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B&W 800D2 - Bi-amping vs Bi-wiring

Hello folks,

I am looking for feedback on bi-amping these amazing speakers. I currently own a CA-2200 amp and it seems 200w per channel may not be adequate to realize full potential of 800D2. So i was thinking of bi-amping two classe ca-2200 for L/R speakers, thus feeding 400w each to Left and Right speakers. Or am i better off buying a pair of CA-M600 for each speaker? I would like to stick with Classe amps only... love the way they sound.

Next question is about bi-wiring. There seems to be bit of confusion (atleast in my head) on the best way to bi-wire speakers. The true shotgun cable is terminated with two split(+ and -)on amp end and 4 splits (2 + and 2 -)on speaker end. I have seen illustrations where bi-wiring is done with 2 identical runs of cables between dual binding posts on amp and speaker ends feeding seperate signal to LF and HF speaker inputs. I have read about the advantages of two single runs but my cable manufacturer doesn't seems to agree with this configuration. He is still recommending shotgun configuration.

I hope to gain some insight before i make an investment in a amp or new cables. I currently own a bi-wire cable in shotgun configuration.
128x128lalitk

Showing 2 responses by mark_nz

mark_nz
48 posts
 
My experience across various B&W 800 series speakers is that both bi-amping and bi-wiring are worthwhile and discernable.
The improvements from bi-amping are obvious in improved both sound-staging precision and detail, while bi-wiring improvement in detail is only marginal.
Bi-amping is more hassle because need another pair of interconnects and pre-amp with dual outputs unless the amplifier has function to switch from stereo to bi-amp e.g. Cambridge Azur 851W.
One advantage of bi-amping class A or AB amplifiers over stereo/mono-blocks is the treble/mid-range remain longer in Class A.
I currently bi-amp my speakers (800D2 recently upgraded from 803D2) with 2 x CA2300 with no obvious power limitation.
I don't have comparison experience between 2xCA2300 to 2xCAM600 - ideally you need to demo.
mark_nz
48 posts
 
While passive bi-amping does not provide a theoretical increase in dynamic range, subjectively it does.
If the amplifiers driving the woofers are stressed (close to clipping), the amplifiers driving the tweeter and mid will not be, resulting in significant less tendency for the sound to harden and imaging to congeal.
Hence you can maintain higher volumes without wanting to turn it down.
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