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 2 responses by sthomas12321

My reason for bi amping wasnt for using an external cross over to clean up the signal, it was for gaining the additional power from the 2nd channel. The above poster is correct, I cant find real world specs on the Onkyo's 4 ohm rating, but there is definitely more power in 4ohm, and it does kick the amplifier down. The Onkyo has the ability to Bi Amp using the rear 7.1 channels and outputs the same signal as the mains. Therefore you would gain double the power. I realize these arent mono channels, but most flagship receivers do ouput very close to there rated channels on the bench, even with all channels drivern. I cant say for sure I'm getting around 200 watts from the fronts and rears in 4 ohm, but it would have to be greater then the 145 watts @8ohm. I do know that this Onkyo receiver crushes my Magnepan mmgs in the 4 ohm setting. I used a Sony receiver from a few years back, and it couldnt even come near the volume the Onkyo delivered. This setup is for home theater, so I want to make sure I can handle the 1.6's with this receiver, but I think I'll be OK. Specially if the Magnepan can be biamped and the Onkyo works as it states it does. Again, I do know for sure the receiver drops down to 4 ohms, even in bi amp mode. It has a bridging mode that delivers 220 watts in 8 ohms to both front channels, but you cant go under 8 ohms, so I wont use that setting on these speakers. Being that its home theater, I'll likely cross the 1.6's over between 60-80HZ

I'll do some diggin around for some bench tests on the Onkyo 906.
The MMG's are good, but not near the performance I'm used to. Ill continue looking for some 1.6's. If the Onkyo cant swing it, I'll try a crown amp on them. Keep in mind this is mostly for home theater and will be crossed over at 80hz all around. This is just a fun system, so Im not investing in expensive amps. The crowns will work if need be. You guys had some great points I didnt think of. A all around 4ohm magnepan system could indeed be a tough drive for the Onkyo.