B&W Matrix 800: Bi-amping thoughts?

@wbs Hi Bill,

I don't disagree with the "more power is better" approach most times. However at 93db sensitivity they are fairly easy to drive. Even being set up with 100wpc running in full range, they did push out some impressive SPL.

I also have pop's Mark Levinson ML335 (which needs to be serviced) He used it for a brief period and I considered using that with its 500wpc into 4ohms muscle. However the Defy7 is simply magic in the mid and upper frequencies. I can only imagine what it might be if I could liberate it from having to drive those woofers and instead assign that duty to a robust SS amp of sufficient caliber. 

Consider this: Bi-amping the 800s the way I'm considering would also double the power.

Happy listening.

From what I can find, the woofer crosses over to the midbass at around 300hz, which is smack in the middle of both male and female vocals, which will make it more critical to blend well between two amps. 

If done well, it could help improve the clarity of the midbass/tweeter amps by relieving it of low bass duties, but will require a woofer amp with not only ample power and the ability to handle large woofer excursions, it’ll also need to have good lower midrange sonics to get it blend well.  You’ll likely want the ability to blend the gain of the two amps to match.  

Please keep us posted on your progress.  

I can only speak about my own experience.  My N801s are 91db.  The recommended power range is 50 to 1000 watts.  Using my 300 watt amp, volume levels would go high (SPL) but the bass just didn't keep up.  I think a high power high current amp is what will bring those woofers to life.  However, YMMV.

Bill

And, I was surprised to find that when the monoblocks were in play, even lower volumes sounded more filled out.

sorry for the double posts, but I'm kind of a slow thinker.

Bill

@knotscott You said: "From what I can find, the woofer crosses over to the midbass at around 300hz".

Would you direct me to where you found that please? Thank you.

Happy listening.