Bi Amp or Bi wiring ?

friggy

I'm a relative noob and when it comes to the internal workings of a speaker I havn't a clue, all I know is I wire it up and listen. I know there a re differing opinions on whether there is anything to be gained by Bi amping or Bi wiring. My question is if there's nothing to be gained why would the manufacturers go to the problem of making the speakers capable of being Bi amped or wired? Reading an article by B&W on Bi amping sounds like it is as easy as just removing the jumpers and running the cabling.

F1nut

Reading an article by B&W on Bi amping sounds like it is as easy as just removing the jumpers and running the cabling.

I think you're confused already and meant to say bi-wiring because there's nothing easy about proper bi-amping.

friggy

Well I am confused but I am mostly confused by the Bi-amping process. Bi-wiring is basically adding an extra set of cables to the speaker terminals from the same output on the amp, is this correct? Bi-amping is using a seperate output on the amp to the second set of terminals with the jumper removed, and.....this is the part I don't understand what else needs to be done?

F1nut

Bi-wiring is running two sets of speaker cables from the amp to the speakers. One set is connected to the high frequency circuit, the other to the low. You remove the jumpers. Most folks find this is a waste of time and money.

True bi-amping requires using separate amps with their own power supply (this rules out every AVR on the market and most multi-channel amps) AND using active crossovers in place of the passive crossovers in your speakers.

IMO, you are better off using a single run of high quality speaker cable AND replacing the stock jumpers with the same high quality cable.

B Run

True Bi-amping is where people get confused. Bi-wiring is simple, and you've got it down. You can either buy cables that are Bi-wired with 1+ and 1- output from the amp, running to 2+ and 2- for the speaker end. You can also just replace the factory jumpers with decent wire, it really just comes down to personal tastes.

^F1 beat me to it with a better answer haha

maandjojo

Hey frig, the actual act of either is not terribly difficult but there is a need to understand what you are doing. First off lets take a look at your speakers and there power specs. The rti10 speakers can go up to 300 wpc so the amp is a good fit. I have done both bi-wiring and bi-amping, the bi-amping being a better way to go. You do have to match your amps if using 2 different amps. I assume you will use the same amp using the front inputs and the surround inputs to the speakers. The receiver has preouts so there is no problem there. I usually use one set of inputs for right and the other for the left. So your going to take your speaker cable and hook into the right speaker input for the front speakers. The other end will go to the right speaker lower binding posts. Next you take your speaker wire and connect to the left speaker input for the front speakers and attach to the upper binding posts. You will then use a Y connector to hook into the the two front speaker inputs. Then take an rca hook one end into the Y connector and the other to the receiver preout for the right front. Mirror what you've just done for the right speaker and do the same for the left speaker using the preouts on receiver for the left speaker and the surround speaker inputs on the amp.
I have had great results doing this and am doing it right now with Paradigm S1 V2 speakers, Carver 705X amp with Marantz 7002.

Good luck,
Joe

F1nut

Joe, I'm not going to dispute your findings, but that is still not true bi-amping.

friggy

Thanks for the help, I do have a better understanding of passive vs active bi amping now,not completely but better.

cusco69

Actually I am more confused about bi-amping now. Anyone care to clear the air here?

maandjojo

F1, back at you, just not sure if there is any difference in the outcome. I have done both, using the same brand amps but less power for the tweet than the mid and bass making sure the gain was the same.
Well frig you have some options, either way the speakers will definately hum bi-amped.

Joe

F1nut

cusco69 wrote: »

Actually I am more confused about bi-amping now. Anyone care to clear the air here?

This guy does an excellent job at explaining bi-amping.

http://sound.westhost.com/bi-amp.htm

The most common question I get [about bi-amping] is ...

"Do I need to disconnect the passive crossover in my speakers?"
The answer is ... Yes, otherwise you are not really biamping at all.

cusco69

Thanks F1, that is a really good read.

Speedskater

F1nut wrote: »

This guy does an excellent job at explaining bi-amping.

http://sound.westhost.com/bi-amp.htm

Yes, Rod Elliot does an excellent job of explaining lots of things.

VXR8

Thanks for the info F1 - it is an interesting read. Literally, in the last 48 hours, I have bi-amped my LSi9's (external amplification, not AVR bi-amping), which were previously bi-wired. So either way, am I gaining anything because I haven't done anything with the crossovers? As per the LSi9 Manual, it states:

Bi-amping [figure 9] allows you to use separate amplifiers for the high and low frequency sections of your loudspeaker for greater dynamic range and lower distortion. After removing the jumpers, connect the speaker wires from the high frequency amplifier outputs to the upper set of terminal posts on each speaker. Follow the same procedure for connecting the low frequency amplifier outputs to the lower set of terminals. Remember to maintain correct wiring polarity
(+ to +, - to -) in all connections.

Unless I am mistaken after reading the article on bi-amping, it appears that unless I make changes to the "passive crossover", I might as well replace the jumpers and run single cable. Am I missing something? Thanks for your advice and Happy New Year (currently 15 minutes away from 2013 in Sydney)

F1nut

There are some gains to be made by using separate amps (not AVR's or multi-channel amps sharing the same power supply) to bi-amp while still using the passive crossovers in the sense that "high" amp isn't being taxed driving the lows and therefore freeing up the "low" amp to deal with the bass only. However, the full benefits of bi-amping are only realized by using active crossovers.

Happy New Year!