Is the set-up below bi-wiring or bi-amping, and is there a better set-up using my existing equip.?

kdhouse2461

I have a Denon X4500H and Polka Audio rti12's. I currently have one set of speaker cables from the receiver front L/R audio out terminals to the upper rti12 speaker terminals and one set from the receiver front L/R pre-out terminals through a pro audio external amp (500 wpc @ 8 ohms) to the lower speaker terminals. The jumpers between the speaker terminals are removed. Sounds pretty good, bass is punchier than when truly bi-amping through the receiver alone (only a little over 100 wpc bi-amped through the X4500H). Sound may not be as clean though. I believe this setup is not going through the receiver cross-over, but is it also by-passing the speaker cross-overs making the music sound busy? Will I damage the speakers using this setup? Is this set up bi-wiring or bi-amping?

pitdogg2

Removing the jumper plate only seperates the woofer section from the mids and or tweeter section. The only way to bi amp is with active crossovers and separate amps. Your best bet it to just let that external amp be the power to the speakers through the preouts. This will in turn allow the receiver to better run the other speakers that are not being powered by the external amp. On modern AVR's the more speakers hooked up the less power is available to the other speakers.
Many newer AVR's lets say are 150 wpc x 2. By the time you run 5 or 6 speakers it can only provide about 40 or 50 wpc at max maybe even less.
Sound and vision used to show power at 5 or 6 or heck 9 channels driven and many were only about 30-40 wpc. At that power level it is very very easy to clip the signal, this in turn will cause tweeters to cook or resistors on the cross over board to cook and fry. This in turn causes other problems on the board from that much heat.

pitdogg2

You are not bypassing the speaker crossover. What ever gave you that idea that you were? Did you remove the speaker crossover? So then you do understand that on the back side of those binding post is the wire going from the binding post to the crossover.

You've way over complicated this

You also cannot biamp through any receiver on its own. It's marketing flim flam

kdhouse2461

I wasn't sure if removing the jumper somehow deactivated the speaker cross-over or could damage it . I thought I read that in another forum, but must have misunderstood, so thanks for clarifying. I did not remove anything internal to the speaker. I am a neophyte in this area trying different wiring schemes to get the best sound I can out of my existing equipment. I thought a detailed description of my wiring setup would help get the best response. Thanks for your help.

kdhouse2461

Thanks for the explanation.

msg

Welcome kdhouse.
I tend to be forthcoming with the details as well, more so if there's been coffee or meth involved. pit was just having a bit of fun with you. Ton of great info around here, stick around.

kdhouse2461

Thanks, it's good to have a place to go when you need expert advice. Too many wiring options. This helped me cut through the B.S.

jrice1972

Bi-wiring is a waste of money. But I did remove those crummy jumper plates and replace them with good quality 10 awg oxygen free copper speaker wires.I think it sounds better.