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Active Biamping of Your Dreams for Magneplanars

I have been thinking about upgrading my system a bit and searching the archives for threads on amplifiers to use with my Magneplanar Tympani IVa's.

Most of you seem to suggest that you could never have too much power for Maggies -- not to mention the greater demands of the three panel per side design.

Therefore, I am wondering how I might make a significant upgrade, without spending shocking amounts of money.

One idea is to buy another ML 23.5, use the pair for the low end, and actively crossover to a tube amp for the highs.

Good idea?

Next idea: same thing, but upgrade to a pair of 20.6 monoblocks.

Or a pair of Pass Lab monoblocks?
Aragon Palladiums?

Would like to spend < $10,000 and retain the reliability and slam of solid state in the low end please.
cwlondon

Showing 5 responses by zt000

zt000
30 posts
 
I've used Carver Silver 7t with very good results about 7 years back. IT was very interesting experience to see Maggie use up all of 600 watts time to time. Not to long ago Jeffssoundvalue sold a pair.
zt000
30 posts
 
In general, active bi-amping is very difficult proposition. Half of the x-over's duty is to split the signal but the other half (or more) is to supress (because its not active) many areas of frequences to smooth out the voice. In general making x-over is the last development cycle. They call it the 'voicing'. When you do active bi-amping you are throwing out the designer's careful voicing effort of the speakers (many hundreds of hours). This is why most of modern speakers give you an option to do vertical bi-amping. You can use two different amps as long as their gains are same. Or use two of the same amp.
zt000
30 posts
 
Gmorris, you have one of the best active x-over box money can buy and the panel speakers are much easier to do active bi-amp than conventional speakers. So, what you have is a winning combination. I was speaking in general terms. Yes, I've done active bi-amping, vertical bi-amping and horizontal bi-amping. Now, I simply have no x-over speakers. No signal spliting in my system at all. Transport to digital volume control to DAC to SET to no x-over speakers. As pure as I could make it and the best sound in my thirty years of experimentation.
zt000
30 posts
 
This write up has some marketing purpose. Good information nontheless.

http://www.caryaudio.com/articles/bi_amping.shtml
zt000
30 posts
 
My experience supports following as well:

http://www.gcaudio.com/resources/howtos/biamping.html
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