What is Bi-Amping and Should I?

c4kaboom

I just bought an Onkyo 650 amp to run some brand new Monitor 70's. I plan to finish my whole HT soon with other Polk speakers. My question is this. What is bi-amping , how do you do it, and should I ? My other amp is a Adcom GFA 555, a very old amp, 100wpc, and the sound is sweet. Thanks in advance......
P.S. The Adcom is just a power amp, 2channel.

vonnie123

FYI Adcom GFA-555 is 200wpc into 8 ohms. From my understanding bi-amping dedicates one amp to the lower frequency portion of the speaker, and another amp drives the midrange and higher frequencies. Intent is the specific amp is dedicated to the specific frequency range for increased clarity.

This may be an oversimplified explanation; I have no personal experience with bi-amping to tell you whether or not it is worth the expense or effort.

tonyb

I wouldn't bother bi-amping monitor series speakers.Take the Adcom and use it on the fronts.

vonnie123

tonyb wrote: »

I wouldn't bother bi-amping monitor series speakers.Take the Adcom and use it on the fronts.

Actually, this is how I use my GFA-555. It drives 3 sets of 8 ohm mains without breaking a sweat. The two sets of RM 8000Ts and one set of RTi6s. It is almost twenty years old, and still works great.

venomclan

tonyb wrote: »

I wouldn't bother bi-amping monitor series speakers.Take the Adcom and use it on the fronts.

I agree, to get the most out of bi-amping you will need an external crossover. Just use the Adcom.
Venom

hearingimpared

If the user manual for the speakers recommends bi-amp'g then by all means give it a shot.

I bi-amp'd my 1.2 TLs with excellent results and I did not need an external crossover. You may as venon said need one for your speakers.

c4kaboom

vonnie123 wrote: »

Actually, this is how I use my GFA-555. It drives 3 sets of 8 ohm mains without breaking a sweat. The two sets of RM 8000Ts and one set of RTi6s. It is almost twenty years old, and still works great.

So would I hook up the Monitor 70's to the Adcom alone and all the rest of my HT speakers to the Onkyo for HT sound reproduction? The Adcom is sweet isn't it? I have had this amnp for over 30 years? Never broke down either. Thanks for your time and patience.

jdhdiggs

Yup, that's a lot like I have my current LSi HT rig. I have a Carver a500x on the FR and FL and the receiver on the 7's in the rest of the locations.

BTW Joe: Bi-amping is for pansies, especially passive bi-amping. Active tri or quad amping is where it's at!

vonnie123

c4kaboom wrote: »

So would I hook up the Monitor 70's to the Adcom alone and all the rest of my HT speakers to the Onkyo for HT sound reproduction? The Adcom is sweet isn't it? I have had this amnp for over 30 years? Never broke down either. Thanks for your time and patience.

First, I am not familar with the model you mentioned. Is it an amp, or HT receiver. If it has pre-outs at the receiver, you can run interconnects from the receiver to the Adcom GFA-555, and the Adcom would then power (amplify) the main speakers (or any other pair you designate) using the receiver as a pre-amp. You would also hook your other speakers directly to the HT receiver for the surround / center channels. I posted earlier that I use the Adcom for the fronts (mains). My setup has the Yamaha HTR receiver as a pre-amp. It controls (pre-amps) a 2 channel amp, a 7 channel amp (only 5 channels in use) and the powered subwoofer. Hope that helps.

treitz3

Horizontal bi-amping yields some serious end result benefits when planned and executed correctly. As a good friend of mine once said...."Piss poor planning leads to a piss poor performance".

Do some research, get your learn on and then you will get the most out of what you have. That said, you do not absolutely NEED an external crossover, but you will learn as you go the added benefits that they can yield for you.

SolidSqual

Save the money and buy better speakers. Move up to RTi or even LSi.