Can I bi-amp my speakers with two different amps?

boomerbillone
Just to save you from blowing something up, be sure the amps are not connected to a common ground at the speaker end.

Boomer make a good point that could happen to something else, if using linear amp/s for the mids/highs and Class-D for the bass. As many Class-D’s don’t have their negative (black) output at ground potential. Linear's do. 

It may rarely happen but could, if the speaker designer was asleep.

When you remove the speaker bi-amp/bi-wire bridging links at the back of the speaker. Even after removing them make sure with an ohm meter that the two negatives (blacks) are still not connected together inside (meter needs to show open circuit). As if they are you’ll need to break the common trace inside the speaker that connects them on the xover. Otherwise the linear amps black terminal will give ground potential to the black terminal of the Class-D, and BOOM! could happen!

Cheers George

Just to save you from blowing something up, be sure the amps are not connected to a common ground at the speaker end. Remove any connection at the speaker that ties the woofer and tweeter terminals together in ANY way. Keep them totally separate. To feed the amps the same signal, just use one of those "Y" connectors that give you two female phono sockets and one phono plug.

@68pete
Did you really have to type your last sentence?? hehehe

It would be interesting jokomo to share what it does to enhance your overall sound.

Of course this is very obvious, but be sure to remove the "shorting straps" prior to bi-amping or bi-wiring for that matter.  

george and eric hit the important points - selecting the right amp for each and equalizing the gains.

Do note that biamp arrangements can also hurt speaker coherence. I biamp my Coincident PRE's, but getting levels/frequencies properly balanced is a real challenge.  I probably should have invested in a quality microphone and done some real measurements to help with set-up. 

68pete: I had two 20 amp circuits installed a few years ago for some Krell monoblocks that I have since parted with.  At least I have that part solved.

I am also curious to try biamping  a pair of quality, 250 wpc+,  class D Monoblocks bi-wired into the Bass terminals of my older Tannoy FSMs.
I would use my Pass Labs XA25 for the upper half. 
Any product suggestions for an option under say $2,000?

Hi Jokomo.

I have a pair of Cabasse speakers (from France), which have the mids/highs in one unit and the lows in a separate cabinet -- joined by an external crossover (with easy adjustments).  I'm driving the mid-highs with two Cary 805C monoblocks, and the lows with a VAC Renaissance 70/70 (two monoblocks on one chassis).  Pre-amp is a CJ ART.  Can't tell you how amazing ANY music (from any connected source) sounds.  And I listen to the system in my home office for hours on end, every day and night.  No fatigue ever.  Just can't wait to hear what pops up next on the playlist.

So the quick answer to your question is yes it can definitely be done using the connections described by others.  If you like the sound of your amps and speakers, you're going to be very happy.

Cheers.

I had a friend that did the very same thing with a 332 and 335 Levinson amps. The 332 and 335 are a little closer in power than what you are doing. 200 watts and 250 watts. He had the 335 on the base and the 332 on the mids and highs. It did sound good. Both where on their own 20 amp dedicated power line. The speakers where B@W Matrix 800  speakers.
Sad to say he end up divorced and the wife took the 332 amp in her part of the settlement.

One of the best dynamic speakers I heard was my friends bi-amped pair of Monitor Audio Platinum PL300 he bought over from the UK
They had a pair Pass Labs XA60 on the mids and highs, as they had an easy >4ohms bass load, an Ice Power 1200as Class-D to do the bass.

Cheers George

Hi,
+on same amps' gain and sound character. Also check that gain of your pre added to amps one is enough for your speakers efficiency. With total gain of approx 40db+ i believe you are fine. I never tried biamping with different amps, in the past i tried it with no great results (overkill) on a B&W 803 with B&W MPA1 (4) and Denon Poa6600 (4). Pre was an ARC SP-9MKII.

Thanks very much to all for input. I checked and found the gain for 331 and 335 are both 26.8db.  May try it just for giggles.

I had some Kef R from the early 90's that I would use a 200w stereo amp for the bass and a 100w amp for the top with excellent measured results. When I tried the exact same amps with the f52 the bass became thick and indistinct! really surprising as I really liked the results with a single amp. No, with the f 52 pick a single good amp or bi amp with the same model is my experience.

jokomo Can I bi-amp my speakers with two different amps?

Put the amp with the better controlled bass on the bass
https://www.av2day.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/biamp1.jpg

Use this on input of the amp that's louder, so you can equalize the gains (volume)
https://www.schiit.com/products/sys

Use a pair of these from your preamp
https://www.ebay.com/itm/Valab-Gold-Plated-RCA-Y-Splitter-Adapter-1-Male-to-2-Female-RCA-Adapter-1pcs/283760200309?hash=item42116d0a75:g:RXwAAOSwGBhaYNGt

Cheers George



 

The requirement to do this simply is if they have equal gain OR a gain adjustment.

you should be able too.. make sure the gain in each amp matches or else one part of the frequency range will louder than the other..