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Am I wasting money on the theory of Bi-amping?

As a long time audiophile I'm finally able to bi-amp my setup. I'm using two identical amps in a vertical bi-amp configuration. 
 

Now me not fully understanding all of the ins/outs of internal speaker crossovers and what not. I've read quite a few people tell me that bi-amping like I'm doing whether it's vertical or horizontal bi-amping is a waste since there's really not a improvement because of how speaker manufacturers design the internal crossovers. 
 

Can anyone explain to a third grader how it's beneficial or if the naysayers are correct in the statement?

ibisghost
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lonemountain
415 posts
 

@elliottbnewcombjr : You are using the word Bi amp in such a way as to cconfuse us more.

There is only one explanation for biamp.  Bi-amp requires an external [line level] crossover BEFORE the amplifiers.  The example above is a bi wire set up, with or without jumpers, as a passive [speaker level] crossover is AFTER the amplifiers.  One of the side effects in the bi wire set up is the amps are still running full range and do not specialize in one band: the crossover after them is filtering part of the full range amplfier output out.   Electronic crossover bi-amp divides the preamp output into two, LF and HF, sending only HF to one amp, only LF to the other amp per the instructions from the crossover.  Now you can have the large amp for bass and it will pay off. 

Brad      

 

elliottbnewcombjr
5,194 posts
 

lonemountain

"Passive Bi-Amping

Passive bi-amping is what you typically see when bi-amping is discussed. It’s the most common. With Passive bi-amping, you are still using the crossover parts of your speaker to send the correct frequencies to each speaker driver."

this is for speakers whose crossover is designed to alternately accept bi-amp via a removable jumper, as the AR-2ax crossover is. 

"Bi-Amping with an Active System

You can also bi-amp with an active system. This is not very common and only available with a limited number of brands. With an active system, you actually have a separate electronic crossover in front of your two or three amps. It gives each amp the correct set of frequencies and you remove the crossover from the speakers."

racamuti's avatar
racamuti
362 posts
 

My system-

 

 

Opera turntable with RS Labs RS-A1 tonearm and Miyajima Shilabe cartridge

Wright Sound Silver Top phono stage

47 labs Shigaraki cd transport

Hagerman Chime DAC

Supratek Cabernet Dual with 6h30 outputs and 101d outputs

tweeter amp Decware SE34I.2

bass amps two SE84CS series strapped into mono

speakers Sonist Concerto 4's

all wired up with mostly 1'st generation Stage III Concepts

Sounds really good to me with the EL34 tubes for the highs being pushed with a 101D

and EL84 tubes being pushed with a 6H30

I think it is system dependent and there are no fast and sure rules!

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