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Bispeakering...am I the only one?

Hello to everyone and the audiophiles. I have a limited budget as a grad student and so I can't afford those speakers that do everything well.

My JM Lab Electra 926s sound sublime - lots of space and refinement. But I always felt like a little more detail and dynamics could be possible (I had witnessed it in other systems) so I got some Triangle Comete ES monitors. WOW! What a difference. Detail and dynamics like crazy. I have tried upwards of 40 pieces of gear so far (excluding tweaks and cables) and these two pairs of speakers are by far the most different. Who says the speaker isn't the biggest player? However, I digress...

So, on one hand I have the big-space speakers and on the other, I have the high-detail speakers. I originally did this to have two systems for different music. However, combine the two and voila, I have a megaspeaker capable of space AND dynamics. The JM Labs are pushed by my McIntosh MC7200 and the Triangles are caressed by my Conrad-Johnson MV55.

Now mind you, it ain't easy integrating them and you need a preamp with two sets of outputs and some sort of amp gain control. But get the soundstages to overlap appropriately and this wacky speaker system will knock your socks off for a mere $2700 used. I have yet to hear any speakers in that range that can do better across the board. In this case, 3+2=10. Not to mention how nice it is to have a "center channel" effect with TV thanks to the super-focused image of the Triangles. Of course you need two amps but this is only an aid for tailoring the sound.

With examples of multiple-driver speakers abound, this approach adds a couple advantages to the idea. My two pairs are so different that they have "decoupled" strengths so I can play to each one individually. Also, there is less driver interaction since there are separate cabinets for microdynamics (Triangles) and macrodynamics (JM Lab). See my system page for pics.

I am shocked at how satisfied I am with this approach. The depth, layering, soundstaging, focus, clarity, detail, order, sophistication have all improved, all at once. Even the really expensive components I have tried (and can't afford) didn't make this much of a positive impact in my system.

Has anyone else tried something like this? Arthur
aball

Showing 2 responses by aball

aball OP
2,016 posts
 
Howdy folks! I really didn't think I would get any replies so it was with great delight that I read your posts.

Joe - I always knew you had a bunch of speakers but didn't realize you played them at the same time. JM Lab and McIntosh, great combo! ;)

I have tried all sorts of combinations - the Mc running both pairs was good but even with 490W into 4 ohms, the big dynamic peaks at loud levels got compressed. Imaging suffered a little too. I guess this is why biamping is popular.

I swapped the amps around but that didn't work out too well. The CJ doesn't care for the JMs at all! Turned its nose right up at them. The Mc was just too much for the Triangles - too "hifi" sounding with way more detail than my poor recordings deserve. But I left this test feeling that the majority of the sound signature definately boils down to the speakers.

I feel that having different speakers would be a requirement. Intuitively, two pairs of ET sound like imaging would suffer. That is part of the reason that I got some monitors for the imaging part of the work and left the big dogs to do the soundstaging.

I see all this stereo business as one massive experiement. That is why I named my system as such. There is so much we don't know and so much we speculate about, why not try anything just to see what happens? There are no rules if we don't know everything! I feel it is a shame that so many folks come to Audiogon for others to tell them what to do. They should forge ahead and make their own paths, just like you guys, so thanks for your refreshing posts.

Arthur
aball OP
2,016 posts
 
Man Opalchip - you are the master experimenter! Really cool to hear about your combinations. Playing to each pair's strengths is definately the way to do it.

My McIntosh C42 preamp has an excellent EQ and I adjust it to make my room response flat with warble tones. I use a Radio shack SPL meter and compensate it for accuracy.

There is no way a subwoofer could do what the JM Labs do in the mids and highs. That is the beauty of this setup is to have the two pairs of speakers contribute to the important areas of the sound spectrum for improved soundstaging. Besides, my bass response is flat to 24 Hz, which is enough for me, and if I want more midrange body, all I need to do is twist a couple knobs on my preamp! A sub would just excite room modes which would kill my detail and crystal clear imaging.

Another benefit of this two speaker pair is that the amps don't have to work as hard for the same SPL. My CJ bias lights hardly come on anymore and my Mc amp rarely reads over 20W - two things that were definately not the case before.

Arthur
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