Effect of bi-amping?? Marten Design & Dartzeel


Hi all,

I currently have an amplifier that has 100W at 8 Ohm, 160W at 4 Ohm. I wondered what the effect would be if I bi-amp my speakers with two units? (speaker sensitivity 89 dB/w/m, impedance 4 ohm)

I assume that it doesn't have that much effect on how loud I can play the music (something that isn't an issue) but if I use 2 amps would there be more control over the speaker?

Appreciate if someone can explain what most likely the differences are using 1 or 2 amps to drive speakers in general, and particular for the Dartzeel/Marten Design combo.

Thanks a lot.

P.S. I have the Marten Design Coltrane speakers and Dartzeel amp.
maxx1973
There are two types: vertical and horizontal biamping. Vertical is what I think you are thinking of where you would have two identical amps powering the speakers, one for each speaker. This arrangement can provide improvements of all types simply because the amps are less stressed. Roy Gregory of Hifi+ magazine does this with his reference system (Nola Pegasus and KR tube amps) and says that the improvement was incredible in all aspects.

I do horizontal biamping but that is much tougher to do well and would require lots of experiementation to get it right. You are probably better off with a vertical arrangement. I'd say give it a try and see.

Arthur
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Mike,

Was curious to know what your thoughts were about the difference between one or two Dartzeel's on the sound

Thanks
i've asked the Dartzeel distributor this very same question during a home-demo just over the weekend (system consisted of Emm Labs > Dartzeel > Coltrane & full Jorma Prime cables). a pair of Bladelius Beowulf (900w/ch into 4ohms) were also on hand for A/B comparison.

i preferred the Dartzeel in certain areas, but naturally, the Bladelius had better control, agility, & less smearing abv 90dB. when i inquired whether these areas can be improved with the addition of a 2nd Dartzeel (in vertical bi-amp), distributor advised to add a crossover when doing this (otherwise 'timing' may be off). no idea if this is true or not, but anyway, i've still got a few more amps to demo.
I'm curious about your Distributors statement Alexsee.

Are there any people on here that use 2 Dartzeel in verical bi-amp mode that can share their experiences? Do there experience any "timing" usues?

Thanks
he didn't go into much detail, but did suggest me to get a Dartzeel preamp b/f trying to bi-amp (was told the preamp reduces background noise, & helps improve image solidity considerably).

other than 'control', 'congestion/smearing' issues (during complex passages at louder vols.), i was fairly impressed with this amp (esp. since it's only rated 160w/ch into 4ohms). when i enquired whether Dartzeel has plans to release a larger amp, was told they will be releasing an integrated amp next.