Bi-amping with 2 Rotel RB-1070.


How do I bi-amp using 2 Rotel RB-1070 amps with one RC-1070 pre? I do not want to bridge the amps. I need to know in detail how to run the interconnects. I envision one amp per speaker - 1 channel for bass, 1 channel for mids/highs. All comments/suggestions welcomed. Thanks.
miner42
I have the same setup as you Eldartford except I am using to RB1090's and the RB1095 for the bi-amped center and both rear surrounds.
I went to my local Hi-Fi dealer ( Doug Wilson) and he made 3 "Y" connectors for me(front l&r and center). They are made 2 meters long and the split at the RCA coming from the pre-pro. This way you don't introduce another connection in the stream.
This setup is VERY powerful and you do not need any other crossovers since you have the power to amplify all the unused signals, you will probly never use the capablities of these amps in this configuration with average resistance speakers. The crossovers in your speakers will and should keep any undesired singnals from going to the incorrect driver. This is what they are designed to do.

Eddie
Jeffreybehr...It ain't rocket science. I've been doing it since the 1950's. But it is less beneficial today since power amps (except some tube units) don't sport one percent or more of IM distortion, and watts are cheap. Passive crossover components are also markedly improved. It is, however, almost essential for subwoofer crossover frequencies.

Of course the internal passive crossover ought to be removed, except leaving any networks dealing with driver anomalies. However, I believe that even if you leave the passive network in place, which is what people are doing when they "Biamp" without an electronic crossover, (which I like to call "dual-amp") there is still advantage to inserting an electronic crossover. The woofer inductor will not be vulnerable to saturation distortion, and the tweeter will be protected from power amp "thumps". Also, the power amps will not have to carry signal that will be filtered out later, so headroom is improved.
Come on, Eldartford, don't equivocate--tell us how you really feel! :-)

Miner, you need to send the left-channel signal via 1 IC cable to the left-channel's 2-channel amp. Split the one signal into the 2 inputs with a 1-female-to-2-males adapter available for a few bucks at RadShak. Do the same with the right channel. Connect the 2 speaker cables to the one amp's 2 sets of terminals, do the same to the other channel, and you're finished.

Let us know if you hear any improvements. As Eldartford implied, some feel passive biamping is not worth the time.

BTW it's 'biamp' and 'biamping' and not 'bi-amp' and 'bi-amping'.

Oh yea, Eldartford, one need to do lots more than 'get an electronic crossover' to actively biamp succesfully--one also needs to wire around all the crossovers' passive components. Active biamping is not NEARLY as simple as it may appear.
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