantages of buying from a dealer as opposed to used from a private seller here or elsewhere.
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