bi-amp RT 55i

mr9iron
mr9iron Posts: 3
Hello all,

sent this to Polk customer service, thought I would post here to see if I could find any help at this forum:

I want to horizontal Bi-amp Polk rt 55i speakers. The manual says they can be bi-amped this way, however, the top posts only send signal to the tweeter, there is no mid range. The bottom posts send signal to both the 6 in drivers. I did not expect this. I would think the designers at Polk would have used the top post for high and mid and the bottom post for the low stuff using the bottom 6 in driver. Apparently they are not set up this way.

My objective is to use my tube amp for the high and mid range, and a solid state amp for the "punchy" low stuff. Obviously these speakers are designed the way they are for a certain reason, but I think there is no real "bi-amp" capability with the way these are right now even though the manual says they are. I do not think using a dedicated amp to just drive a tweeter is what Polk intended for bi-amping.

I would really appreciate any information or insight on this, I can respond with more specifics if you need more information than this.

thank you so much,

Jeff
Post edited by mr9iron on

Comments

  • scottvamp
    scottvamp Posts: 3,277
    edited December 2002
    These speakers were not designed for heavy bass.
    Bi-amp top for tweeter and bottom for the two "mid" drivers.
    It's just that simple. Got the equipment give it a shot. Need more bass - buy a good sub. Good Luck!
  • mr9iron
    mr9iron Posts: 3
    edited December 2002
    Scott thanks for your reply,

    I am not sure what you are feeding your Polks or if you have the model confused, but the RT 55i has plenty of bass, enough to hit the mid section anyway. I do use a sub for really low stuff, I was referring more to the "punchy" bass like kick drums than I am the thunderous low bass.

    I don't think I would just use my tubes to drive two tweeters, that is not very good use of the resource, not to mention the liquid mids you will miss with the tubes. I will just leave the entire thing hooked up to the solid state if I can't get this to work.

    Mind you, I am not trying to get more bass out of the speakers, in fact nothing could be further, I just prefer tube high and mid, the most typical reason for Horiz - bi-amping.

    Thanks anyway,

    Jeff
  • TroyD
    TroyD Posts: 13,077
    edited December 2002
    Jeff,

    I see what you are driving at and think it's a stellar idea. However, with the 55's (and most biwireable speakers that I can think of) it's just not the way they are designed.

    BDT
    I plan for the future. - F1Nut