I agree with all of the above. Most speakers are "voiced" to sound and perform a certain way with their passive components ( i.e. "crossovers" & "wiring") taken into consideration in the initial design. Altering those parts or changing the slopes or amount of "blending" that naturally occurs between the drivers can be an utterly disastrous thing to deal with. On the other hand, most products built to a price CAN be improved upon with CAREFUL work and planning. Like the others though, i would suggest looking at better basic components instead of trying to tweak or force components into something they can never be. Keep in mind that the fancier that you get in terms of "out of the ordinary" installations, the more elbow grease, trial and error and money it takes to make them perform to their fullest extent possible. It also requires tools of the trade and a good basic understanding of electronics and acoustics if you want everything to work right and last a reasonable amount of time. Remember, K.I.S.S. still applies : ) Sean >
Biamplification in Mid-Fi?
I'm looking at upgrading my home system. It's likely going to end up being mid-fi. (Paradigm Reference Studio or B&W CDM Speakers) and I'd like to bi-amplify.
Ideally, what I'd like to do is use a quality integrated amp (Audio Refinement, Audiolab, Arcam, etc.) with a second (matched, but more powerful) power amp for the lower frequencies, and also be able to use the system as the front end of a Home-Theater system.
What I'm wondering is whether or not I'm better off to use an active crossover (brands, anyone?) and bypass the speaker crossovers altogether (which would require some rewiring, but I'm going to do anyway, to upgrade the internal speaker wiring), or save on the signal path, and just split the pre-out to the two amps?
Any opinions?