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Bi-Amplification advice

Hello, I have some questions about this process. I am getting quite a lot of different opinions on this subject and hope that anyone reading this can give me some advice. I have: McCormack DNA-1 Dlx. McCormack ALD-1 Dlx. w/ E.S.P. Resolution Audio CD-55 Von Schweikert VR4 Gen. II Rega 25 All interconnects are by Luminous Audio Tech. Power Cords by T.G.Audio. I have been told numerous ways of achieving this set-up. Some have said that an external electronic crossover would need to be introduced into the equation thus necessitating the need to diconnect the internal crossovers from low to mid-high, directing one Amp. for lows the other for mid-high. Others have said to use one Amp. for the lows and the other for the mid-high's without an external crossover. Still others have said to use one Amp. for each side, as in a Mono set-up, without bridging. There is the added scenerio of Tubes for the mid-high and S.S. for the lows. What began as a project of fun and curiosity has grown into full scale confusion. I have been an avent audiophile for some time and have owned a lot of equip. over the years. I have a chance to purchase another DNA-1 Dlx. at a good price and I have wanted to try Bi-Amplifying. Any "sound advice" out there?
elvin
jwstannese647
2 posts
 
I have read all great things about bi-amping as well. I'm in the same boat as you trying to figure which way to go. The fun of the idea is gone. I posted a question a little over a week ago you can check out. If I get info from some where else I'll let you know. Please contact me if you get something new. Thanks Joe
kkirkpa1805
48 posts
 
I use bi-amping in my system to good effect. I'm using an ARC VT-100 for mids 'n tweets (Audio Artistry Dvorak) and a Carver A/V receiver for the subs. My Dvorak came with a Linkwitz-Reiley active crossover (24 db per octave) and crosses over at 100Khz. I like this setup because I can control bass volume when engineer gets stupid (play a Beck album). Also, I think this is extending the life of my insanely expensive tubes ($750.00 to retube) i.e., relieving them of bass duty. I like your idea of using a stereo amp for each channel as it's always better to keep things as "dual mono" as possible. In some cases, you can bypass the need for an external crossover if your speakers roll off enough on their own (at the crossover frequency). Let me know how things work out! -Ken
elvin OP
1 posts
 
Elvin, The answers are all simple (at least in words :-) You do need to use an electronic crossover. Passive biamping is (IMHO) a complete waste of time - this is where separate amps are used to a bi-wired speaker system. If there are any gains at all, they are slight. The speaker's internal crossover from bass to mid+high must be disconnected, but keep the mid to high crossover, since that is still needed. The rewiring of the internal crossover is not usually hard to do, and is neither permanent or fatal (i.e. you can put it all back together later if you want to sell the speakers). Make sure you note what you disconnected (and from where), and also make sure that the electronic crossover has as close to the original crossover frequency as possible. The additional amplifier does not need to be balanced (although this does not hurt). As for being valve or transistor, this is completely up to you. My own system uses identical transistor power amps (4 of them), and this performs very well. If I had a valve amp, I would probably use that for the top end (mid+high), but you can always experiment - switch them around until you decide which is the best connection. Cheers, Rod (This is the reply i recieved from Rod Elliot of Elliot Sound Products.) You can find his Web Site at: www.rode@sound.au.com
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