Why bi-amp your speakers?

I'll put this because many people don't understand why bi-amping is better...

You have a 250w amp
you have 250w speaker, one mid-range and one tweeter, whatever configuration (both tweeter and mid at 8ohms, through a built-in crossover)

Let's say the amp can do 250x1 or 125x2

So when you give the setup the single output of 250, the crossover built into this speaker setup will give all mid-range signal to the mid and all high-range signal to the tweeter.

This is the same as A: giving the mid 250w and the tweeter 250w(theoretically), not the same as B:no crossover and giving the mid 125 and the tweet 125.

The only reason to biamp here instead is Headroom for your highs, correct?
A--In the first configuration if the mid-range signal rises to, say 85% of the voltage peak, then the tweeter signal can only use 15% of that voltage without distortion - this is the reality of the signal.
B--In the second configuration, you have the ability to let the mid use all of half the voltage, and the tweet all of half the voltage.

This affords you the ability to not only adjust the output to a more flat and correct response, but to also give that tweeter what it really needs and not share it's power. This is the reason for bi-amping. This however means that you only have half the voltage available to each.

To truly bi-amp a setup like this you'd need two 250 watt channels, one to each. BUT keep in mind that that tweeter was only meant to use, say, that 15-30% of the power to guess here. This is why if you put a tweeter to get the full-spectrum without a crossover it COOKS the coil instead of falling apart. You could be better off with 250w channel to the mid and 125w channel to the tweeter.

So yes, N.F. it'll let you balance that box out much better, but be carefull of underpowering the mid and overpowering the tweet. individual ratings help a lot here...
-Jerry

Don't bother bi-amping. Just get a good amp.

There are many benefits to bi-amping a system, or so I've read. I've tried bi-amping one time and the benefits were pretty apparent.

Possible bennies with stock crossover (passive bi-amping):
Removing that **** jumper
Doubling surface area of contacts
Doubling surface area of wires
Be able to curtail your wires to better suit each application
Reducing the load on each amp
Reducing the bandwith of the wires often results in greater detail
I've also read about how using 2 amps of the same wattage does more than double the wattage. It has to do with the relationship between voltage and current or something like that.

Possible bennies of using an external crossover (active bi-amping):
All of the above
Greater diversity in choosing amps
Separate volume controls
The reduction of load is even greater
Adjustable slope on the better models
Possibility of better components

There's probably more but the microwave just dinged and I don't want to get chicken fat all over my keyboard.

Good luck!

are YOU under the impression that the crossover divides the voltage somehow? it ONLY split's bandwidth...

Nope... I understand that Voltage applied does not diminish across parallel circuits, unlike current which does divide. For a given spl, single amp or bi-amp makes no difference in the voltage potential applied to a given driver. Bandwidth and voltage are two entriely different things.

It was your comment about what a full range signal would do to a tweeter that threw me. The only reason I could imagine that would make it worth mentioning is if one thought that bi-amping eliminated the x-overs from the circuit, and clearly, taint so. Each driver receives the exact same signal FR in a bi-amp mode as it does in a single amp mode. The x-overs simply shunts aside/ around the bandwidth it will not let pass.

It's true that biamping can allow you to safely put twice the power into the set than you could sending them one source of power...

... and...

You can safely put 500 watts into your 250 watt set by giving up to 250 watts to each driver.

Now you are implying that speaker ratings are maximum power ratings and that exceeding that rating puts ones speakers in peril. Fact is that speaker ratings are continuous power ratings and any driver worth its salt can handle short duration power surges, i.e., transients, 2, 3, even 4 or more times greater than their continuous rating.

Julian Hersh (RIP) regularly tone-burst tested the speakers he reviewed. By comparing the reproduced tone to the source tone he determined a speaker's limits. Any 60 W rated speaker is far safer running on a 600 wpc amp than it is on a 60 wpc amp. Why, because clipping is taken out of the equation. And it makes no difference if the 600 wpc comes from a single channel or two 300 wpc ch's...

(if your tweeter is good quality and can match the wattage your mid is rated for... thanks Tour for pointing this out.)

You're welcome, except that is not what I said. You seem determined to send the message that tweeters are by nature substantially more delicate than mid-woofers, which, simply put, is false.

The mechanical demands on a tweeter are less from an excursion standpoint, but the rapidity of movement they are called upon to make is mind-boggling. And, in the course of doing their duty, the power applied to them can be as great as is the case for a mid-woofer. Normally it is not, but it can be... (I've got a link somewhere that shows this.)

(if your mid signal goes too high, your high's get clipped off..).)

OK, now I'm afraid to get in a discussion on the nature of clipping, too. Clipping has nothing to do with a mid-signal.

Honest to God, LC_w/12, I am not trying to bust your balls here, but you are implying, if not outright stating, things in your posts here that you beleive to be correct, I am sure, but they are not... And doing that in response to questions from newbies just perpetuates misinformation. I am just trying to present what I know, or at least believe I know, to be the facts. And I've been through enough of these discussion here to feel I am correct....

That and I did stay at a Holiday Inn Express last night...

Get the Amp and bi-wire your speakers, forget bi-amping.

Thanks HBomb 100x for finding a simpler way of putting it. My long'windedness tends to get the best of me. (If I had a job where I could use my knowledge, I would be burned out by the end of the day...)
-Jerry

Try out for u'rself first,thats the only way to find out dude!!