Monoblocks vs Vertical bi-amping vs Horizontal bia

Abex, Two questions: (1)Does having an outboard active crossover mean circumventing the one internal to your speaker and if so how is that accomplished? and (2)Isn't vertical biamping just the same as monoblocks - one amp per channel?!? Please clarify the differences as I seem to think that we're being pulled into thinking that monoblocks are the only way to go and I'm suspicious of manufacturer's hidden agendas . . .

Kevin

ALL: Thanks for your input thus far. I've re-read Dennis Had's white paper on Vertical bi-amping (which he says has a stereo amp dedicated to one channel) and his argument is: (1) one stereo amp per channel equals 4 channels of amplification, and (2)a 40 watt/ch amp stereo amp in a bi-amp config. will outperform a 80 watt mono amp driving all drivers together. I'll have to trust his judgement as he makes both monoblocks and stereo amps. . .

CONCLUSION: vertical biamping is better than monoblocks. Which still leaves open for discussion vertical vs horizontal biamping. . . It would appear from all your posts that horizontal biamping is more "tricky" in that the amp for the bass across both speaker channels will have to have much more power than what is required for the mids/tweeters so using 2 diff. amps will necessitate a gain attentuator. So all things equal, I'd say that it'd be easier and perhaps less costly to go the vertical biamp route. Your thoughts?

Hey guys, thanks for all your feedback. Now that we have our vertical and horizontal biamping definions sorted out, I'd still like to know why one would go with monoblocks vs vertical biamping as each amp is still only pushing one speaker load? I don't believe this question has been fully addressed yet.

Also, If I were to use two identical stereo amps and compare the sound from a vertical biamp config to a horizontal biamp cofig, would there be any differences in sound between the two approaches? Is one likely to sound "better" than the other? Have any of you tried it and if so what'd 'ya discover?

Are there general guidlines or rules of thumb that can be used to indicate situations where one amping scenario is better than another? For example, I have KEF Ref Series 104/2 speakers at 91dB and 4ohm which are a bit soft in the bass so a SS amp would be great while using a SET tube amp for the mids/hi's. In this situation I could see that you might be gettin the best of both worlds rather than using just a SS or tube amp in either a vertical or horizontal config. Thanks for your input.

Kevin