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M5-HP vs M7-HP for 5a Carbons


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Has anyone had any experience using the M7-HP with Vandersteen speakers other then the 7s?  For example with the 5A, or Quartos and did you find any advantage to using the M7-HP?  In other words does the M7-HP higher qualify parts provide any audio improvement over the M5-HP?

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  • 3 weeks later...

The 5 scales like heck.  The 7's are the 7's.  Yes they are better.  Is it worth it?  I'd personally upgrade the speakers to the most expensive you are able to afford.  If you are looking at the 7 amps, then I'd get the Kénto's and the 5 amps as the fit is superb.  Then you can upgrade the room or racks/platforms or your front end or cables, lol.  

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22 hours ago, ctsooner said:

The 5 scales like heck.  The 7's are the 7's.  Yes they are better.  Is it worth it?  I'd personally upgrade the speakers to the most expensive you are able to afford.  If you are looking at the 7 amps, then I'd get the Kénto's and the 5 amps as the fit is superb.  Then you can upgrade the room or racks/platforms or your front end or cables, lol.  

Thats not really what I am asking.  I am asking about the cross overs not the amps (hp vs hpa).

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1 minute ago, ctsooner said:

Interesting question.  Can you even run the 7 amp with the others?  My Quatro's crossover as 120 not 100. The amp doesn't have a variable x over, so it wouldn't' match properly.  

I am not talking about the amp.  Just the cross over modules.  As for the amps it would work for the 5a Carbons as they cross at 100hz.  Also the quatro ct pass at 100hz as well per the site.

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do they really?? I thought it was 120.  I don't get too caught up in the specs, until I'm ready to do something wiht the system. 

I have heard the Quatro's using the 7's crossover and feel it does make a small difference in quality.  I also had Ayre install my crossovers into the AX5/20 directly.  I was told they matched each component to the smallest of tolerances they use on their reference gear (as do most).  They used their reference caps etc... j

Having a lot of MS (cognitive) issues this past week or two, so I'm so sorry I didn't understand your question. I do a ton of auditioning as you know and always ask to hear as much gear with various Vandy's as I can (as well as other speakers).  

 

I have a few friends who purchased the 7HP over the 5's, but don't know if they even auditioned both.

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4 minutes ago, ctsooner said:

do they really?? I thought it was 120.  I don't get too caught up in the specs, until I'm ready to do something wiht the system. 

I have heard the Quatro's using the 7's crossover and feel it does make a small difference in quality.  I also had Ayre install my crossovers into the AX5/20 directly.  I was told they matched each component to the smallest of tolerances they use on their reference gear (as do most).  They used their reference caps etc... j

Having a lot of MS (cognitive) issues this past week or two, so I'm so sorry I didn't understand your question. I do a ton of auditioning as you know and always ask to hear as much gear with various Vandy's as I can (as well as other speakers).  

 

I have a few friends who purchased the 7HP over the 5's, but don't know if they even auditioned both.

Its cool.  Yeah I know Richard feels its diminishing returns for the 5s vs the 7s but if I end up going with a different amp then the Vandy M5-HPA say an ARC Ref 160S then I might want the better xover.

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If the cost doesn't mean much to you, it's worth it as it makes a small difference.  The Ayre guys told me when they did mine that they feel it makes a big enough difference that they wanted me to have it.  It was really nice of them to even do as I felt fewer connections and cables would make a noticeable difference.  Just my mind set though as I couldn't A/B it.  lol

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  • 2 weeks later...

What a treat you are in for.  Not sure if you have heard the amp yet, but I heard the 160m on the  Quatro's.  It takes them to a special place.  It was only about a 45 minute audition, but it was a WOW moment.  I then got to hear the 160m's vs the 30k Boulder amp.  The Boulder amp was so much more sterile for me.  I just didn't love them as I didn't get any emotion.  I heard the Boulder with their top preamp and I heard the AR with one of their Ref pre's.  May have been the 6, but I don't remember that either as I was there more on a social visit as I'm a patient at NIH and am down there quite a bit during the year.  So many good audio brick and mortar stores in the DC area 

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  • 3 months later...

The M7-HPB crossover is definitely better than the M5-HPB because it uses the most transparent Teflon caps available  and are biased with 12 volt of lithium batteries.  We now make a version of the M5-HPB for the KENTO's which has the Teflon Caps and the lithium batteries inside for $600 Retail more which closes the gap to about 85% of the M7-HPB.  Old M5-HPB's are not upgradable.  One would want to know what their future plans are because the best combo for the Quatro or KENTO would be the M5-HPA mono block amplifiers which includes the equivalent of the M7-HPB Teflon caps internally and only 5 parts in the signal path. 

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  • 2 months later...

Corey - sorry I was late to party on this although I recall somebody asking this question on audiogon last year.

I bought a pair of 5a without High pass filters and chose to get the 7 filters knowing that someday I would get the 7’s but also feeling it was good value.  Also, even IF planning on an M5 or M7 amp later on down the road, a well maintained Vandy hi pass filter is like gold, easy to sell or trade. IF I had a pair of Quattro I would run them with the best hipass I could afford.

 

My buck fifty...

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