questions about RTi A3/CSi A6/FXi A4, speaker size, and bi-wiring/amping

dfn

Ok so I recently purchased RTi A3, CSi A6, and FXi A4.
The manuals I got with them are...lacking.

First, it says the A6 is "large" but before that it says the speakers should be set to "small" type in receiver setup. Is my assumption that the A6 should be set to small, correct?

Secondly, for all of them, do I *have* to bi-wire/bi-amp them? The manual does not go through the process of hooking them up normally (one positive, one negative), so I'm wondering if they can be hooked up without bi-wiring/bi-amping them safely?

Finally, what is the difference between bi-wiring and bi-amping? Do many receivers have the option of bi-wiring?

Sorry, all this stuff is new to me...
Thanks.

madnod

ok first i have the RTI A9, RTI A1, CSi A6 and the FXiA4.

so for the CSi A6 it's a large speaker physically however u should set it to small in your reciever (here small means that BASS will not be directed to them rather to your sub).


all my speakers are just connected by 1 wire pair ( 1 + and 1 -)

as for biwiring this means u connect the speaker via 2 wires pairs from the same terminals from the reciever, people argue that this provide better sound (sperate teh frequencies between the 2 wires), but it's a debatable topic.

for bi-amping this means that u connect the speakers via 2 wires pairs, while each wire is connected to a seperate amplifier in your reciever, this is usually done for the front left and right and the reciever should support such thing. most of 7.1 recievers will allow u to use the rear surround terminals to bi-amp front channels in a 5.1 setup, this will deliver more power to your fronts.

try blu-ray.com there is a nice forum there were they discuss all these things.

Serendipity

Bi-wiring is to connect the speaker with two pairs of wires (basically, 4 wires) from your amp.

Bi-amping is to drive the high and low frequencies from different amps so one pair of wires goes to the tweeter and the other pair to the woofer(s).

dfn

Thank you!

webbcw

dfn, thanks for putting the wiring question out there.

madnod and Serndipity thank you both for your very helpful responses.

I just purchased and received a pair of RTi A3. The 2 sets of terminals and the bi-wiring diagram had me lost. The sparse manual seems to assume that you already know everything.
This was so new to me, I did not know what to do. So joining this forum and reading your posts has taken me from the dark to the light.

I want to thank you all again.

Babber

I know this is an old thread but it's exactly the same question I had.....

I bought a pair of RTi A3's and wondering, (and please keep in mind I'm new to all of this) what terminals do I use for normal, single wiring.....the top or bottom....or does it matter?

I think it only matters if you're bi-wiring, where the top terminals are for high frequency and the bottom terminals or for low frequency.?

Thanks,

Babber

packetjones

It doesn't matter at all. There is a brass jumper that connects the top and bottom connections. I use the bottom personally but there in difference really.

Babber

Thanks Packetjones!