Has anyone used tubes and solid state to biamp speakers?

polkfarmboy
polkfarmboy Posts: 5,703
edited July 2012 in 2 Channel Audio
I am curious to know if anyone has ever considered/ or is using tubes and solid state in a biamp configuration?
Post edited by polkfarmboy on
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  • soundfreak1
    soundfreak1 Posts: 3,414
    edited July 2012
    Have a good friend that uses 2 macintosh ss 2600 series to drive his woofs and 2 dared tube amps on the hornes is a pair of 1960 vintage JBL'S amd it is wonderful.
    Main Rig:
    Krell KAV 250a biamped to mid/highs
    Parasound HCA1500A biamped to lows
    Nakamichi EC100 Active xover
    MIT exp 1 ic's
    Perreaux SA33 class A preamp
    AQ kingcobra ic's
    OPPO 83 CDP
    Lehmann audio black cube SE phono pre, Audioquest phono wire (ITA1/1)
    Denon DP-1200 TT. AToc9ML MC cart.
    Monster HTS 3600 power conditioner
    ADS L1590/2 Biamped
    MIT exps2 speaker cable
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  • organ
    organ Posts: 4,969
    edited July 2012
    There are people who use that type of set up but it's difficult to get right.
    Both amps must have the same gain which is nearly impossible. So you need to find a way to lower the gain on one amp to match the other and use some sort of test signal and an spl meter to confirm level match.
    Some amps like NAD have two rca inputs on the back (one variable and the other fixed). Much easier to work with this kind of amp.
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  • polkfarmboy
    polkfarmboy Posts: 5,703
    edited July 2012
    soundfreak1 wrote: »
    Have a good friend that uses 2 macintosh ss 2600 series to drive his woofs and 2 dared tube amps on the hornes is a pair of 1960 vintage JBL'S amd it is wonderful.

    I sound like a complete newb but I don't understand how one goes about doing this as far as volume levels and crossover settings are concerned

    Edit : Just saw your post Organ and that sheds a little more light on the subject
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  • soundfreak1
    soundfreak1 Posts: 3,414
    edited July 2012
    He usea an external crossover and has the xover rewired for that purpose.
    Main Rig:
    Krell KAV 250a biamped to mid/highs
    Parasound HCA1500A biamped to lows
    Nakamichi EC100 Active xover
    MIT exp 1 ic's
    Perreaux SA33 class A preamp
    AQ kingcobra ic's
    OPPO 83 CDP
    Lehmann audio black cube SE phono pre, Audioquest phono wire (ITA1/1)
    Denon DP-1200 TT. AToc9ML MC cart.
    Monster HTS 3600 power conditioner
    ADS L1590/2 Biamped
    MIT exps2 speaker cable
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  • soundfreak1
    soundfreak1 Posts: 3,414
    edited July 2012
    Its over my head as well. My tech set it up for him as he does the same thing with 4 mac tube amps and 2 vintage yammy amps for the tweets on a pair of Ads 810 speakers and it amazing.
    Main Rig:
    Krell KAV 250a biamped to mid/highs
    Parasound HCA1500A biamped to lows
    Nakamichi EC100 Active xover
    MIT exp 1 ic's
    Perreaux SA33 class A preamp
    AQ kingcobra ic's
    OPPO 83 CDP
    Lehmann audio black cube SE phono pre, Audioquest phono wire (ITA1/1)
    Denon DP-1200 TT. AToc9ML MC cart.
    Monster HTS 3600 power conditioner
    ADS L1590/2 Biamped
    MIT exps2 speaker cable
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  • zingo
    zingo Posts: 11,258
    edited July 2012
    I did this with my old Klipsch Fortes, and am going to try it with my corner horns too. True biamping requires an electric crossover for each speaker plus the amps. However with horns, I found very good results by having tubes on the horns and SS on the woofers with the passive crossovers; the best of both worlds aurally IMO.

    As stated above, at least one of the amps needs to have variable gain to match the level of the other amp(s). My tube integrated has a line out so I can add another amp which is controlled by the same volume, then I use the gain pots on the back of the amp to set the woofer level to match the other drivers.

    If you want to give it a try, I currently have two class D amps with variable gain in the Flea Market that work great for biamping woofers. :cool:
    Jake
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