Bi amping...who has done it?

mantis · February 2003

This topic is one of the things I never really explored for my own reasons.I never felt the need to do it.
I haven't owned many power amps anyway.I olny owned 2.A B&K st140 and a Rotel rb960bx.
My Idea to beeter my sound quality was the thinking if the receiver or amp isn't doing what I want it to do,then I need a better one.
I know some of you have bi amped there speakers.I would like to know a couple of things.
1)why did you want to do this?
2)what was your results in the end?
3)Didi you use the same exact amp for top and bottom or different amps?
4)If you used 2 different amps,how did you make the selection on which amp drove what part of the speaker?
5)Was you bi amping a home theater or a 2 channel stereo system?
One thing I never felt nessary with speakers was having tons of power.My B&K amp was only 105 x 2 and it was powerfull.Same with my Rotel,it only had 60 watts of power and I thought it had killer power.
Well as far as amps/seperates go,I'm an new at the game All my life I owned receivers.The B&K was a add on,and the Rotel was a seperate pre and amp.
I wanna talk/learn more about this,you guys have peaked my curiosity.

TroyD · February 2003

You can NEVER have enough power. - George Grand

(making sure I footnote my sources)

BDT

weavercr · February 2003

yes two adcom 535

It is best to use the same exact amps. Both amps need the same gain as you increase the input levels.

Ron-P · February 2003

I bi-amped my mains (RT55's) and Center (CS400) each with Adcom GFA 535's. Currently using my Marantz receiver as the pre/pro.

Peace Out~:D

nellis8166 · February 2003

I have my mains bi-amped with an Adcom GFA 7400. The fith channel goes to the center(LS-i's all around.) I listen to a lot of two channel music and it made an astonishing difference.

Regards,
Nat

joe6pak · February 2003

Yes I have bi-amped. The speakers were some nht model vt-1.2. This was the smallest of nht audio/vidieo tower. This speaker was made to be bi-amped if desired. The amp was a seperate nht subwoofer amp of 120 watts.

I did this because the nht sub I had did not sound right when placed where it best fit the rooms decor, so I did this as an experiment to see if the two 8 inch subwoofers in the mains would get close to the performance of the one 10 inch in the seperate sub.

The bass amp had a selectable high pass filter and its own volume control. The power for the top end of the mains was Denon 3802.

Turning the mains into powered towers made for a big difference. It just added so much more bass. However, the big draw back of powered towers stood out for me. As the volume increased, the bass got boomy. Perhaps with different speaker placement these would have worked better. Trouble is I don't have many options dealing with placement. These did almost match the performance of the single 10 inch.

The nht mains had a built in bi-amplifiable crossover. To quote from nht literature: " The benefits to bi-amplification include increased dynamic range, the ability to play at higher volume with less strain, lower distortion in the critical low bass region, and the ability to tune the low frequency response to the individual listening room."
I believe all that may be true, but I think there are easier ways to achieve those benefits. The speakers I used were $1000 mains & $600 sub/amp. Maybe with higher quality gear I would have had better bi-amp luck. My speakers that I have now ( Dynaudio ) are not made to be bi-amped which suits me, as that is one less thing to mess with.
joe

stubby · February 2003

I first bi-amped my 1.2's vertically (two stereo amps) with a pair of Adcom GFA 545 II's. I now bi-amp horizontally with a pair of Carver M1.0t's bridged for mono operation. The latter set-up is far superior in EVERY aspect. Of course, if I could afford a pair of 1,000 watt stereo amps, I would try vertical again.

Stubby

gidrah · February 2003

I've done it with a pair of Monitor Audio bookshelfs. It made quite an improvement. I've been checking out active crossovers for my next speaker adventure.

wlrandall · February 2003

To answer in your order:

1) Clipped one time. Not wanting to destroy my 800i's I decided it was best.
2) Never clipped again, gave me a lot more headroom and a much cleaner sound at elevated levels. Haven't even max'd it out since.
3) No. The drivers are driven with the integrated amp of an H/K 7000. HIghs are on an H/K PA2000. Close, but not the "same"; at least the sound has the characteristics.
4) Fairly easy choice. AVR7000: 110W, +/-75A instantaneous; PA2000: 100W, +/-45A.
5) System does double duty. Broke out the B&K and recal'd both configurations.

Wally

madmax · February 2003

You will never be sorry you biamped. I've tried it with several combinations. At first you wonder if it bought you anything but if you switch back you will see (hear) the difference. Try it!
madmax

HBombToo · February 2003

Originally posted by wlrandall
To answer in your order:

1) Clipped one time. Not wanting to destroy my 800i's I decided it was best.

EXACTLY!

thats all it took for me.

HBomb

George Grand · February 2003

"A man can never have too much power" is my credo and basic tenet.

Hi Stubbmont!

George Grand (of the Jersey Grand's)

Bi amping...who has done it?

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