Bi-amping MartinLogan SL3's?

Sfischer and John Schroeder, I have an Acurus SS amp I'm thinkng of devoting to the bass of my SL3's. A dealer recommended a Jolida 1801 for the panels. The 1801 is an "intergrated" (with a volume control). So, I would be able to adjust level on the panel in relation to the bass. This sounds simlar to your setups--is it? And--any experience with the Jolida or similar (must have volume adjustment for matching) budget amps around $1500 to use for the panels?

>BTW John, did you use any crossover? Marakanetz

No. I just used the passive crossover in the SL3's and adjusted levels with the Krell. The major flaw in the SL3 is a little discontinuity between the dynamic drivers and the panels. A small boost on the lows smoothed that out, but didn't remove it completely.

My experiences with the M-L Odysseys is that bi-amping makes a worthwhile difference. Originally powered them with the JRDG Concentra integrated. They sounded pretty good. I then added a JRDG 112 power amp and the sound opened up and relaxed. I was surprised by the magnitude of sound improvement. The system is wired such that the preamp outputs from the Concentra go to the inputs on the 112. The Concentra powers the electrostatic panels and the 112 drives the woofers. No need for outboard crossover since both amps have identical gain. Also by using what is essentially the same amplifier on both speaker sections, the coherence of the sound is maintained.

I biamp my Odysseys with a McIntosh 2102 tube amp for the panel and a McIntosh 352 for the woofers - I use a Bryston 10B crossover to give me better bass control in my high ceiling hardwood floor room. This combo sounds fantastic. it even improved when I put a triphazer in my processor loop - those things brought the soundstage and depth of the music to even higher levels.

The best way for a critical music listening is to get 2 stereo(2ch) amps or 4 mono amps for biamping just depending on your $$$. If you will buy amps of a same kind than you won't need an active crossover. If you will buy different kinds of amps the active crossover is a-must in addition.

BTW John, did you use any crossover?

if you do alot of 2 channel listening then i would say get a top shelf 2 channel amp. it would be better to get the best amp you can based on how much you are willing to spend rather than cheaper amps to biamp. logans are very critical of electronics as im sure you know. i had a t200 & thought it was doing a pretty good job then i got a levinson 335 and the improvements were broad & very significant. good luck & may you find what your looking for.

I bi-amped SL3's for several years using a BAT VK-60 on the panels and a Krell KAV-300i on the woofers and the result was pretty magical. It was much better than using either the Krell or the BAT alone. I agree with sfischer that being able to adjust relative levels is important. I was able to do so because the Krell has it's own preamp. I am exclusively a 2 channel guy so I don't have any HT considerations to balance, but I would opt for fewer channels and better amps.

I've biamped Martin Logans for the last 8 yrs, first Quests and then Prodigies. I find it makes a great difference, especially if you can adjust the relative levels between the bass and the panels. This way you can balance the system to the room. The other improvements are in dynamic range, and cleanliness of sound due to the less complex load presented to each amplifier channel.