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how to biamp with different amps?

I have a pair of Paradigm Studio 60.2 that I want to biamp with 2 different B&K amps. I want to use a ST-3140 to power the woofers on my main speakers and a ST-140 to power the tweeters. So I will have 140 wpc going to woofers and 70 wpc going to the tweeters. I am using a Denon AVR 3802 as my preamp/processor. Will I need an additional crossover? Do I just run an IC from the reciever to one amp and then a connector between the two amps? If I do this, will each speaker be capable of 210 total watts per channel?
128x128fishcall
6 responses Add your response
gnev
4 posts
 
Not all Paradigm models can be bi-amped. Does your speaker have 2 sets of binding posts in the terminal cup?
fishcall's avatar
fishcall OP
43 posts
 
timo-
that is what i want to do! i want to run the tweeters on both main speakers with the st-170 and the woofers on both main speakers with the st-3140. will i need a crossover to do this or can i do everything from the denon? the st-3140 has adjustable gain knobs for each channel but the st-170 does not.
timo's avatar
timo
610 posts
 
You will need to go horizontal with two different amps. One to the highs and one to the lows.
sean
6,231 posts
 
While i'm not familiar with the ST-3140, i've never seen a 140 that had external gain adjustments on it from the factory. Sean
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fishcall's avatar
fishcall OP
43 posts
 
the B&K amps have adjustable gain knobs for each channel. so does that mean that i will not need a crossover?
hotsauce
108 posts
 
You need a crossover between the preamp and your amps, such as Bryston, or Marchand. Because your amps are different you will want a crossover with adjustable gains for each amp, unless your amps have integrated volume controls on them.

Yes, you add the rating of each amp together to get how much power you are capable of feeding to your speakers. It will actually seem like more though because your amps will not be wasting power on portions of the signal that would get cancelled by the crossover.

John C.
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