Opera Seconda and RB1080

[tomasito]

I was able to do a layaway arrangement on an opera seconda. I should be done paying for it in 3 months.

I am upgrading from my polk audio LSI9 to this.
Will the Opera Seconda be a good match with the RB1080?

[srb]

I have a similar speaker, the Opera Callas Diva. The Seconda has an 89dB sensitivity and a 4 ohm nominal rating that never drops below 4.25 ohms.

This is also similar to your Polk LSI9 (88dB and does not dip below 4 ohms), so they are both fairly easy loads for any competent amplifier. I have driven my Divas with the Rotel RB-1080 with very good results, as well as passively bi-amping with an Audio Refinement Multi-5 (125W/channel) also with good results.

The Seconda and the RB-1080 should be a good pairing, similar to your LSI9, but with better clarity and lower bass response.

Steve

[tomasito]

Just curious will I here a sonic difference between the opera seconda and LSI9?

Is the opera seconda capable of passive bi-amping? In my understanding of your statment there are 2 amps feeding in a psssive bi-amping of the callas diva? the RB-1080 and the audio refinement multi-5 , Is this understanding correct?

[srb]

Just curious will I here a sonic difference between the opera seconda and LSI9??

I would certainly hope so. Better drivers, better crossover and a larger cabinet. But all speakers sound somewhat different from each other, and hopefully you will like and appreciate the sound of the new ones. When I said it is similar to the LSI9, I meant in terms of sensitivity and impedance.

Is the opera seconda capable of passive bi-amping? In my understanding of your statment there are 2 amps feeding in a psssive bi-amping of the callas diva? the RB-1080 and the audio refinement multi-5 , Is this understanding correct?

Yes, as are your Polk LSI9s. For passive bi-amping (or bi-wiring), the shorting straps between the speaker terminals are removed.

In my case, the Audio Refinement Multi-5 replaced the Rotel RB-1080. The Multi-5 is a 5 channel amp, so I was using 4 of the channels to passively bi-amp, and the fifth channel for my center speaker.

I am not necessarily recommending passive bi-amping, as I feel in most cases a larger amp (like the RB-1080 @ 200W/ch) can give better results than bi-amping with two smaller amps (like two RB-1070s @ 130W/ch).

Also, 4 ohm speakers allow most solid state amplifiers to output at least 50% more power than at 8 ohms (if the amplifier is capable of driving a 4 ohm load), so the RB-1080 can output 300W + into a 4 ohm load.

Steve

[tomasito]

Hello Steve,
thank you for the explanation.

I was getting worried went you said similar to the LSI9, the first think that hit me was sonic similarities. The opera seconda will be my very first high end speakers or shall I say middle of the road speakers in terms of price.

thanks again