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Can a Magnepan 1.6 be BI AMPED?

Was wondering if anyone who owns the Mag 1.6 speakers knows if the speaker can be BI AMPEDped? I know it can be bi wired, but looking at the rear connection panel has me wondering if both terminals arent hard wired to the top terminal, allowing the two lower terminals to touch internally causing possible issues with bi amping.

Please dont respond the following receiver wont drive them, because I fully know it will. My concern is ONLY on bi amping on the speaker end. Ive bi amped so seriously hard to drive speakers and the Onkyo is more then up to the task. Specially considering I will be crossing the 1.6 over to ease the demands, and I only prefer a sub to do the grunt work. But for reference sake, here is my intentions with the Onkyo:

Im using a Onkyo nr906 right now on a pair off mmg's set to 4ohm, and they sound fantastic with a sub crossed over at 80hz. I have the ability to use the rear channels from the Onkyo in a bi amp configuration to drive a pair of 1.6's in bi amp config in a dual 4 ohm load. Should be 200 watts aprox to top and 200 watts aprox to bottom, and allow me to use the full potential of the nr906 if bi amping works in this speaker.

Thanks to anyone that has knowledge of if the 1.6 accepts bi amp config or just bi wire(which if they in fact touch internally to the top terminal, isnt worth bi wiring anyway, as its one big loop either way).
sthomas12321

Showing 5 responses by hifitime

hifitime
715 posts
 
I wouldn't bypass the fuse/fuses in any speaker.Directly soldering the fuse will most likely ruin the fuse. Onkyo does not give a true 4 ohm power rating that I can find.It would have to say something like this,200 watts per channel into 4 ohms with all channels driven simultaneously.It doesn't even give a two channel rating at 20 to 20khz into 4 ohms.Who knows what the power is at 4 ohms. People on the net claim they are bi-amping. The fuse removal plus bi-amping was in this link provided by Mofimadness link.>>[http://www.integracoustics.com/MUG/MUG/tweaks/paco/]
hifitime
715 posts
 
The new receivers don't have to follow the old FTC rules for audio gear.The more channels you drive,the less power is typical.8 ohms is the standard for home theater receivers and systems.That is why a lot of them have a external or internal switch for 4 ohms.A lot of them put a 4 ohm resister in series in the 4 ohm setting.That why a lot of people use power amps that will drive a 4 ohm speaker without the need of the resistor to take the load off of the amp.Even Onkyo's flagship Integra receiver can't give 4 ohms into all the channels.The 906 only consumes about 1152 watts total.100 of that is probably getting wasted as heat,like power amps do.By what the web says you can bi-amp the speakers.The only way to see if it does better,is by trying it.Here is a link to what is happening with a lot of receivers driving more channels.The power supply in most can't give full power at once into a lot of channels.Some rare ones do.Home Theater magazines test give you a good idea on the Onkyo 807's power.30 watts a channel times seven.Link>>[http://www.hometheatermag.com/receivers/onkyo_tx-nr807_av_receiver/index4.html]
hifitime
715 posts
 
I forgot to say,you could see they got a higher output at 4 ohms,but they only did two channels.Driving more channels into
4ohms might kick in the protection like the manual says in a round about way over long periods of time.The Maggies don't tell you when you split them if the highs are 8 ohms,and the lows are 8 ohms.They may be a little different than 8 ohms each half,but still look like they combine to 4 ohms.They wouldn't be 4 ohms each half,(that would make them 2 ohm speakers).
hifitime
715 posts
 
Almarg,I shouldn't have put 8 ohms each halve without knowing the speakers measurements.Some speakers have crossovers with odd impedance characteristics.It would be nice if the companies gave more spec's with the bi-amp option.Amplifier companies could give us a lot more spec's too. After looking at the chart,I don't why some people act like they're(Maggie's) a nightmare to drive.They are inefficient,and 4 ohm speakers,but look nice and stable(nothing dropping down 1 to 2 ohms or something like that).Magnepan link>>[http://www.magnepan.com/faq#power]
hifitime
715 posts
 
Magfan,Thanks for the offer,but I'll pass on the math part.Years ago I used to change the tweeters and crossovers in a lot of speakers.I did a lot of math back then and used to get a good sized headache.Some did turn out a lot better,after I got the crossovers correct,maybe? Thinking about it gives me another headache.A friend had a pair of Apogee Scintilla'a that were the worst pair of speakers to drive that I've ever seen.They cooked one of his power amps.I think some people tie those to other panel speakers.Another friend has a pair of older Maggies that he now drives(just found out last night) with a Conrad Johnson EL34 tube amp with ease he said.Its his two channel music/home-theater system in his bedroom.He said it is sounding great. Best Regards
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