Question about bi-amping/bi-wiring Polk Monitor 70’s with an Onkyo AVR

spock 2054

Just for fun, last week I ran the surround back left and right leads from my Onkyo TX-SR806 to the top speaker connectors for the 70’s, front connections still on the bottom, with the jumper removed from both speakers. Set receiver for bi-amp, ran Audessey, and it set the all the speakers (monitor 70’s, CS2, monitor 60’s rear) to full band and my subs to 120. (Setting for the speakers were adjusted to 80hz, but honestly, it sounds better at full band.)

I've been listening for a few days, and I do notice fuller bass and more detailed sound from the front speakers – especially with the subs off. My question is; do you, if you have a similar configuration, notice a slight, great, or no difference in the overall quality of sound from the front speakers when bi-amped/bi-wired with the Onkyo? I think I do notice a tad more detail and bass with more heft to it, but I miss my surround back channels. (jbl e10’s) Just wondering what everyone else has experienced with this configuration. Thanks.

cnh

Congrats....that kind of wiring may or may not do anything and a lot of it is subjective. I bi-amped (technically not real bi-amping since only one amp is involved) M-70s with an equivalent Denon AVR and could not hear a difference. When I added an Adcom-555 into the mix I started to hear a lot of what you describe--though.

Hey, if you hear it...it's there!

Enjoy!

cnh

EndersShadow

I actually noticed the opposite. I did what you did w/ my Integra DTR 5.9 and thought at first it sounded better. Then when I moved I decided to just go back to single wire's for ease of setup and found more detail that way rather than when bi-wired. Now that I added a dedicated amp (Carver 705x) to the mix I have TONS more detail when listening to music. I havent really tested it out too much w/ movies yet but we will see.

cseils

This is interesting because I was thinking about going this route with one of the newer Onkyo AVRs in the future. I noticed they make you use the surround back outputs to bi-wire, do they not bring those back channels over to the other surrounds for a 5.1 setup?

spock 2054

cseils wrote: »

This is interesting because I was thinking about going this route with one of the newer Onkyo AVRs in the future. I noticed they make you use the surround back outputs to bi-wire, do they not bring those back channels over to the other surrounds for a 5.1 setup?

The surround back channels are gone when you configure your speakers for "bi-amp" mode in the 806 series. The ability to run multichannel analog audio is also not available in bi-amp mode. The main left and right surronds remain active. I went back to a 7.2 configuration - I have a fairly healthy collection of dts 6.1 ES discrete, dolby digital EX DVD's and a multitude of blu-ray and HD DVD titles that use the surround back channel(s).

Outfitter03

You may have noticed a difference in sound by using a better connection than the factory jumpers. Upgrading by installing a decent jumper or even good quality speaker wire should improve the quality of your listening as described.

Did you experiment with simple bi wiring, or does your extra set of speaker cables have the same type of connectors preventing this? Such as both pairs having banana connectors.

Anti cable makes an affordable set of jumpers http://www.anticables.com/jumpers.html .

Also there are jumper offered on this site.

http://www.soniccraft.com/products/connections/jumper.htm

cseils

spock 2054 wrote: »

The surround back channels are gone when you configure your speakers for "bi-amp" mode in the 806 series. The ability to run multichannel analog audio is also not available in bi-amp mode. The main left and right surronds remain active. I went back to a 7.2 configuration - I have a fairly healthy collection of dts 6.1 ES discrete, dolby digital EX DVD's and a multitude of blu-ray and HD DVD titles that use the surround back channel(s).

Guess its intended for 2 channel systems then... bummer. Looks like its back to AVR research for me. Thanks for the info.

spock 2054

cseils wrote: »

Guess its intended for 2 channel systems then... bummer. Looks like its back to AVR research for me. Thanks for the info.

Correction: When you bi-amp/bi-wire, you will still have a 5.1 configuration, just no surround back channel(s).

PrazVT

I hesitate to suggest this here (lol), but how about Onkyo's inexpensive M-282 power amp (105w x 2 @ 8ohms)? You could go:

Onkyo 806 -> first binding post on speakers
Onkyo 806 pre-outs -> Onkyo M-282 -> second binding post on speakers

You wouldn't have to turn the bi-amp function on and lose the rear surrounds. My RTi A7s are powered like that - Denon AVR-3311ci (125wpc) to mid/highs and the Onkyo amp to the woofers. Did the same thing w/ the previous Yamaha RX-V663 (95wpc) and it's a significant improvement from using the AVR's internal bi-amp function. The slightly differing power outputs don't seem to affect the sound from what I can tell.

Anyway, just a 'quick fix' suggestion ... ultimately a dedicated amp is better but depends on your situation. Just my 2 cents

cnh

+1, real Bi-amping involves two separate amps with separate power supplies--almost NO AVR can really bi-amp anything....even if it uses that terminology. (I say almost NO because there are a few higher end AVRs that have the above requirements).

cnh

tonyb

cnh wrote: »

+1, real Bi-amping involves two separate amps with separate power supplies--almost NO AVR can really bi-amp anything....even if it uses that terminology. (I say almost NO because there are a few higher end AVRs that have the above requirements).

cnh

Yeah,what he said.......:D

kuntasensei

cnh wrote: »

+1, real Bi-amping involves two separate amps with separate power supplies--almost NO AVR can really bi-amp anything....even if it uses that terminology. (I say almost NO because there are a few higher end AVRs that have the above requirements).

cnh

+1. The 806 is already underpowered according to reviews, and since it's drawing power from a common store (and has current limiting in place), it's pointless to do it. If you're hearing a difference, it's more likely that you need better jumpers as Outfitter said.

But hey, if it works for you, that's all that matters.