Can I "double-wire" speakers?

You sure can. Bi-amping is a common practice that will really let those speakers sing. Let use know what you think.

STOP!!! Let's clarify this first. You can only do this if you REMOVE the jumpers on the speakers and have one unit driving the low frequency posts and the other driving the high frequency posts. Do NOT hook up each unit to the same posts. This would be very bad.

I would remove the jumpers on the speakers and have the Onkyo hooked up to the low (bass) posts and the Sophia hooked up to the high (tweeter) posts.

I doubt that both amplication sources will have the same gain.

Gotcha. I'll remove the jumpers between the two sets of binding posts and see what happens. I haven't received the Sophia yet, but I suspect I won't get the same bass response as I do from the Onkyo with its Velodyne sub.

Then again, this might all be a moot point if the Sophia performs as well as advertised.

Thank you for all your advice.

If you are trying to use the two amps as two seperate systems driving the same speakers,no. The top connections are connected to the mid/high x-over and the lower ones to the low x-over.

I agree with Unsound. Not only is it unlikely both amplifiers would have the same gain, but they will also have different characters and this will occur at the crossover point. Speaker manufacturers make every effort to develop a seamless crossover. Why mess it up? So, if you have an Onkyo receiver and a Sophia Electric the answer is no. If you have two identical amplifiers the answer is yes.

The answer is likely no but that isnt known till you try it as far as gain goes.

...Or find out what the gain of the Onkyo and Sophia Electric is. Though there are exceptions, I think Rrog's advice is sound.

Use one amp and bi wire. I use purist maxinus bi wire for my mids and highs and bi wire purist elementa for my bass. Two sets of bi wire from Krell to B&w speakers. Basically, I have one amp and speakers quad wired. Using two amps that are not the same will create a muddy sound signature. Like speaking American English and British English at the same time. Be carefull, take you time to set up. And make sure everything is powered down.

Hi Simao,
Just because you "can", doesn't meant that you "should".
The Titus has a very high frequency crossover, and is also very easy to drive, so IMO bi-amping would be wasting most of what you can gain from the Sophia's presence to give you an incredible mid-range.

Alternately use your second set of speaker wires to set up a line-level feed to active sub with crossover of 55-60 Hz.

Or, bi-WIRING (not bi-amping!) is good to try, where you run two sets of speaker wires from the Sophia output terminals, with one set going to the high-freq posts and the second set connecting with the low-freq posts (jumpers removed).

If single-wired to speakers, try replacing the stock jumpers with connectors similar in grade to your speaker wire.

Good luck with your Sophia, and please let us know how it all comes together.

It occurred to me not for the first time that much of my concern stems from the seduction of bass. The Tituses by themselves are wonderful, transparent speakers worthy of all the praise they received. Yet I set them up alongside the Velodyne in order to emulate the frequency response my (now long-gone) set of Maggie 3.6R's and now it's going to be tough to extract myself from the magic of the bottom end.

I think Stereophile a few years back had an interesting article on how bass, though adding the added frequencies, can cloak music and muffle the mids. It went on to say that pop culture is so attuned to bass and vibration that we think we need it for the music to sound good.

Bass is an integral part of music, that's why we think we need it.

I have biamped with unlike amps and with several different combinations. I did by chance hit one combo that sounded quite good with a slightly more powerful amp on the bass end. Too much power on the low end is---too much power on the low end--not sucessful. If you have the amps and have the cable, it's just fun to try it.

"I agree with Unsound. Not only is it unlikely both amplifiers would have the same gain, but they will also have different characters and this will occur at the crossover point. Speaker manufacturers make every effort to develop a seamless crossover. Why mess it up?"

How is the crossover point messed up with passive biamping?

Simao: As long as you're careful, there's no reason you shouldn't play. It's fun to experiment. You have adjustable gain (re: Unsound's objection) anyway. You'll probably learn a lot in the process. However, I do agree with Sandstone that your mids will likely miss the Sophia. Maybe just incorporate the Velodyne with your Sophia and Triangles, and remove the Onkyo?

Is the Sophia Electric a power amplifier or an integrated amplifier?

The Sophia is billed as a pure amplifier, though it does have a volume control. However, it only has one set of inputs. SO I guess it's integrated inasmuch as it has an attenuator, but that's the only integrated feature it has. It has no pre-out or sub connection (though I can't think of a tube-powered integrated that does, though they must be out there).

All of this will be settled in the next few days. I love this forum - so many helpful people and opinions!

As it pertains to this discusion, I would consider it a one input integrated. In that case Popehetor's post makes some sense, though I still think Rrog's post makes sense. Cross-overs will still allow these different amps to overlap somewhat. Juggling the volume controls on the different amps all the time to match gain, is not something I would look forward to.

Gentlemen, It's great to generalize, but this speaker crosses over at 6kHz. It's also efficient enough for both treble and midrange to be easily driven by a 15 watt SET amp. Just curious, specifically which frequency range are you recommending that Simao drive solely with the Sophia Electric?

I assumed that "Sophia Electric" amplifier is the 10W x 2 Baby "Sophia" Amplifier that has a volume control.

1. You can use Baby "Sophia" Amplifier to drive full bandwidth with great sound.

2. If you desire for bi-wiring, then two Baby Amplifiers are needed.

3. Team up with a solid state receiver is not easy when you need to change volume from time to time.

Audio is a fun hobby, keep it for fun. Feel free to ask questions here and try as long as you do not cause damages to your equipment or safety. Good luck!

Washington highend audio - I have a Sophia "Baby" and was wondering about item 2:

"2. If you desire for bi-wiring, then two Baby Amplifiers are needed."

Did you mean two are needed for passive bi-amping? If not, could you explain why 2 would be needed for biwiring?