Ques, Bi-amp w/ another Receiver

acdds

I just tried to bi-amp my Rti70's with my old sony STR-DE545 and my Denon 3803. I put into stereo mode and the 70's had less sound than w the 3803 alone. I hooked the top binding posts to the 3803 and the bottom posts to the sony. The sony level was set at half the max sound. 70's set to large on the 3803. I unplugged the top set of wires and it sounded like both 6.5" drivers were on and the tweeter wasn't. How is the crossover set up on the 70's? Do the bottom binding posts control both woofers? And if so should I hook the 3803 to the bottom binding posts and the sony to the top set? Also is the tweeter able to handle 100 or 140 watts by itself? My Denon is rated at 140Wx2 dynamic power @8 ohms. The sony is rated 100wx2 both channels driven @ 8 ohms. Does bi-amping drop the load down to 4 ohms because that would boost the 3803 to 210x2 and the sony to over 100x2? Thanks for any advice especially from members w/ bi-amped rigs, some real world experiences and tricks/tips would be appreciated!

eclypse

All i can say is check your wires again to make sure the + and - is right on both ends.. make sure the balance is set right on the sony.. Plus did you use a RCA cable to the sony's tape monitor in from the Denon's front pre-out? Make sure the sony is in stereo as well.

acdds

I set it up all correctly and then double checked it. I used RCA's from the Denon pre-outs to the sony AUX input and set it to 2-channel. I turned up the volume on the sony to about 2/3 max volume and it sounds much better. I am still afraid that I am going to blow the drivers that's why I would like someone who knows about the specs to check it out for me. They do sound much clearer. I was playing Santana's Abraxas SACD and the detail was amazing (it kind of scared me because I thought I heard one of the driver making a funny sound but it wasn't distortion) I think it was just an encoded sound that never was audible before. Can anyone help me out here? Thanks!

acdds

One more question, how do you calibrate the two amps to make sure they are playing at the same level? Can you use a SPL meter w/ the white noise generator while testing one set of binding posts at a time to make sure that are playing at 75db? (disconnecting the top set of wire, testing, then disconnecting the bottom set and testing)

eclypse

Lots of good questions.. Sorry i couldnt be of more help but i too just played around with bi-amping with the 70's i have.. Right now there all boxed up and ready to be sent back to CC since i've ordered up a new set of the Rti's.. But i'm holding on to them for damn sure till i make sure i like th enew line and the looks which i wont know till i see and hear them... Those 70's were the last new pair that i know of in Michigan at CC and i'm not about to return 2 perfect speakers that londed great in Bi-amp mode till i'm sure hehe..

Tour2ma

The load inpact of bi-amping is particularly interesting. Since you are eliminating a parallel load the only thing that could happen is the impedance rise. It would not fall.

It would make the most sense for both woofers to be on one cross-over and thus on one set of posts, the lower ones. So the tweets would be on the other, upper pair.

As for which amp to use on which section of the speaker, the choice for the woofers would seem to be the higher powered amp, but double check your spec's to see which amp is higher current. I think I would opt for it.

Edit: Don't worry about the amp rating for tweeters. The amount of power sent to them is dependant on the high frequency information in the source material. It is not going to be more than a few watts continuous...