Biamping Question

audiocr381ve

Just pulled the trigger on a pair of Totem Hawks (6 ohm speakers) which I couldn't be more stoked about.

I was wondering if there are any rules for biamping or if it's more of a experiment with whatever sounds better type of thing. I have monoblocks, the B&K Sonata M200's (200w @ 8ohms), and a Parasound HCA-750a (75w @ 8 ohms). I was thinking about throwning the Parasound on the highs. Good idea? Bad idea? Is the mismatch in power an issue?

tonyb

That B&k should be more than enough for the Totems. Using different amps will result in different speeds, then there's trying to gain match both amps too so bad idea in my book.

Nice speakers btw, congrats.

zane77

Congrats on the new speakers those should sound great. I agree with what Tony said.

Dawgfish

I have a different take on this, not that I'm discounting what the others have said. I agree the amps you have should have no problem powering your new Totems (awesome speakers btw). I'm a tinkerer by nature so my theory is if you have the equipment try it and see! You have nothing to loose but time. The main thing to look for is you need amps that have the same or very close input sensitivity and impedence. If you have amps that have adjustable imput gain knobs (some B&Ks, Parasounds, and older NADs have these), you can use the gain adjustments to match the amps. Also you can generally use a lower wattage amp on the mids and highs and higher wattage amp on the lows since the lows take much more power.

I am currently experimenting with running a Primaluna tube amp at 35wpc on the mids/highs and a NAD 2600PE at 160 wpc on the lows of my SRS 2s. I think it sounds great! I'm getting the lushness of tubes on the mids and highs with solid state impact and quickness on the lows. Because the NAD has adjustable input gain, I can even out the levels of the two amps. I bought the NAD as something reasonable to power a set of Magnepan MMGs I bought and it does a great job with those. I read a post on another forumn from the Von Scheikert person who makes the speakers bearing his name. He said he likes to use tube amps on the mids and highs and solid state amps on the lows. He also said he matched the levels of the amps using resistors on the input side to match the gain. I figured I could do the same if I used amps with adjustable input gain. I'll see if I can find the post and provide a link for you.

Oh one other thing btw, I find it is necesary to use ICs and speaker cables of the same manufacturer, type, and lengths between the two amps to have as much coherence as possible. I know if you are using two different types of amps there will be some differences, but using the same cables helps to minimize that as much as possible. Ideally it's best to use two of the same type of everything when biamping, but I've had very good luck with bi-amping with different brands and types of amps before and also times where it didn't sound so good. The thing is you really never know until you try so if you have the equipment and the time, I say go for it!

zingo

The only time I think bi-amping is worth it is if you want to use tubes and SS to shape the sound; i.e. tubes for horns and SS for woofers. Your B&K amps should be more than enough for those speakers.

audiocr381ve

Cool, thanks for the input guys!