Bi-Amping -horizontal vs. vertical?

dkg999

I have a new set of Maggie 1.6QR's in-house and when I was discussing using my Parasound amps to bi-amp them, the dealer said I should use vertical bi-amping and not a horizontal bi-amp setup. I have always bi-amped using one amp for the low-end, and one-amp for the high-end. The dealer claims that I will get a huge improvement by using one amp per speaker, powering the low-end with one channel, and the high-end with the other channel, using a y-splitter out of each channel on my pre-amp.

Has anyone compared these two methods and does it really make a big difference?

And if the vertical bi-amp is the way to go, who makes good quality y-splitters? I use an Outlaw Audio one to split my sub output to my two SVS's in my HT. I use Signal Cable IC's in my 2 channel, however it doesn't appear SC makes a y-splitter.

VR3

Biamping only works if you limit what the amp does when it drivers the tweeter end. Otherwise the amp is still doing a full range signal.

There are several ways to go about this.

There is a passive hypass filter you can buy that plugs directly into the amp before the ICs that does this. They cost 25 a pair. May be worth looking into.

As for vertical over horizontal - horizontal makes sense to me. Vertical does not.

http://www.partsexpress.com/webpage.cfm?webpage_id=3&SO=2&&DID=7&CATID=48&ObjectGroup_ID=195&manuid=265

Disclaimer - I have not tried these plugs, it would be something to try - PE has a return policy.

unc2701

If you're using matched amps that only have one power supply per amp and you're driving them hard, vertical makes more sense. The left and right channels will usually have heavier bass and the same time- with vertical two different amps/ power supplies get hit with this load.

With dual mono's it'd make no difference.

tonyv1

There are guys on the MUG site that use a SS amp for the woofer/mid panel and a tube amp for the tweeter. That's the way I would vertical biamp the Maggies. Just make sure to balance the output levels between amps.
Welcome to the world of Maggies! I started with a Parasound HCA-1500A on my MMG, then MG12s, but now use an Anthem AMP1, more musical.

dkg999

Tonyv1 - I will be using a pair of Parasound HCA-1500A to power the 1.6's. My dealer was using an Anthem amp in the demo system, combined with a Conrad Johnson tube pre-amp. Very nice sounding. They were good enough to let me haul in my Parasound pre and amp (they are also a Parasound dealer) to demo them. We swapped out the Conrad Johnson pre-amp for an Anthem pre-amp and compared the Anthem system to the Parasound pre and amp. There was a difference, however not as much as I imagined for the $ difference in equipment. Then swapped the Anthem pre in for my Parasound pre, and at that point I couldn't hear much difference at all. Confirms that the next upgrade will be to the pre-amp.

madmax

I agree with un2701 concerning vertical biamping for high power usage when you are driving the speakers very hard. I guess there would be an argument for horizontal biamping for the cleanest sound when not driven extremely hard.
madmax